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Takashi Miike ( Miike Takashi?) (born August 24, 1960) is a highly prolific
and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video,
and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone,
Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions.
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
o 1.1 Early life
o 1.2 Career
o 1.3 Themes of his work
o 1.4 Controversies
o 1.5 Personal life
2 Filmography
o 2.1 Director
o 2.2 Actor
o 2.3 Producer
3 Quotes
4 Further reading
5 References
6 External links
7 Bibliography
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Miike was born in Yao, Osaka, Japan. Although he claimed to have attended classes
only rarely, he graduated from Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film
(Yokohama Hoso Eiga Senmon Gakko) under the guidance of renowned filmmaker
Shohei Imamura, the founder and Dean of that institution.
[edit] Career
Miike's first films were television productions, but he also began directing several
direct-to-video V-Cinema releases. (These were purportedly financed as moneylaundering operations for the yakuza, although there has never been any conclusive
proof of this.) Miike still directs V-Cinema productions intermittently due to the creative
freedom afforded by the less stringent censorship of the medium and the riskier content
that the producers will allow.
Miike's theatrical debut was Shinjuku Triad Society (1995). The film showcased his
extreme style and his recurring themes, and its success gave him the freedom to work on
higher-budgeted pictures. Shinjuku Triad Society is also the first film in what is labeled
his "Black Society Trilogy", which also includes Rainy Dog (1997) and Ley Lines
(1999). He gained international fame in 2000 when his romantic horror film Audition
(1999) and his violent yakuza epic Dead or Alive (1999) played at international film
festivals. He has since gained a strong cult following in the West that is growing with
the increase in DVD releases of his works.
Other less controversial works include Ley Lines and Agitator, character-driven, serious
crime dramas. Graveyard of Honor (2002) is a remake of the 1975 Kinji Fukasaku film
by the same name. Andoromedeia, perhaps one of his less renowned films, is a teen
drama starring the J-pop girl-band SPEED.
Critics have sometimes noted the puzzling discrepancy of Miike's artistic development
noting that he appears to be simultaneously becoming more radical and more
mainstream a director. Films like One Missed Call are his most commercial works to
date while films like Izo and the "Box" segment in Three... Extremes are less accessible
and target arthouse audiences and fans of extreme cinema.
Despite Miike's voluminous output, it would be erroneous to consider him a dilettante
or a director for hire. Academics have recognized Miike as an auteur, noting much depth
as well as stylistic and thematic consistency in his body of work. Reoccurring themes
and imagery in his work include reincarnation, birds, family, chaos and order. Films like
Visitor Q and Izo are highly philosophical beneath their violent, taboo-laden exterior.
This mingled with his imaginative and often idiosyncratic cinematography makes his
work instantly recognizable regardless of the genre he works in.
[edit] Controversies
Miike's style is often regarded by detractors as offensively misogynistic, though usually
Miike's female characters retain ultimate power, which they use to overturn established
principles of Japanese patriarchy (e.g. Audition (1999), Visitor Q (2001).[citation needed]
One of his most controversial films was the ultra-violent Ichi the Killer (2001), adapted
from a manga comic of the same name and starring Tadanobu Asano as a
sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer. The extreme violence was initially exploited to
promote the film: during its international premiere at the Toronto International Film
Festival in 2001, the audience received "barf bags" emblazoned with the film's logo as a
promotional gimmick (one typically flamboyant gory killing involves a character slicing
a man in half from head to groin, and severing another's face, which then slides down a
nearby wall).
However, the British Board of Film Classification refused to allow the release of the
film uncut in Britain, citing its extreme levels of sexual violence towards women. Many
regarded this as inconsistency, as they had recently passed Irrversible (2002), a film
featuring a nine-minute rape scene, uncut. In Hong Kong, 15 minutes of footage was
cut. In the United States it has been shown uncut (although unrated). An uncut DVD
was also released in the Benelux.
In 2005, Miike was invited to direct an episode of the Masters of Horror anthology
series. The series, featuring episodes by a range of established horror directors such as
John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and Dario Argento, was supposed to provide directors
with relative creative freedom and relaxed restrictions on violent and sexual content
(Some violent content was edited from the Dario Argento-directed episode Jenifer).
