Agitator: The Cinema Of Takashi Miike (Paperback)

~ Tom Mes (Author), Shinya Tsukamoto (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Fierce. Nonsensical. Vulgar. Powerful. These are words that could be used to describe Takashi Miike. But without doubt the most essential words are self-assured and clever. - Shinya Tsukamoto Audition. Dead or Alive. Ichi the Killer. Visitor Q. These films have amazed, stunned, delighted and shocked audiences the world over, garnering critical acclaim for their Japanese director: Takashi Miike. Seen as one of the most important filmmakers to emerge in Japan in the last twenty years, Takashi Miike has directed 49 feature films and 3 TV series in the space of 11 years. Many of them still unseen outside Japan, Miike's films are marked by a dazzling visual style, brilliant narrative invention and a willingness to go far beyond accepted boundaries. Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike examines each of these titles in-depth, revealing a provocative but remarkably consistent body of work. Illustrated with hundreds of stills, behind-the-scenes pictures and rare photographs from the director's private collection, this is the first ever study devoted entirely to the work of one of the world's most exciting filmmakers.

About the Author

Tom Mes is the founder and co-editor of MidnightEye.com, the world's leading English-language publication on contemporary Japanese cinema. His work has appeared in such magazines as Fangoria, Impact, Japan Magazine and Skrien. His writing on Takashi Miike has been published in England, the US, Canada, France and Russia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Fab Press (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903254213
• ISBN-13: 978-1903254219
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,333,488 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for Miike fans., December 14, 2004

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Tom Mes, Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike (Fab, 2003)

Western audiences labored in blissful ignorance of the career of Takashi Miike for years. American and European extreme gore fans started noticing him with the release of Dead or Alive; the rest of the world snapped to attention when film festivals started showing such definitive Miike films as Rainy Dog, Audition, and Ichi the Killer. By now, Miike is Japanese culture's most recognizable export. However, we've gone from being completely ignorant to categorizing the director as a guy who does nothing but extreme gore (despite the brilliant The Happiness of the Katakuris, a twisted, and relatively gore-free, musical from 2001). Tom Mes, a dedicated film festival-goer and Miike fan, aims to show us there's more to the guy than promotional vomit bags (which were handed out to those attending the premiere of Ichi the Killer at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival).

In the bulk of the book, Mes takes the reader through Miike's prolific oeuvre (to give you an idea of just how prolific, since Mes stopped documenting to publish, with Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, released in mid-2002, Miike has released ten films as of this writing), tracing the various themes to be found in the director's work. Rest assured, Mes is not a fanboy; he casts a rather critical eye over a number of Miike's films. The effect is for the reader to want even more to see a number of Miike's films not yet available outside Asia, for the most part (Ley Lines draws the most praise, for example, of any film in the oeuvre, with The Bird People in China, Rainy Dog, and The Guys from Paradise also getting a lot of positive play; of them, only Rainy Dog is available in the west, and that only in Britain, according to IMDB). The book is rounded out with Miike's filming diary for Ichi the Killer, a long interview Mes conducted with Miike in 2002, and some biographical info on the man.

Needless to say, this book is a must for fans of Miike's movies, and is well worth the steep price it commands. Those who consider Miike an amusement might also do well to dip in and take a look at the structures that underlie the outrageousness Miike depicts on film. Definitely a book worth having for even the most casual fan. ****

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As bold and daring as any of Miike's films, December 2, 2004

By	boeken73 (Holland) - See all my reviews

Finally! Someone has the guts to take this great filmmaker seriously. No one has a problem if you take Imamura, Oshima, even Kitano seriously, but for some reason Miike only gets written about as being "wild and crazy". Taking him seriously is like sacrilige to some people. In fact, the most "wild and crazy" thing you can do right now is take Miike's films as seriously as this book does. By doing so, Tom Mes stays much closer to the spirit of Miike's work than many of the director's supposed admirers can imagine.
'Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike' is only dull and humourless for those whose idea of a film critic is someone who cracks a few jokes about Sonny Chiba and Riki Takeuchi's hairstyle. Let me tell you: long after Miike's so-called fans have moved on to their next "wild and crazy" flavour of the month, Tom Mes's book will still be the authoritative text that gives a great director his due.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If your a fan of Miike, this is essental, April 19, 2007

By	Scott M. Fedor (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tom Mes of the website MidnightEye, delivers an informative book that deals with Miike background and many of his films. This is neither a fluff promotional book for Miike or dry academic read. I found it to be the perfect blend of information, interest, and criticism.