Customer Reviews

Izo (Special Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The opening of scene of Izo depicts the title character Okada Izo crucified and calmly waiting for his captors to kill him. They soon comply and execute Izo by driving their spears through his body several times. The scene then quickly changes to a chaotic montage in which images of some of the 20th century's most brutal dictators are flashed across the screen, including Stalin, Hitler, Tojo Hideki, and Benito Mussolini. His spirit unable to rest, Izo rises and begins a path of destruction that leaves no one untouched. It matters not if one is old or young, male or female, Izo will kill anyone in his path. The source of his consternation seems to be a group of aristocrats, including Kitano Takeshi and Matsuda Ryuhei who plays the leader, who rule society from the shadows. Fighting the vengeful souls of samurai he killed in the past, a pistol wielding old man with a voice box, a prostitute, a huge black man in the robes of a Buddhist monk, Bob "The Beast" Sapp," makes his way closer to his goal, but as his bad karma accumulates Izo loses his remaining humanity and quickly morphs into a demon.

Yet, who or what is Izo? Supposedly in order for there to be perfection, all the imperfections of the world must be shed of like a second skin and dissipate into nothingness. However, Izo becomes the personification of this nothingness, a being created entirely of bad karma trapped in a Möbius strip in which time and space are both very fragile where he suffers the torment he brought to others.

Some film viewers seem to think that Izo is an overwrought mess with pedantic aspirations that fail miserably. Some think it achieves its goals while many just enjoy the film's high gore factor. I did not know what to think at first. I quickly grew bored at the beginning of the film when it seemed as if it was going to be nothing more than one blood bath after the other, although I did think some of Izo's enemies were quite creative. However, as the film progressed I became a bit more interested in some underlying themes of the film: man made constructions of love, nation, etc. To me one of the most interesting aspects of the film was the "bard," a middle-aged man with a guitar. As those who have read the Tale of Heike know the oral story of how the Heike, Taira fell to the Genji, Minamoto, clan was told by normally blind biwa playing monks in order to appease the souls of the Heike samurai so they would not return as vengeful spirits. While this "bard" might not be serving this same purpose, the songs he sings are quite chilling and the visuals, such as the girls marching while wearing gasmasks, are quite stunning. Is Izo a good film? That is hard to say, but I believe that it offers different conclusions for different viewers. If one is looking for a confusing bloodbath, you'll find it here. If one is looking for deeper philosophical questions in a miasma of blood and guts, you'll find it here as well, or at least it could aid you in finding these questions within your own being.

It's hard to be familiar with the movies of Takashi Miike. Despite seeing the majority of his films released in America (and even a few that have yet to be released here), it's hard not to feel like I've lost something in translation. I can appreciate the humor, the violence, the plotlines, etc but there are usually parts that confuse me, and his movies typically require repeated watchings. It's not that I'm particularly new to the films he creates or the films of Japanese directors in general ("Tetsuo" creator Tsukamoto is probably my favorite director); the point I'm trying to illustrate is that you have to WANT to appreciate his films. You have to work hard sometimes to get into what he's doing, because he often throws conventional plot points, "hooks" that grab you, and structure out the window. Even his most fairly straightforward films take many detours into the bizarre (see the tank randomly showing up in "Family" or the rocket launcher that comes out on nowhere in at least two of his films!)...

So, it's not surprising that this is one of the lesser-recieved of Miike's works. Using the "hook" of a sword fighting epic initially gets people interested in this film, but seeing no conventional plot or point to what is happening throws people off. This confuses me -- though I definitely didn't grasp everything upon the first viewing of this, I was still instantly amazed at what Miike has set up here: A journey through one man's tortured soul. Even if you don't feel like you understand everything that's happening, you still realize this film is genius -- maybe you just haven't figured out why yet.

Upon repeated viewings, however, I figured out why. As another reviewer mentioned, you have to kind of look in between the lines. This film is powerful, epic, emotional, and even darkly comedic. On the surface, this film is basically just a journey through someone's afterlife. However, beyond that, the film pours on flashy imagery, ultraviolence, and heavy emotion to an almost suffocating degree. In a lot of ways, this film reminds me of "El Topo" -- a movie that is disguised as a genre effort (El Topo being a Western, this being a samurai swordfighting film) that just uses the basic genre outlines and explores topics deeper than have ever been covered in the genre before.

I think those who overlook this film simply were expecting a straightforward swordfighting movie, which this film clearly isn't. It's way better than that, and it's honestly probably the best film to come out in the last decade. Don't write this off after one viewing, it REQUIRES repeated viewings. A masterpiece.

Miike is certainly not a conventional filmmaker and this may be his most unconvetional film. That doesn't make it bad(far from it), nihlism & self destruction are the main themes played out in an almost acid trip of a movie.

