kumakiri was a third-year college student when he set out to make the most violent film in contemporary japanese cinema - a not-unambitious project, given that success would mean producing the most violent film, well, ever. and A+ for effort! kumakiri succeeds magna cum laude. born from a long-established tradition of unrelenting violence in the vein of miike, suzuki, etc, kichiku doesn't so much kick things up a notch as shotgun blast them apart. this is the most fucked-up film i have ever seen.kichiku is the japanese cannibal holocaust, but perhaps more so. the black-flag characters are about as endearing as the cast of documentary film-makers in CH, and their political project equally admirable. and while i grant that kichiku lacks scenes of actual animal slaughter, there is something deeply nihilistic about this film that CH only irresponsibly gestures towards. it's not just that the cultural narrative to which kichiku belongs is unfamiliar, and thus more upsetting to little white canadian girls (as is the case with most tokyo shock and japanese cult cinema) - there are no fucking rules, dude. so yr left flailing, clawing at yr eyes just waiting for it to be over. but in a good way.
interestingly, kichiku contains the only moment in film my life would be better for having not seen.
Saw this at Cinemuerte years back and it left me shell-shocked. Definitely the most nihilistic piece of film (and possibly art) I've ever encountered.
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful in it's self absorbed ansgt and bitter commentary on humanity's own inhumanity. But that shotgun scene... -shudder-
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