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Ichi The Killer Details

2001 DVD Certificate 18.gif
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 8378 members

Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film heartthrob Tadanobu Asano), a .. Read more

Starring Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sabu
Director Takashi Miike
Genres Horror, World Cinema

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Ichi The Killer

Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film heartthrob Tadanobu Asano), a masochistic yakuza lieutenant, has slits in his cheeks through which he blows cigarette smoke and gleefully hacks off his own tongue to apologize for his impudence. Then there's eponymous assassin (Nao Omori), a painfully shy but sadistic young voyeur who wears a leather superhero outfit to work. Manipulated by the cagey and mysterious Jijii (English translation: "Gramps," Shinya Tsukamoto), Ichi lashes out and massacres those Jijii deems bullies, and basically anyone else who upsets his frail psyche. Jijii uses the demented lad to start a bloody war between rival yakuza factions. Miike's film is full of grotesquely over-the-top violent set pieces, including flying entrails, graphic mutilations, and even a severed human face splattered against a wall and slowly sliding to the ground. It's all captured with kinetic camerawork and hyperactive editing. It's not for everyone, but bolder viewers will find it uniquely entertaining.

Starring Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sabu, Susumu Terajima, Alien Sun
Director Takashi Miike
Studio SHOWBOX MEDIA
Run time DVD: 2 hrs
Blu-ray: 2 hrs
Certificate DVD Certificate 18.gif
Genres Horror, World Cinema
Language Japanese
Released DVD: 02 Jun 2003
Blu-ray: not available
Production year: 2001
Format DVD

Ichi The Killer (2001)

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  • Critics' reviews (2) of Ichi The Killer

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  • 1 stars out of 4

    Prolific director Miike continues to push at the boundaries of taste and permissable violence; Quentin Tarantino's output looks like Enid Blyton adaptations compared to the gore, sadistic tortures and slicing of victims seen here, all done with excessive

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • 'All events and characters in the film are entirely sick, any resemblance to persons living or dead is a sad... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of Ichi The Killer

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  • 33 out of 43 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    hard to follow

    this film is foreign and although it has subtitles they only cover about 20% of the film! therefore i found it impossible to follow!!! unless you speak the languge i wouldnt bother even trying to watch it.

      • cheryl vinson from Sunbury on thames, england
  • Most recent members' review of Ichi The Killer

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  • 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Ichi The Killer is Extreme Cinema at its best. For sure, the movie is not for everybody - it features scenes of brutal torture, rape, BDSM and much blood. This is no popcorn movie (indeed, no food is recommended as you may struggle to keep it down!) and there are no signposts to guide you through. Utmost concentration is required and you will need to have your brain in top gear if you are to keep track of the plot. Ichi is a complicated movie and takes time to get going. If you are prepared to give your time and efforts however, you will be richly awarded. It is difficult to describe the storyline without spoiling the plot, but the movie is basically a story of a man who was bullied as a child (and also witnessed a brutal rape) and sets out to rid the world of all bullies. His chosen method is to slice the bad guys open using a lethal blade concealed in his shoe. The effects are very comic-book in style (indeed, there is an anime version of the movie also available) but at the same time very real and disturbing. I would not recommend this film to anybody who has never seen any Extreme Asian cinema before or to anybody who is not familiar with the narrative tools of foreign and/or extreme cinema. If you like your violence Hollywood style, stay away from this movie. The same applies if you are not prepared to work hard to appreciate Ichi The Killer. It is worth the brain power and is a film that you will keep coming back to - not least to try and work out what on earth was going on! You have been warned :)

      • A customer from PENARTH
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Rating breakdown

8,378 Member ratings
  • 100
873
  • 90
748
  • 80
1,396
  • 70
1,377
  • 60
1,462
  • 50
857
  • 40
612
  • 30
409
  • 20
401
  • 10
243

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    • Ichi The Killer - BLU-RAY Version
      Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film ...

    • Ichi The Killer
      Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film ...