"Ichi the Killer" is based on a "manga," a Japanese comic strip of a type often embodying grotesque images and disturbing themes. The film follows several Yakuza gangs as they do what they do best: murder, torture, plot, and generally cause lots of unpleasantness. I am unfamiliar with the structure of the Yakuza, but I gathered from the film that there are numerous gangs (or families, as the mafia would say) each headed up by a boss. These bosses then report to a committee composed of other gang leaders and a sort of "boss of bosses"--played here by a wheezy little runt who pops up to mediate disputes every now and again--designed to keep everything from getting out of hand. When an anonymous killer named Ichi takes down a yakuza leader, the boss's underlings, including a bleach blond thug by the name of Kakihara, seek revenge. At first, Kakihara thinks rival groups had something to do with the disappearance, so he kidnaps some thugs and tortures them in an effort to get information. These gruesome antics go so far beyond the pale that the yakuza overlords send Kakihara and his fellow gang members into exile. Instead of putting an end to the out of control violence, this judgment only encourages Kakihara to even more extreme acts of nastiness. It turns out that this blond goon worshipped his boss because the leader possessed the ability to fulfill Kakihara's S&M cravings. This is sick stuff, to be sure, but it only gets worse as the movie progresses.

Kakihara seeks out Ichi to avenge the boss but also to challenge the enigmatic assassin to a showdown. We soon learn Ichi is far from the icy killer we have come to expect. He's actually a meek sort who witnessed a brutal incident as a child and has since become a victim to his own guilt. A guy named Jiji expertly manipulates Ichi's psychological problems in order to carry out assassinations. All Jiji needs to do is tell his friend that certain people were involved in Ichi's childhood trauma and mayhem rapidly ensues. Clad in a black suit bristling with razor sharp blades, Ichi can turn a room full of people into sushi in about thirty seconds. After the murders take place, he often sinks into a weeping, cringing depression over what he has wrought. Jiji, completely indifferent to his friend's remorse, always has a few more targets lined up for the slaughter. Women, children, and men: all are fair game when Ichi goes on a rampage. As the movie progresses, and as Kakihara comes closer to his final showdown with the hyper violent Ichi, Miike throws in enough plot twists and turns to keep the viewer constantly guessing as to character motivations and the very nature of the reality these people move in.

I am guessing I missed out on a ton of inside jokes and cultural references, probably because I do not speak the language, am not Japanese, and do not live in that country. I have never even seen, let alone read, a manga comic strip. Fortunately, Miike's film boasts plenty of black humor and gory violence to the point that being non-Japanese makes little difference in understanding the picture. You don't have to be an expert on Japanese cinema to laugh at Jiji's "muscular" transformation or the scenes where Kakihara expresses his disappointment at Ichi's subservience when the two finally meet (Kakihara actually attempts to pick his foe up in order to get him to fight! Funny!). And you definitely don't need any inside knowledge to gape at the violence. This is an insanely sick film packed to the rafters with bloodshed and carnage. My mouth dropped open, and stayed that way, when Kakihara administered a hot oil "bath" to a particularly close-mouthed gangster.

Gorehounds the world over will flock to "Ichi the Killer." While you will need an iron stomach to get through this one, the film goes to great lengths to prove this is all cartoonish fantasy. I quit taking the whole thing seriously after the tongue scene, when Kakihara said, "It will get better if I keep talking," and then spoke normally in the following scene. I took this as a wink-wink, nudge-nudge from Miike, a message to the viewer that one should not take the film to heart. As far as the DVD goes, I think it should go without saying that watching the unrated edition is the way to go. If you really want to watch a movie like this one, why waste time and money fiddling around with a cut version?


Love really hurts   August 27, 2004
 70 out of 84 found this review helpful

"Ichi the Killer" ("Koroshiya 1") is a stylistic, well-made film representing a Japanese idea that seems strange to most non-Japanese, the idea that violence, even extreme violence, can be beautiful. As seen in films such as Kenka Ereji's "Elegy to Fighting," violence is an art form and a genre of Japanese movies.

This film is about killing for the sake of killing, by those who love doing it with a sexual passion. Kakihara, the masochistic Yakuza killer featured on the box cover, complains while receiving a beating that "There's no love in your violence." To commit violence without love is like having sex without emotion, and empty physical act. Director Miike Takashi has put love in his violence, and style and art.

Kakihara is the star of the film, being both brash and beautiful, but it is Ichi the Killer who is the true protagonist. Mentally unstable and boyish to the extreme, Ichi is a deranged assassin who wears a superhero costume with a bold Number 1 ("Ichi" means "Number 1" in Japanese) emblazoned on the back. Ichi is an almost-controllable tool of Jijii, who plays the gangs against each other for a mysterious motive. Jijii aims Ichi like a gun, then pulls the trigger. Kakihara deepest fantasy is to be slain by Ichi, the ultimate killer, but not before the time is right.

