Bijitâ Q (2001) (V)

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:

Sex | Prostitute | Stranger | Television Reporter | Classmate

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

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Itaru Era		writer (as Era)

Produced by
Reiko Arakawa	....	producer
Hisanori Endô	....	executive producer
Seiichiro Kobayashi	....	producer
Susumu Nakajima	....	producer
Akira Saitô	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Hideo Yamamoto

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Production Design by
Yutaka Uki

Makeup Department
Hiroko Miyata	....	hair stylist

Sound Department
Yoshiya Obara	....	sound

Production Companies

• Alphaville
• CineRocket

Distributors

• Pretty Pictures (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• CineRocket (2001) (Japan)
• Exciting Grand Prix (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Gold View Company Ltd. (international)
• KSS (Japan) (VHS)
• Media Blasters
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Rapid Eye Movies (2001) (Germany) (all media)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Trustech Japan Co. Ltd. (prints)

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:

Continuity: At the start of the film when the girl is undressing to have sex with her Dad, she takes her socks off. However when we see her again a few seconds later, she still has them on. She then removes them (again).

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:

Referenced in Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003)

A vile masterwork

Visitor Q is hard to deal with, but I think I'd call this a masterpiece. This is an update of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema. It's often compared to Pasolini's Salò because of its shocking content, but, plot-wise, it's virtually a remake of the 1968 film, brilliantly updated and moved to modern Japan. Teorema is not Pasolini's best film, but I do consider it a great one. It is a very simple allegory. Miike expands the concept even further. A family is falling apart, and a stranger whom nobody seems to know moves into their home and starts knocking some sense into them (sometimes literally). There are some truly disturbing things in Visitor Q that few people of sound mind and body will want to sit through. Fortunately, I am not of sound mind or body. If you can take it, the film can be extremely funny, as well. And I think it actually captures something truthful not only about the decay of Japanese culture, but also the rest of the world. It just does this in the most extreme way possible. Most will probably judge that it goes too far. I thought it was amazing.