Miike Takashi (三池崇史) (born August 24, 1960 in Osaka, Japan) is a highly prolific Japanese filmmaker, having made over fifty theatrical and television productions since his debut in 1991. For the years 2001 and 2002, he is credited with directing no fewer than fourteen productions. Many of his films contain graphic, almost cartoonish violence and bloodshed, criminals (especially yakuza), or concern themselves with non-Japanese living in Japan (such as Brazilians, Chinese, or Russians).
He graduated from Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film (Yokohama Hoso Eiga Senmon Gakko).
He gained world notoriety in 2000 when his horror film Audition and violent yakuza epic Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha debuted in international film festivals.
His very first films were television productions, but he purportedly directed several direct-to-video releases that were financed as money-laundering operations for the yakuza, although there has never been any conclusive proof of this.
His most controversial film has been Ichi the Killer (2001) (殺し屋１), adapted from a manga of the same name, and starring Asano Tadanobu as a sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer named Kakihara looking for a mysterious killer named Ichi, who disembowels people with razor blades in his boots, and seems to be targeting Kakihara's gang. (During its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001, the audience received "barf bags" emblazoned with the film's logo as a promotional gimmick.) Its flamboyant gory killings include Ichi slicing a man in half from head to groin, and severing another's face, which then slides down a nearby wall. The BBFC refused to show the film uncut in Britain, and in Hong Kong it was shown missing over 15 minutes of footage (though in the United States it has been shown uncut and unrated). An uncut DVD was released in the Benelux.
Not all of Miike's films are gorefests, however. The Happiness of the Katakuris was a farcical musical comedy involving zombies, and Ley Lines and Agitator were character-driven, serious crime dramas. Graveyard of Honour is a remake of a Kinji Fukasaku film from the 1970s.
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Miike's best-known films (not comprehensive):
External link:
Further Reading