However, when the Showtime cable network acquired the rights to the series, the Miikedirected episode Imprint was deemed too disturbing for the network. Showtime
cancelled it from the broadcast lineup even after extended negotiations, though it was
retained as part of the series' DVD release. Mick Garris, creator and executive producer
of the series, described the episode as "amazing, but hard even for me to watch...
definitely the most disturbing film I've ever seen".[2]
While Imprint has yet to air in the United States, it has aired on Bravo in the UK and on
FX in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, The
Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. Anchor Bay Entertainment, which has
handled the DVD releases for the Masters of Horror series in the US, released Imprint
on R1 DVD on September 26, 2006.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Director
Year
English title
Japanese
1991
(Rasuto ran: Ai
to uragiri no
hyaku-oku en - (unknown)
shiss Feraari
250 GTO)
Romanization
Type
Rasuto ran: Ai to
uragiri no hyakuoku en - shiss
Feraari 250
GTO
TV
Last Run: Ai to
uragiri no 10
000 000 000 shiss Ferrari
250 GTO
(Topp!
Minipato tai Aikyacchi
Jankushon)
Topp! Minipato
tai - Aikyacchi Video
Jankushon
(Redi hant:
Koroshi no
Redi hant:
Koroshi no
Video
pureryuudo)
1992
purerydo
A Human
Ningen kyki: Ai
Video
Murder Weapon
to ikari no ringu
Bodyguard Kiba
Bodigdo Kiba
Video
Oretachi wa
tenshi ja nai
Video
(Oretachi wa
tenshi ja nai 2)
Oretachi wa
tenshi ja nai 2
Video
Shinjuku
Outlaw
(Oretachi wa
1993 tenshi ja nai)
1994
(Shura no
Shura no
mokushiroku:
mokushiroku:
Bodigdo Kiba)
Bodigdo Kiba
Video
(Daisan no
gokud)
Daisan no
gokud
Film
(Shura no
2
mokushiroku 2:
Bodigdo Kiba)
Shura no
mokushiroku 2:
Bodigdo Kiba
Video
Osaka Tough
Guys
Naniwa
ykyden
Video
1995
Shinjuku
Shinjuku Triad kuroshakai:
Society
Chaina mafia
sens
1996 (Shin daisan no Shin daisan no
Film
Video
gokud:
boppatsu
Kansai gokud
sens)
gokud:
boppatsu Kansai
gokud sens
(Shin daisan no
II
gokud II)
Shin daisan no
gokud II
Video
(Jingi naki
yab)
Video
(Piinattsu:
Rakkasei)
Piinattsu:
Rakkasei
Video
Kenka no
hanamichi:
saka saiky
densetsu
Video
Gokud
sengokushi:
Fud
Film
The Way To
Fight
Fudoh: The
New
Generation
1997
Kishiwada
Young Thugs: shnen gurentai:
Film
Innocent Blood
Chikemuri junjhen
Rainy Dog
RAINY DOG
Gokud
kuroshakai
Film
Full Metal
Yakuza
FULL METAL
Full Metal
gokud
Video
in China
Chgoku no
chjin
Film
Andromedia
andromedia
Andoromedia
Film
Blues Harp
BLUES HARP
n/a
Film
Young Thugs:
Nostalgia
Kishiwada
shnen gurentai: Film
Bky
dishon
Film
"Tennen shjo
Man"
TV
1998
1999 Audition
Man, A Natural
Girl
Ley Lines
Nihon
kuroshakai
Film
(Silver:
shirub)
SILVER
Silver: shirub
Video
Dead or Alive
DEAD OR ALIVE
Dead or Alive:
Hanzaisha
Film
Sarariiman
Kintar
Film
Salaryman
Kintaro
White Collar
Worker Kintaro
Man, Next
Natural Girl:
100 Nights In
