Featured Audience Ratings

• Jonathan H

  
  Watching Gozu reminded me a lot of Eraserhead in that both films nearly abandon plot all together to make way for their respective bizarre scenes and surrealistic atmosphere. But this isn't classical Dali or Bunuel type surrealism, which focused a lot on style and subverting… More
  Watching Gozu reminded me a lot of Eraserhead in that both films nearly abandon plot all together to make way for their respective bizarre scenes and surrealistic atmosphere. But this isn't classical Dali or Bunuel type surrealism, which focused a lot on style and subverting conventions, this is more of the Jorodowsky variety: start with a blank canvas, disregard narrative logic all together, and let your imagination run wild. Gozu may be the most peculiar and surreal film in Miike's canon. If you know anything about his work, that's saying quite a bit.

• Ariuza k

  
  Takashi Miike is a very strange man - I think there's sufficient evidence of that fact that I need not justify it further. So if I tell you that GOZU is probably Miike's weirdest film to date, you will know that we are talking some world-class oddity. Billed as a… More
  Takashi Miike is a very strange man - I think there's sufficient evidence of that fact that I need not justify it further. So if I tell you that GOZU is probably Miike's weirdest film to date, you will know that we are talking some world-class oddity. Billed as a "Yakuza Horror" film, which is a label that just about fits if you consider that Japanese horror films have always shown a very different sensibility than Hollywood films (Japanese horror is generally of a quite intangible nature, about the horror of the unknown and the incomprehensible - not so much about the big scary monsters). GOZU is interesting in that the "horror" of it comes almost entirely from the way it is filmed - the camera work, the editing and the sound effects all come together to create a sense of foreboding and fear that for the most part is not at all born out by the actual events in the film. Miike is probably making the point that most horror films are just exercises in film-making technique these days, rather than presenting truly frightening content. Or perhaps he just fancied a way to make his latest Yakuza film a little bit different :) Miike is definitely one of the most creative film-makers working in the world today - quite possibly *the* most, given his insanely prolific output and the fact that almost every film he makes manages to be unique and memorable. Doing that with one film a year would be an impressive feat, and Miike gives us at least 3-4 such films every year. GOZU shows him on fine creative form once more, turning a story that probably isn't all that interesting into a surreal, dreamlike experience. The plot itself is very minimal, and largely irrelevant for most of the 125 minute running time. Basically, a Yakuza is told to take his yakuza-brother (Sho Aikawa) to an out of the way part of Japan and get rid of him, as he been showing signs of going a bit loopy. However, before he can carry out his orders, Aikawa disappears - and most of the rest of the film is concerned with Minami's efforts to find him. But that description really sells short the content of the film, which is really about the strange characters he encounters and the even stranger experiences that he has. Going into more detail about what happens wouldn't add a lot to this review, so I won't. Just be prepared to "go with the flow" and see what the film has to offer, rather than expecting anything specific from it. Don't expect a nice neat resolution at the end, either, 'cause you'll definitely be disappointed. Miike's films are often films that need to be seen in just the right mood to be enjoyed, and I'm glad I made the decision that my mood wasn't right when I started watching GOZU 6 months ago. The film sat there waiting for me until this weekend, when I figured the time was as good as it was going to get, and it paid off in spades :) Miike's films often suffer on repeat viewings, and I am pretty sure this will be true of GOZU - at over 2 hours it is definitely too long, and there are sure to be scenes that are a bit of a chore to sit through when you know what's coming. I couldn't say which scenes they are from a first viewing though, so there's nothing that's truly redundant in there, and I hope that the US distributors that recently acquired the film will remember that their viewers would rather make the decision themselves about any scenes that weren't needed. i.e. uncut, please!

• Greg S

  
  A conflicted yakuza is ordered by his superiors to dispose of his immediate boss, who's gone insane, but when the body disappears in a strange town outside Nagoya it becomes unclear who's actually the crazy one. One of the better efforts from Miike's weird and… More
  A conflicted yakuza is ordered by his superiors to dispose of his immediate boss, who's gone insane, but when the body disappears in a strange town outside Nagoya it becomes unclear who's actually the crazy one. One of the better efforts from Miike's weird and perverted phase; calling it the Japanese ERASERHEAD may be going a little far, but it's in the ballpark.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Miike shows how skillfull and inventive he can be with Gozu, a bizarre hybrid of horror and yakuza flicks. This is not a "japanese lynch flick" it's a very unique beast that deserves it's own adjectives.

• Arash X

  
  A nightmarish joke? or a parody of Lynch-ish movies? , Well not as great as Lynch's multi-layered nightmares but still pretty interesting

• Saskia D

  
  One of the strangest movies I've ever seen, a bit slow sometimes. I liked the dialogue -pretty weird- it requires a special taste haha. It's pretty sick too.

