A movie I could love, were it not for the extreme changes of pace.

Really bizarre and confusing movie. The story was a bit hard to follow but I absolutely loved the 'over the top' violence/gore. Excellent acting from both Kakihara and Ichi.

The movie has a hard-to-follow plot with slow pacing, which makes it challenging to fully grasp it. It excels in its cinematography, offering captivating shots and an immersive aesthetic. That stops when the gore shows. It is so bad it is funny. Overall the effects and CGI are so bad it's comedic.
It's important to note that the movie's depiction of violence, particularly against women, is undeniably difficult to watch. The unflinching brutality is disturbing.
Kakihara is greatly designed both visually and as a character. It's such a waste of a design put into this movie. I wish they utilized his character more.

This is definitely not for everyone, but if you have a thing for gangsters and old-school splatter B movies, go for it. After I saw the title coming out of a puddle of sperm in the opening sequence, I was already in love.

The film starts as a simple yakuza revenge story, but it gradually turns into the quintessential masochist’s quest for punishment. Ichi is idealized by Kakihara as the ultimate sadist that will finally give him what he wants, but things are not exactly as he imagined. The plot is a little confusing and way too over the place, but honestly, it just felt like a pretext to connect all torture and rape scenes. Violence is as graphic as it is cartoonish, and as you are enjoying it, you will start to feel as sadistic as Ichi.

The scene where Jijii strips off made me feel sorry for having made fun of Chris Evans’ CGI in the first Captain America film. Most memorable scene ever.

Inventive for sure. Plot is a bit convoluted though. And it’s about 40 mins too long.

It’s just ok.

If you’re interested in Takashi Miike, I suggest Audition and 13 Assassins before this.

It's an absurd, wild and gonzo gorefest of a ride. Guaranteed to offend at least someone in the audience. A lot of the effects don't hold at all, but that's easily looked past when you're on as crazy a ride as this.

Found it hard work, not the gore and violence, that’s fine, just found it a slog to get through.

Level "Interesting" • 7 :heart: • Entertaining and Good.