Gozu [DVD] [2003]

What an odd film. What a very, very odd film. It's not often I'm lost for words, but this time...well... it... I...Gozu is possibly - no sorry - definitely one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen. I'm still not sure what happened. I feel like I've taken a blow to the head. I feel like someone spiked my drink with Rohypnol and I'm just coming round. Things are still a bit foggy; hazy; and I'm struggling to make sense of it all.If women giving birth to full-grown men, human bodies with cows heads, women bottling their breast milk for their hotel guests, gangsters, and men who get off on shoving ladles up their behinds is your thing, then go for it - because let's face it, I don't think you're going to find another film anywhere that caters to your tastes. Gozu is it for you buddy.On the whole I found the film a bit too surreal for me. Surreal I can deal with. But I still like a story I can follow and make sense of. For film fanatics and hardcore Mike Takashi fans only.On the plus side - I did love the title sound track.If you found this review helpful please give it the thumbs up.

This film is simply mad.Its what would happen if Visitor Q, Dead or alive & Twin Peacks had a child.I Must warn you though this film is not fit for family or spouse viewing.Best wached on youre own in a dark room with the door locked.

Absolutely nuts but definitely worth the watch if you like Asian cinema.

Keeps you glued to the screen not only for the action but also the great soundtrack - all so weird but well worth the watch.

Hilarious, shocking and disturbing. This isn’t for Netflix imbeciles. But it’s one of my favourite films. You won’t be disappointed, the ending is worth it alone. If you’re not chuckling all the way through then you should just get in the sea.

Much like  Audition , Gozu is another Takashi Miike slow burner, that ostensibly begins life on a quite different path to the one it eventually follows. To be any more explicit would be to spoil much of the film, and as it is a film in which the events lend much weight to the audience satisfaction, it would be cruel to say much more than to just stick with it despite its pedestrian quality. If you're of a patient temperament, the gradual mysteries of the film will unravel quite satisfyingly and disturbingly.The tension and intrigue builds nicely throughout, aided by an atmospheric and very subtle score, which lends a certain unease to the film, and is less a typical musical score and more an amalgamation of almost imperceptible drones and uneasy tones that help unsettle the viewer without being overtly obvious. Alongside this, are the perhaps more obviously disconcerting characters that shadow the central protagonist in the search for his yakuza brother. Their bewildering personalities, dialogue, and distinctly local (very much in  The League Of Gentlemen  sense of the word) habits, underpin much of the strangeness and unease that builds to the denouement. Their behaviour is ultimately summarised by their very own semi-frequent statement of "you're not from Nagoya are you?", which although it evokes an almost horror cliché or spoof, is actually delivered well and effectively underlines the oddness of these characters.As our protagonist battles through his own anxieties and comes to the completion of his journey, there are some pleasantly shocking and disturbing moments of a quite unique nature that are simultaneously repulsive and amusing (in a hysterical sense). The body horror moments are akin to the plastic reality of Cronenberg at his best in work like  Videodrome  and  Shivers , and as a result they really aren't for the squeamish or faint hearted.This is ultimately surreal and disturbing, not in a manner like David Lynch which can often be too arch and alienating without reason, this is surreal and disturbing in a truly satisfying and at times humorously shocking way. Although well accomplished, with some great horrific moments and some customary Miike weirdness to boot, this isn't perhaps as fulfilling as other films in his repertoire (Audition for me being the high water mark of this type), perhaps as a result of the films rather slow pace. While I'm well prepared to put in the effort as it were, this might not be the same for all viewers. For me though, it was worth waiting for the gruesome weirdness to unfold.

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'.