For some reason it reminds me of The Last Temptaion of Christ splattered in blood, begging for mercy and asking the ultimate truth of human suffering.(with some really great cameos)

Only for true Miike fans.

Many say that this film is just a completely brutal and totally pointless movie. I disagree with this enormously. Miike would never make a movie that has no theme or hidden message in it. Izo, to me, is a reflection of today's society. Our man, Izo is hardcore and ruthless, and seems to be killing out of the pure joy of it. Do we not in today's world also commit such acts? Maybe not to such an extreme as this movie portrays... but Miike always ALWAYS shows us things exxagerated to the utmost and fullest. I found Izo to actually be very philosophical and actually referenced Buddhism folk-tales from time to time. You gotta look in between the lines. Izo is for the intelligent crowd who knows how to handle sarcasm and large (very large) amounts of violence. I think if you really study Miike's work, you'll find this film satisfactory. And if you don't want to think and just wanna see some repulsive scenes of gore, you can go for this one as well (weirdo).

A simple idea: a man is being killed somewhen far in the past but his soul turns into a wandering spirit that is drifting throught it's own inner hell. In my opinion the conclusion could be understood purely psychological: if you hate the world the world will hate you because your hate will be understood and answered the same way, like it or not.

Philosophical in a way, this movie is infinitly uncompromising. Imagine Kill Bill, remove the "Assasin squad" and replace it with all sorts of historical enemies, ranging from samurai spirits to demon killers to demons to Yakuzas to SWAT teams to school kids to female teachers to infernal whores to a wedding banquet to your own mother... the list goes on and there's more blood and guts here than in Ichi the killer, a lot more actually. The gods are dressed like business men, commanding all those historical enemies to stop Izo from crushing them.

Izo hates everything that exists and so does everything that exists hate Izo, but nothing 'really' exists. Izo is a wandering soul that has no soul, he is the "infinite absurdity". This movie is the most consequent version of the classic 'never ending hell' tale. Long after Izo has begun killing everyone standing in his way, he and the audience comes to realize that there is no way, there is no goal, there is only the neverending slaughter and vengeance of everything, hell is repetition with no end, violence leads to more violence. Izo somehow symbolizes the capacity of violence, so it's only logic he can't die. As long as violence comes his way in the guise of his attackers, he continues to exist. Yeah, it's that simple and the formula isn't going to change untill the very end of the movie.

There's hardly a minute without arterial sprays, hardly a character that is not being slaughtered sooner or later, no matter who it is: buddha, lovers, demons, cops, kids... sometimes it's almost funny (the wedding banquet...). I believe there are certain similiarties to Miike's "Graveyard of honor" in which a yakuza is going to battle against the rest of the world. To me, both characters could be understood as an allegory to social behaviour and historical events.

The furthermore sadistic aspect of the movie is that Izo cannot die but is suffering just as much as his victims, violence goes where violence comes from. Sometimes Izo is surrounded by a dozen enemies, he's fighting one toe-to-toe while the others keep stabbing their knives, swords and stuff into Izo's bleeding body that therefore is covered in blood with countless injuries throughout the whole film, every attack is a painful experience for Izo and is being responded with more violence. Repeat that around a thousand times and yeah, that's pretty much what this movie is all about on screen. It's like playing GTA with the "everybody's attacking you"-cheat... It all begins with Izo's execution at the beginning of the movie which has to be one of the goriest and most painful in film history.

If you truly hate somebody and need to release some mental tension, that is the movie for you. It's an endless and pretty mindless killing spree, the dialogues are beautiful, visuals as well, it's Takashi Miike, it's very brutal, and, frankly, very very boring. Sure, every sword battle is skillfully shot as if Miike has never done anything else but this sort of films. Nevertheless, it's for the first time I remember that I was watching the last 20 minutes in spooling speed. I knew these 20 minutes would show nothing else but another 100 (at minimum) sword executions and I was right but didn't want to miss the ending. It's a pretty long movie but it seems even longer reagarding it's repetive nature and background message that should be clear to anyone around 4000 deaths before the final conclusion. At the end, thank god, it all becomes symbolic when Izo is standing on a bizar platform that is part of the 'symbol of neverending infinity', realizing, that for deliverance, there has to be another way to go than hate and vengeance. One could sense a political statement here but regarding the fact that with AUDITITION there was absolutly no social commentary intended by neither the director nor the screen writer, IZO could as well be seen as just another killer freak show for pure sick entertainment.

