IMDb > Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003)
Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu
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Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   3,694 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Takashi Miike
Writer:
Sakichi Satô (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Gozu on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 July 2004 (France) more
Plot:
Minami, a member of the Azamawari crew, highly respects his Aniki (brother) Ozaki who has saved his life in the past... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
5 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(11 articles)
DVD releases for Tuesday August 11, 2009
 (From QuietEarth. 11 August 2009, 5:46 PM, PDT)

Weekly DVD & Blu-Ray Chopping List 8/11/2009
 (From Fangoria. 8 August 2009, 10:00 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Full of calcium and milky goodness more (68 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)
Yûta Sone ... Minami (as Hideki Sone)
Shô Aikawa ... Ozaki
Kimika Yoshino ... Female Ozaki
Shohei Hino ... Nose (as Shôhei Hino)
Keiko Tomita ... Innkeeper
Harumi Sone ... Innkeeper's Brother
Renji Ishibashi ... Boss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ken'ichi Endô
Kanpei Hazama
Masaya Katô
Tamio Kawaji (as Tamio Kawachi)
Susumu Kimura
Hiroyuki Nagato
Hitoshi Ozawa
Kazuyoshi Ozawa
Sakichi Satô ... Coffee Shop Manager
Tokitoshi Shiota ... Gozu
Tetsurô Tanba
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Gozu (International: English title) (USA)
Yakuza Horror Theater: Gozu (USA)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for aberrant sexual and violent content, and for language.
Runtime:
France:130 min (Cannes Film Festival) | USA:129 min
Country:
Japan
Language:
Japanese
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
DTS
Filming Locations:
Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Company:
Klock Worx Co. more

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Ozaki: Your wiener looks like Frankenstein's. more
Movie Connections:
References "Riget" (1994) more

FAQ

What are the differences between the R-Rated version and the Unrated Version?
more
29 out of 37 people found the following comment useful.
Full of calcium and milky goodness, 30 November 2004
Author: Graham Deans Williamson (gdwilliamson@deathsdoor.co.uk) from Middlesbrough, England

So we've all seen a psychological horror, right? Well, how about a psychological comedy? Or, even better, a psychological horror-comedy? Miike can sometimes be a rather haphazard director - unavoidable considering his amazing work-rate - but this is one of his most rigorously worked-out films since 'Visitor Q' (2001) (with which it shares many similarities). The whole film seems geared towards demolishing the classic horror protagonist - here, a shy, virginal foot soldier in the yakuza called Minami. Minami's sexual purity is one of the things the film takes wild advantage of, stripping back his sexual anxiety to reveal a subconscious wish to return to the bosom of his family - in, erm, every way possible.

Though it doesn't sound it, this is amazingly funny. One of the important things about Miike is that his deconstruction of genres is always fueled by a fundamental understanding of them. The Yakuza scenes here are pitch-perfect imitations of Kitano and others - long takes alternating with hand-held tracking shots, oddly-paced pauses giving off a deadpan air, sudden explosions of violence and paranoia, etc. But after the first twenty minutes or so, the film actually becomes what Sight & Sound accurately described as "a Japanese 'League of Gentlemen'".

Is what happens after this point real? Undoubtedly - Miike always differentiates between the dream sequences and the 'reality'. So we're left with the hilariously subversive notion that Minami has crossed to another plane of reality that is single-minded dedicated to warping his mind and exposing his insecurities. The rules of the game are inconsistent - one staggering late plot twist runs solely by dream logic, with no natural or even paranormal explanation for how it could happen. But it's always funny, and always enjoyable in its none-more-grotesque gallows humour. If nothing else, it makes the Farrelly brothers' claim to be making "gross-out comedies" seem very wide of the mark indeed.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003)
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One of a Trilogy? jack_ford_loves_you
This movie is the Japanese Eraserhead. randypanthegoatboy
will this be released on blu-ray? pumpgun51
Gozu vs. Eraserhead JakeDamian
is there an online video of the ending? FijiLegend8
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