Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Sakichi Satô (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 July 2004 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Minami, a member of the Azamawari crew, highly respects his Aniki (brother) Ozaki who has saved his life in the past...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Violence | Milk | Yakuza | Bra

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yûta Sone	...	Minami (as Hideki Sone)
Shô Aikawa	...	Ozaki
Kimika Yoshino	...	Female Ozaki
Shôhei Hino	...	Nose
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

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sakichi Satô		screenplay

Produced by
Kanako Koido	....	producer
Harumi Sone	....	producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Kazunari Tanaka

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Production Design by
Akira Ishige

Set Decoration by
Akira Sakamoto

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masato Tanno	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist
Hitoshi Tsurumaki	....	sound designer

Other crew
Winston Emano	....	publicist
David Magdael	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Klock Worx Co.
• Rakuei-sha

Distributors

• Pathfinder Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Pretty Pictures (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinema Epoch (2009) (USA) (all media)
• I-On New Media (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Versus Entertainment (2005) (Spain) (all media)

Special Effects

• Arquebuse (sound effects)

Other Companies

• Filmcraft  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Gozu (International: English title) (USA)
Yakuza Horror Theater: Gozu (USA)

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

Certification:

UK:18 | Australia:R | Australia:R (2008) | New Zealand:R18 | France:-16 | Japan:R-15 | Hong Kong:III | USA:Unrated | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Company:

Klock Worx Co.

Quotes:

Ozaki: Your wiener looks like Frankenstein's.

Movie Connections:

References "Riget" (1994)

Miike's Crazy Ideas Are Fun To Watch

This is the third Miike movie I watch, and it is so far my least favorite movie of his, but the film is definitely a lot of fun. The film's plot is very silly (something about a yakuza member looking for the missing dead body of his "brother"), but it's filled with crazy ideas. It would be pointless to try to analyze what Miike is trying to do here because it all seems meaningless anyway. I'm sure the film makes sense to Miike (and to his fans), but I do not think this is the kind of movie you watch for its performances, etc. I had fun watching this film because I could never predict what kind of nonsense Miike was going to come up with. There is something compelling and very satisfying about watching a film merely for its shock value. I'm not sure if this film could be considered an artistic triumph, but the movie's great parade of bizarre twists and turns satisfied me and gave me a lot to think about. Many directors try to engage viewers with a non-traditional narrative, but Miike is one of the few directors who makes this kind of film-making fun to watch. The movie cannot be taken seriously, but its silliness is irresistible. Highly recommended!