Bijitâ Q (2001) (V)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Itaru Era (writer)

Release Date:

26 November 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The only thing stranger than this family is... Visitor Q.

Plot:

A father, who is a failed former television reporter tries to mount a documentary about violence and sex among youths...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Sex | Violence | Heroin Addict | Television

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Ken'ichi Endô	...	Kiyoshi Yamazaki / Father
Shungiku Uchida	...	Keiko Yamazaki / Mother
Kazushi Watanabe	...	The visitor
Jun Mutô	...	Takuya Yamazaki / Son
Fujiko	...	Miki Yamazaki / Daughter
Shôko Nakahara	...	Asako Murata
Ikko Suzuki	...	Sasaoka

Also Known As:

Love Cinema Vol. 6 (International: English title) (series title)
Visitor Q (International: English title)
Visitor Q+ (USA) (reissue title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong aberrant sexual and violent content, language and drug use.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Japan:R-18 | New Zealand:R18 (with restriction) | France:-16 | Germany:18 | USA:R | UK:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Australia:R | Singapore:(Banned)

Company:

Alphaville

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Minute 1:24:06 (in the dinning room while the father, son, and the guest are having their dinner), the boom mic is totally visible and continues for a while.

Quotes:

Kiyoshi Yamazaki: [as the bullies throw fireworks at the house] They're here! Everyone, can you see this? Can you see this?
[taping with camera]
Kiyoshi Yamazaki: This is my home! My home! Did you see that? The big strong bullies are here!
[pans to Keiko]
Kiyoshi Yamazaki: This is my wife! She's a lovely little wife! Dinner was delicious! This is...
[pans to the Visitor]
Kiyoshi Yamazaki: ... I don't know who this is, we're not acquainted! Watch! It's amazing, truly amazing! What a scene! It's unbelievable!
[going back to the fireworks, panning to knife in floor]
Kiyoshi Yamazaki: My wife threw this knife! Everyone, here it is!
[filming the chaos]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Remake of Teorema (1968)

disturbing, powerful, but so hilarious

What is amazing with Miike Takashi's cinema is its ability to surprise you. This film is no exception.

Wery aware of its medium (a DV camera) Miike uses this cheap look to touch the viewer more deeply. The credibility comes from this disturbing proximity of the image (It looks like your holiday film). Recurrent use of subjective perspective, emphasis this. But, instead of falling into a dogma-like movie, Miike pushes the plot to its most unacceptable extremities, sometimes flirting with the fantastic genre.

Miike plays with multi point of views, particularly during the opening scene, in which the girl takes photographs of her father before they sleep together. Desorienting the spectator.

What astonished me when I saw that movie, is the amount of humor (noir)that grows up during the film. Here, shocking situations (necrophilia, humiliations...) become really funny. And from an awful family relationship, the plot evolves to an objectively even worst situation, but subjectively a much better situation for the characters.

Miike plays here with conventional Hollywood vision about family and gives a much cynical and humorist meaning to unity! A really enjoyable film I would advise to open minded mature people.