As you can see from this description, "Ichi the Killer" is a trip into a dark underworld of sado-masochism, lustful violence and other avenues of human nature that most people would not willfully venture into. It is without a doubt the finest film in the genre.


Beautiful Violence   November 16, 2003
 30 out of 34 found this review helpful

Ichi the Killer certainly is a gore fantatic's dream, but I can't help but feel this trivializes the movie in the extreme. Takeshi Miike seems to have gained a reputation as a purveyor of shocking, disgusting and vaguely surreal images (indeed, a recent book about him is titled 'Agitator'), but his films (or at least hte one's i've seen) have worth beyond what they mean to gore addicts. Miike is not a mindless provocateur, gore doens't seem to be an end in and of itself to him, and it's presence exists only as something that exists (even in other movies, where it's left out of frame). The beauty and craftwork in Ichi's scences of torture and all out violence betrays hidden aspects of both the beauty and the violence. Many of his movies, even the most bleak are also decidedly humorous, Ichi certainly not least among them. That I smirk while a man is having the skin peeled off his hand says a lot more about modernity than a lot of other things with that course as a particular goal.

Likewise, the characters, certainly not sympathetic, at times seem tangentally derived from certain unpleasant emotions, and that we share our humanity with them is very disconcerting. Audition, as much as it was a nihilistic horror film, was also a sweet love story even in the most horrifying moments. Ichi isn't disimilar... a yakuza superhero psychotropic gore fest that doesn't care about genre and shares a deep connection to humanity.

That said, Ichi's certainly not for the narrow minded, weak stomached, or self righteous... of course, seeing the dvd cover you probably already know if you want to watch it or not, I just hope that people who love cinema but are turned off by gore will give it a chance, as it has a lot of depth and terrific direction.


A Must-See for Miike Fans . . . Others Should Proceed with Caution . . .   January 29, 2007
 15 out of 25 found this review helpful

I am a big fan of Miike's work. "Happiness of the Katakuris" is an irresistible, charming work of art. Similarly, "Audition" is a chilling cautionary-tale. But "Ichi the Killer" is not as engaging as Miike's other films . . . many people will try to convince you otherwise though:)

Foremost, it must be noted that much of the gore is laughable (intentionally) . . . the face sliding down the wall, the tongue being severed, the pimp being "split" . . . funny stuff, I admit!! Moreover, it does not appear that Miike was overly concerned about these moments appearing "realistic" (most of his films have a "dreamlike" quality). Granted, the suspension scene and subsequent scalding solicited a fairly visceral response . . . which was pretty impressive! One other aspect of the film is ALL TOO REAL . . . check IMDB for a horrific bit of trivia on the opening sequence!! (I cannot mention it here!!)

I noticed that some people are complaining about the over-dubbing. Leave it to Americans to select the over-dubbing option!! When you select over-dubbing, you obscure artist-intent . . . you destroy the tone of the film . . . if you are watching a film in a language with which you are unfamiliar, it is your obligation to READ the subtitles. So, stop embarrassing the rest of us and click that "subtitle" button.

The plot is pretty convoluted (which is not necessarily a failing point), so it may require more than one viewing . . . or, at the very least, pay close attention during the initial screening. SPOILER: Nonetheless, the plot is a bit of a Palahniuk rehash. So, the ending should not surprise the viewer (even though it was intended to).

This is a tough call. While many claim this piece is "one of the most violent films in existence," they fail to acknowledge that Miike's work is amusing (again, intentionally!!) So, it is not that this is a TENSE film that has you on "the edge of your seat." Personally, I thought it was a little tedious (I actually fast-forwarded through segments).

I gave this film one star . . . simply because I feel it would be dishonest to inflate the rating. It is not a "good" film by any set of standards (even unconventional ones!!) STILL, if you love Miike's other films, watch this one . . . just so you can see this man's tremendous RANGE!! And so you can engage in this debate!!


Ultra Violent Madness, For Better or Worse   May 11, 2007
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Live Action Anime...yes it is an oxymoron, but it's one way to describe what Director Takashi Miike has done with Ichi the Killer. It's like a live action version of Akira or Ninja Scroll.

The film's plot is secondary so I won't dwell on it here, but if you have never seen Miike's films, get ready for a ride through the imagination of a complete mad man. The best part about the film is that Miike and his team are actually outstanding technically, and his sense of humor is both original and in my opinion hilarious.

Ichi the Killer is as glossed over and stylized as it is sadistic and violent, and believe me when I say that this film is violent. It's sexually violent content is out of whack as well and alone might earn Ichi an NC-17 stamp but it's violence is so fantastic it almost seems cartoon-like. If you didn't find humor in films like Dead Alive, Robocop, Evil Dead 2 or Kill Bill pass on Ichi, but if you like those films like I do, give Miike a chance, you won't regret it.