Yokohama
N-Girls Vs
Yokohama
hyaku-ya hen
TV
Vampire
The Making of
'Gemini'
MPD Psycho
The City of
Lost Souls
2000
The City of
Strangers
The Hazard
City
(unknown)
Tsukamoto
TV
Shin'ya ga Ranpo
documentary
suru
"Taj jinkaku
tantei saiko:
Amamiya
Kazuhiko no
kikan"
TV miniseries
Film
Paradise
Tengoku kara
Film
kita otoko-tachi
Dead or Alive
2: Birds
Dead or Alive
2: Runaway
DEAD OR ALIVE 2
Dead or Alive 2:
Film
Tbsha
Kikuchi-j
monogatari:
sakimori-tachi
no uta
2001 (Kikuchi-j
monogatari:
sakimori-tachi
no uta)
Film
(Zuiketsu
Zuiketsu gens:
gens:
Tonkararin yume Film
Tonkararin
densetsu
yume densetsu)
Family
FAMILY
n/a
Film
Visitor Q
Bijit Q
Film
Koroshiya 1
Film
Agitator
Araburu
tamashii-tachi
Film
The Happiness
of the
Katakuris
Katakuri-ke no
kfuku
Film
Dead or Alive:
DEAD OR ALIVE FINAL
Final
n/a
Film
(Onna kunish
ikki)
Onna kunish
ikki
(unknown)
Sabu
SABU
Sabu
Film
Graveyard of
Honor
Shin jingi no
hakaba
Film
Shangri-La
Kin'y hametsu
Nippon:
Tgenky no
hito-bito
Film
Pandra
(unknown)
Pandra
(unknown)
Deadly
Outlaw: Rekka
Violent Fire
Jitsuroku And
Noboru kydden: Rekka
Film
Pto-taimu
tantei
2002
2003
The Man In
White
Yurusarezaru
mono
Gozu
GOZU
Gokud kyfu
Film
dai-gekij: Gozu
Film
Kikoku
Video
Kshnin
Kshnin
TV
One Missed
Call
You've Got a
Call
Chakushin Ari
Film
Zebraman
Zeburman
Film
Pto-taimu
tantei 2
Pto-taimu tantei
TV
2
2004
Box segment in
Three...
2
Extremes
Saam gaang yi
Segment in
feature film
Izo
IZO
Film
Ultraman Max
"Urutoraman
Makkusu"
Select
episodes from
TV tokusatsu
series
The Great
Yokai War
Yokai Daisenso
Film
IZO
2005
Waru
WARU
Waru
Film
Imprint episode
Inpurinto ~bokke
from Masters
TV episode
kyote~
of Horror
Waru:
kanketsu-hen
Waru: kanketsuFilm
hen
Sun Scarred
Sukiyaki
Western:
Django
Sukiyaki wesutn
Film
jango
Crows ZERO
ZERO
Kurzu Zero
Film
Zatoichi
Zatichi
Stageplay
Kamisama no
Puzzle
Kamisama no
pazuru
Film
Daimajin
Film
Yattaaman
Film
Taiyo no kizu
Film
2007
2008
Daimajin
(tentative title)
2009 Yatterman
[edit] Actor
2003
2005
Neighbour No. 13
2006
Hostel
[edit] Producer
2000
2006
Ryu ga Gotoku
[edit] Quotes
"I go to the dentist, not a shrink." (interview with Daniel Robert Epstein[1])
"Me, a 'Master of Horror'? I'm the guy that made 'Salaryman Kintar'!" (Miike about
his movie for the Masters of Horror series)
Mes, Tom. Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike. Godalming: FAB Press,
2003. ISBN 1-903254-21-3
Williams, Tony. "Takashi Miike's Cinema of Outrage." cineACTION 64 (2004):
54-62
"Izo: Takashi Miike's History Lesson." Asian Cinema 16.2 (2005): 85-109.
[edit] References
1. ^ a b c http://suicidegirls.com/words/Takashi+Miike+director+of+Gozu/
2. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/arts/television/19horr.html
[edit] Bibliography
Black, Art (2003). "Takashi Miike Revisited". Asian Cult Cinema 38 (1st
Quarter): pp.12-17.
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