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Gozu (2004)
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Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 38
Rotten:15
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Consensus: Miike continues his run of compellingly bizarre flicks.
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Theatrical Release: Jul 30, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: Minami, a member of the Azamawari crew, highly respects his Aniki (literally means "older brother" in Japanese) Ozaki who saved his life in the past. However, lately Ozaki's eccentricities like claiming that a Chihuahua he sees is a... Minami, a member of the Azamawari crew, highly respects his Aniki (literally means "older brother" in Japanese) Ozaki who saved his life in the past. However, lately Ozaki's eccentricities like claiming that a Chihuahua he sees is a "yakuza attack dog" have been making everyone wonder about his sanity. The chairman Azamawari is unsympathetic to Ozaki's little outbursts and secretly orders Minami to take Ozaki to the yakuza disposal dump in Nagoya. But, tragedy strikes on the road to Nagoya. Minami tries to control Ozaki's derangement once again but mistakenly ends up killing him. However, Minami is at a loss when he loses track of the body while talking to the chairman on the telephone. Minami trips over his heels in the unfamiliar territory of Nagoya in search of Ozaki. Nagoya is warped at every turn. He goes into a coffee shop to use the phone only to be confronted with the persistent bantering in local dialect of two suspicious characters. When he goes to the police to ask for help, the cop is from Hong Kong. This town is whacked. Minami visits the Shiroyama crew under the direction of his boss Azawamari and is introduced to Nose, a quirky guy with half of his face painted white, who takes him to a local inn to spend the night. The Masakazu Inn, run by two middle aged siblings, Masa and Kazu, is old and run down and well off the beaten path. A white liquid trickles down in thick drops from the ceiling in Minami's room all night. The next day, Minami tries to make a fresh start and returns to the coffee shop where Ozaki went missing. There, the shop owner who Minami talked to the day before declares that he doesn't remember him. But Nose has some hopeful news. While Minami was using the bathroom yesterday, a man resembling Minami's mafia brother came in asking for directions. Minami quickly canvases the area for information and Ozaki's trail leads him back to the Masakazu Inn where he stayed the previous night. Masa tells him that a man came late last night and stayed in the room directly above his. That night, Minami waits in the room on the second floor hoping that Ozaki will return. In the middle of the night, someone comes up the stairs. But, the person who flings open the door is a cow headed man who doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to Ozaki. The monster licks Minami's face with its slimy tongue and he faints. When Minami awakes the next morning, he finds a note from Ozaki between his legs. The signed message reads: Meet me at the dump. Minami races to the site but it's too late. Ozaki has already been disposed of. He couldn't meet his beloved brother in time. A disheartened Minami returns to the car only to find a beautiful woman sitting in the back seat. She tells him an unbelievable story that he thinks is a trick. She insists "she" is "his brother Ozaki"! -- © Pathfinder Pictures [More]
Starring: Kimika Yoshino, Sho Aikawa, Renji Ishibashi
Starring: Kimika Yoshino, Sho Aikawa, Renji Ishibashi
Director: Takashi Miike
Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Sakichi Sato
Studio: Pathfinder Pictures
Get This Movie
Release:
Nov 23, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region (unknown)
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
- (unspecified) - Japanese
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Andy Klein, Wade Major - Film Critics
- Interviews - 1. Director's Interviews featuring Guillermo Del Toro (HELLBOY) and others
- Trailers
- Featurette - 1. Making Of
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Stills Gallery
- Biographies
- Film Notes by Tom Mes - Author of "Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike"
Reviews for Gozu
Miike has a knack for tapping into deep-seated cultural anxieties-- particularly male sexual anxiety--that few filmmakers can match.
Anyone in the mood for a gender-bending yakuza comedy/horror film and who doesn’t mind seeing a lot of bodily fluids spewing onto the screen ought to give Gozu a whirl.
Takashi Miike is one sick puppy. Anyone who has seen his films understands ... All the same, Miike is an astonishing, prolific filmmaker
Gozu is entertaining and lively, but it lacks the focus of earlier Miike masterpieces...
How refreshing it is to see a movie, even an imperfect one, that is completely unpredictable and astonishingly bizarre.
Starts off making almost no sense and becomes less and less logical the longer it plays.
... prime evidence in the argument that gonzo gangster movie maverick Takashi Miike is a major director goofing on minor works.
Plays like the rantings of a madman, but a pretty entertaining madman.
For Miike freaks only (and you know who you are). Everyone else: Stay far, far away.
A wild surrealism that brings to mind both the rigorous weirdness of David Lynch and the twisted dark comedy of Luis Bunuel
There is something compelling about the way this film sneakily taps into our collective psychosexual fantasies.
Makes little sense on paper. As a film, however, it somehow feels richly, hilariously real, even -- at its most bizarre -- familiar.
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