Gozu on DVD (2003)

Average rating: 64%

from 408 members

2 Critics reviews
29 Members reviews

Starring:	Hideki Sone, Sho Aikawa, Kimika Yoshino
Director:	Takashi Miike
Studio:	TARTAN VIDEO
Run time:	130 mins
Certificate:
User collections:	wierd and wonderful, Some great Eastern cinema, My Asian Journey, Firestorm Films
Genres:	Drama, World Cinema
Languages:	Japanese
Released:	25/10/2004

Brief synopsis of Gozu

This wildly bizarre Japanese horror movie from master Takeski Miike (AUDITION) follows the mysterious disappearance of Brother, a gangster who was accidentally killed by one of his Mafia cohorts, Minami. Searching for Brother's body--which vanished minutes after he was shot--Minami stumbles into a strange secluded inn and gets a room. He is instantly aware that something fishy is going on, and as he gets to know the innkeepers more intimately that feeling is backed up by evidence. Given to loud, rambunctious sessions of pumping her own breast milk, the innkeeper's wife is certainly a spectacle. Meanwhile, the violent sadomasochistic relationship (read: whipping) shared between the innkeeper, his wife, and his brother is quite another. Nothing, however, can top Miike's grand finale for GOZU which combines some very important Givenchy crotchless panties, an old man who has a unique solution for his anal fixation, and an extremely gelatinous odds-defying birth.

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Critics Reviews

Radio Times

Given his astonishingly prolific output, it's hardly surprising that cult Japanese director Takashi Miike's films are often hit-and-miss affairs. Here, he continues his passion with twisted Yakuza themes, dispensing with the tightly coiled plotlines of earlier successes such as Audition and concentrating solely on his trademark shock tactics. It's very much a case of visual extremism over content, as Hideki Sone is sent to execute fellow mobster Sho Aikawa, after their gang boss decides his violent outbursts are getting too erratic. What follows is an eccentric and largely inexplicable black comedy, laced with surreal horror and Grand Guignol-style gross-out as Miike's bizarre imagination runs riot to sometimes questionable effect. Though bad-taste aficionados will find plenty to enjoy among the spilt bodily fluids and humorous prosthetics, the overall result is a weak disappointment.

Time Out

Miike re-teams with writer Sato (who adapted Ichi the Killer for him) in an only partly successful attempt to... Read more on www.timeout.com

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

It would be too easy...

NDogg from London , 02/12/2004

It would be too easy to discredit this film and switch it off after watching only 30 minutes.

Gozu was a very difficult film to watch at times because of Miike Takeshis style of directing long slow scenes. But the rest of the film is filled with great black humour, twisted characters, and some unique direction. I found it especially funny how Miike Takeshi has dealt with some of the normal scenes in the style of a horror director, building up the tension and dread during a mundane situation.

I'd recommend picking your time to watch Gozu carefully. If you have 2 hours spare, and want to watch something interesting then this film is ideal. Just don't expect anything as conventional as a resolution!

6 out of 9 people found this review helpful

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Brilliant!

ibrahim from Midlothian , 16/03/2005

A bizarre, slow-moving David Lynch-style piece about identity, sexuality and milk. I still can't figure out what it is all about- it's a horror / yakuza comedy with no jokes or action sequences, or anything particularly scary... except for the shocking and absurd final scene, which I won't spoil. I watched the movie in 2 halfs (never a good idea for something this strange). After the first viewing I was frustrated ad more than a little bored. After watching the end the whole thing made sense so I watched it twice more to make sure- and I can confirm it is very nearly a masterpiece. I have been humming the theme tune ever since.

Freaky, endearing, disturbing and funny in equal parts. Just don't ask me to describe the plot. Similar territory to Miike's own 'Happiness of the Kotakuris'.

Brilliant.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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Glass of milk, anyone?

JohnnyMoscow from Nottinghamshire , 21/09/2006

Another interesting film churned out from the surreal, and rather prolific world of Tash Miike, ‘Gozu’ is a highly enjoyable and thoroughly unpredictable romp through the Lynchian Japanese netherworld of a slightly unhinged Yakuza member and his continuingly baffled protégé, who meet along the way transvestites, transferring souls and milk gods.

Yes, its that incomprehensible, but all the better for it - Miike's trademark slow shot set pieces add to the tension, which is at times genuinely frightening as well as laugh out loud funny.

‘Gozu’ asks more questions that it answers, although mostly with its tongue firmly in its cheek. A cheek full of milk. Does that make sense?

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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