Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow burning genius, 3 Feb 2007
It is quite possible that films by Takashi Miike are an acquired taste but for many, it is quite easy to love his bizarre, surreal worlds. Gozu is a typical Miike film and without a doubt THE most brilliantly obscure film I've ever watched.
It starts quite funny with talk of the Yakuza attack dog but it's the kind of black humour that has you laughing and also quite disturbed. I could not recommend this film to the feint of heart although it is not all blood and guts like, say, Ichi the Killer. The story is quite simplistic and in fact for the most part completely absent, the film's deranged and incredibly unsettling events leave the plot so far behind it becomes obsolete. This does not affect the overall quality of the film nor does it begin to feel loose or pointless. The film traps you in an adventure and lures you into a world that both shocks you and makes you insanely interested. Never before have I been able to describe watching a film as: "an experience" but that is exactly what Gozu was for me.
I do feel however that Gozu feels less like a feature film. It doesn't have the feel of a large, dramatic project and its low budget does leave it feeling ever so slightly less professional than Miike's other works like `Audition' or `Ichi the Killer'. This presents the film with a feeling much more, for lack of better words: `personal' than others, which suits Gozu just fine. The film moves quite slowly with little intense action, bar the heart-stopping insane events dotted throughout, and thus Gozu is quite hard to watch twice. I've sat through Gozu two times and admit that I did not find it nearly as enthralling or mesmerising as I'd of hoped the second time, knowing what's round the corner leaves Gozu with nothing which is why I haven't pin-pointed any-one thing that happens in the film. First time through though some of the scenes leave burning impressions on your mind that stick with you for days at least and at the end of the film I was literally left with my jaw gaping open. This is not a 'feel-good' film and certainly does not leave you feeling positive or cheerful; however, it does leave you thinking: 'Wow'.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cow-Head, 27 May 2005
I am now slowly building a collection of Miike films, audition, visitor q, Ichi the killer, MPD Psycho each I enjoy more than the last. Then I get Gozu. Wow! each film I see just seems to get better an intriguing plot line. It may seem slow but I just found the pace kept me hanging on for the next obscure character object placement or plot-twist. In one of the other reviews a comment is made about other Miike films have some social commentary on Japan and this film does not. Not true. This film more so than some others. The commentary is there you just need to be patient and look for it. The humour when there is hilarious, with the Yakuza attack dog. one of the funniest things I ever saw. It can be heavy going. but wholesomely rewarding. I cant wait to show my girlfriend the end sequence it will put her off child birth for life %^). Overall a great Miike twisted plot line too much to explain in a tiny review, just watch it. (I watched the unrated version but I dont think there are any cuts on the UK version anyway)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Below the belt!, 1 Feb 2006
Ah, Miike, he never lets us down. Just when you've become accustomed to 'Gozu', accepted its tangential, Lynchian dynamics, its nostalgical, instamatic washed-out visuals, its gold and silver lamé quirkiness -- Miike hits you with a super low blow right at the end, leaving you reeling and wanting to watch the whole thing again, knowing it will seem completely different second time around.For most of its length, though, 'Gozu' is Miike-Lite: curiously innocent and affable yakuzas, bizarre supporting characters (a trio of transvestite coffee shop owners, a prodigiously-lactacting middle-aged hoteliere, and the drooling bovine stranger of the title -- 'Gozu' = 'cow-head'), occasional and oddly bloodless acts of Young Ones-style violence. There's some delicious comic acting and the aforementioned photography -- everything looks stained with nicotine, or maybe urine -- produces some stunning urban landscapes. And then, just when you thought this was Miike on autopilotBut I won't spoil it. This is as good a place as any to start with the great man's work, and though initially more palatable than many of his films, like all the best ones it takes some time to digest.
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