• _kelly .

  
  Builds to a great ending. a bit too obsessed with lactation. This is best described as a surrealistic thriller. As usual, Miike makes a list of extreme activities and mashes them together to make grotesquefest. Not as nasty as Visitor Q. Too slowly paced, but some full characters and… More
  Builds to a great ending. a bit too obsessed with lactation. This is best described as a surrealistic thriller. As usual, Miike makes a list of extreme activities and mashes them together to make grotesquefest. Not as nasty as Visitor Q. Too slowly paced, but some full characters and obviously fantastic visuals.<br/><br/>"So Fucked Up" highlight<br/>the conclusion, and the way in which "Soup Ladle Yakuza Boss" dies

• El Hombre I

  
  A yakuza, Ozaki, exterminates a chihuahua, convinced that animals are part of a conspiracy to assassinate his boss. His paranoia mulitplies and becomes a threat for the organization. His boss orders his execution and gives the chore to Ozaki's right hand man. THEN the weird… More
  A yakuza, Ozaki, exterminates a chihuahua, convinced that animals are part of a conspiracy to assassinate his boss. His paranoia mulitplies and becomes a threat for the organization. His boss orders his execution and gives the chore to Ozaki's right hand man. THEN the weird stuff begins. For those of you that are familiar with Miike, don't worry, there are scenes that rival some of his most odd work and can make viewers uncomfortable at times. While that may not seem like anything new, I believe this is one of the strangest films I've ever seen. If you're looking for shock value, you may be disappointed with the slower pace of this movie. If you're looking for a story that hands you a puzzle and asks you to put the pieces together yourself, then check this out. I definitely recommend you watch this more than once, just in case you miss anything. <a href="http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c137/i_eat_shoes13/?action=view¤t=gozu.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c137/i_eat_shoes13/gozu.jpg" border="0" alt="gozu"></a>

• Lady D

  
  Probably the most bizarre film I've ever watched, I had to read the dvd cover to make sense of it all after. With my new found faith in Takashi Miike, I'm gonna put this down to me misunderstanding this, definitely needs further viewings. VERDICT: Confused!

• Kylie B

  
  I never got to finish watching this, but if I do the rating may change.

• Mike N

  
  *strums guitar* A mole has burrowed into my lungs, you see He laughs in cough and speaks in wheeze He claws out my throat and rations my air This troublesome mole isn't being very fair [i]dooo dododooo dododooooot[/i] A cloud has burrowed… More
  *strums guitar* A mole has burrowed into my lungs, you see He laughs in cough and speaks in wheeze He claws out my throat and rations my air This troublesome mole isn't being very fair [i]dooo dododooo dododooooot[/i] A cloud has burrowed into my head, you see I wobble when it dances and echo when it sings It blocks my thought and puts walls in my mind This troublesome cloud isn't being very kind [i]dooo dododooo dododooooot[/i] A pirate has burrowed into my nose, you see He digs for gold boulders so carelessly He arr's and he yarr's in my snores at night This troublesome pirate isn't being very right [i]dooo dododooo dododooooot[/i] [i]dooo dododooo dododooooot[/i] [i]doot [/i]*sleeps*

• Brett W

  
  This is basically a textbook example of a film that's "really hard" to analyze. People either reach too deep for meaning in order to keep up their artistic credibility, or they dismiss the film as garbage because it "doesn't make any sense". So I'm… More
  This is basically a textbook example of a film that's "really hard" to analyze. People either reach too deep for meaning in order to keep up their artistic credibility, or they dismiss the film as garbage because it "doesn't make any sense". So I'm just going to take it for what it is, an abstraction (but not meaningless, mind you). The question however is whether or not this particular abstraction points coherently enough in a general direction as to make it a compelling piece of film art, because it surely isn't entertainment for the masses. On the whole I think Gozu works as an extremely indirect way of dealing with homosexual repression, incorporating imagery and symbolism as the externalization of inner turmoil. But, this film also takes narrative leaps that are often too much to keep the viewer on a steady subconscious reading. There are definitely moments where we lose simpatico with whatever the director is trying to say. For example, the search for Ozaki leaps uninterrupted to the discovery that he has been "compressed" into a woman. Without a link the audience is lost on both a conventional narrative AND abstract level. blah, blah, blah, anyway, good stuff.

• Anthony V

  
  Or David Lynch goes to Japanese hell. Lots of metaphor and references to Japanese mythology.

• Christopher B

  
  Miike's Lynchian film is a slower, meditative film with spurts of insanity. Great performances from all cast members and excellent direction from Miike.

Read all 14 featured audience ratings