It's not a martial arts movie; it is about a philosophy; a way of living and dying. Izo can be a type of demon or even a manifestation of Satan; he is in a Hell of his own creation and will never be reborn (remember, this is based on Eastern beliefs) until and unless he stops the hatred and cruelty and finds another path. As long as he allows his hatred to consume him, he will continue in Infinity for.....infinity.
If you go with the beliefs of kharma; what he does in his past lives will determine what his next life will be; his is a world filled with pain and hate that perpetuates because he knows no other way.
Having said that, I, too have to agree that Miike made his point halfway through the film and the killing did get a little tiring towards the end, but I was also intrigued enough to watch the whole thing to ensure there was nothing missed on this rather interesting ride.
Another reviewer had a valid complaint about there not being any sub-titles to the songs, which clearly carried much insight into the film's message. I think non-Japanese speakers would be able to understand the concept better if we could understand the lyrics to the bard's songs. Perhaps the newer release took care of that oversight.

Anti-God, Anti-Society, Anti-Love, Anti-Humanity, Anti-Creation, Anti-Existence... IZO is raging, confused, helpless and nihilistic. he can be anytime, anywhere. Monster or Messiah? you decide.

I'm a fan of Miike, but _Izo_ is just too much. There's no plot whatsoever, just a poor unfortunate reincarted samurai wandering through time and space and killing everyone who crosses his path. That's it! End of sentence! If you think you can stand over two hours of this, give it a try. If you're looking for something with even a rudimentary plot, you might want to try something else, like _Audition_ or _Ichi the Killer_. I'd rather watch the incomprehensible _Gozu_ again than be forced to sit through _Izo_. It is a beautifully-photographed, but ultimately pointless film. Maybe the 6th or 7th other film Miike directs this year will be more interesting.

Well Miike fans here we go with a movie that I didn't like. It's definitely strange enough and bloody enough but it's also too long, too boring and it doesn't have that Miike feel to it, like say DEADLY OUTLAW: REKKA, ICHI THE KILLER, YAKUZA DEMON or GOZU. It felt like Miike was just cashing a check.

From what I gathered Izo was an evil samurai who's crucified and speared to death. His spirit goes into an eternal Hell where he uncontrollably jumps from place to place throughout time and dimensions. Wherever he lands he kills people then just jumps to somewhere else and he does this over and over again and again and again for two hours.

Unless you're a diehard Miike fan I'd skip it. If you're looking for a more straightforward and rewarding samurai movie then check out THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI or SWORD OF DOOM or if you're looking for some quality non-Miike weirdness watch Sasaki's CRAZY LIPS.

My fiancee is a huge fan of Japanese cinema, but for the most part is a huge fan of the work of possibly the most certifiably insane man to ever get behind a camera, Takashi Miike. I too am a fan of his work, mostly because he's broken so many boundaries in filmmaking that the society needs to create new boundaries just so he can break them.

To say he's a cinematic genius is a bit of an understatement. He has done so many films it's hard to really know what his style is, since he never does the same thing with each film, each time he always does something a little different. I'm fairly certain that as we live and breathe that Miike's name will stand next to some of the other great extravagant filmmakers like David Lynch or even David Cronenberg.

anyway, I'm getting off topic here. Trying to describe or even explain just what is going on with the movie 'Izo' is not exactly easy, because you need to see the film itself. It's not so much a film as an experience.

The story essentially is about an ancient samurai warrior named Izo, he was the most brutal assassin there ever was, and he was put to death, he was crucified, but even then he couldn't die because he wasn't allowed into Heaven or even Hell. This frustration only fuels Izo's rage and so he sets about cutting a path throughout history to find the ones in charge, the Gods if you will and to eliminate them and damn anyone who gets in his way. And so for the next two hours we get Izo doing exactly that, killing all sorts of people, leaving a trail of bodies left and right, up and down, inside out and upside down all over the place as he makes his way to the those in charge. it's an insane tale because no one is safe from Izo's wrath, both the guilty and the innocent, his own mother, innocent children, a couple about to get married, vampires, gun toting soldiers, no one is safe.

Essentially the story can be viewed as one man's fight against the establishment, how one person all alone fights against insurmountable odds to achieve his goals. Throughout the film people basically try and plead with him, try to reason with him to stop what he's doing to just repent before its too late, or in other words to just give up and sell out and give up his individual freedom to do what he wants, his obsession is admirable but is also a bit flawed, because this film also showcases that violence is a never ending cycle as depicted in a very brilliant scene with Izo running on the symbol of infinity. There has to come a moment when enough is enough, because when all you know in your life is violence, there is nothing left for anything else, like love or peace or happiness, and this can be seen as over the course of the film Izo's anger, and bloodlust slowly transform him into a demonic creature, because with each life he takes he loses more and more of his humanity.

The acting, the action, the special effects, the camera work, everything is awesome. Of course its the sort of quality you tend to associate with a Miike film.

After watching this film, the only thing I have to ask myself is 'what is he going to do next?' I'm sure after you watch this film you'll be thinking the exact same thing, at least I hope you will.

Highly Recommended!