SCFZ poll: Takashi Miike

[flip]

Polling the films of director Takashi Miike

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Miike films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: no one

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

Ley Lines
Koshonin / The Negotiator
The Bird People in China
Audition
Gozu


seen 40

[thoxans]

dead or alive 2: birds
13 assassins
ley lines
rainy dog
dead or alive

*seen six (but will try to watch at least one more for the poll, so consider this a pre-request for a deadline extension)

**seen ten (booyah)

[...]

The Bird People in China
Audition
Visitor Q
13 Assassins
Happiness of the Katakuris

Seen between 13 and 20, some I can't remember if I watched all the way through and others I can't recall if I saw them at all or only think I did. But at least there's a bakers dozen I am sure of, which is where my votes come from. Gotta appreciate Miike's pleasure in the job, even when the movies aren't always the most coherent for the quantity of them or just cause he likes it that way, doesn't care all that much or who knows? They all have some little elements of interest to them, that seem what Miike was interested in when making them, but flow and a sense of gestalt is not at all guaranteed, at least in the few I've seen, but, given the number of movies he's made and how much they vary, I doubt it's just a sampling issue.

[greennui]

Gozu
Ichi the Killer
Visitor Q

Seen 7.

[oscarwerner]

Seen 12.
Honestly i have seen more, but still don`t find time to remember all his films and rate this director:) I like some his movies(13 Assassins), i dislike some(Sukiyaki Western Django), but don`t know any other director, who is creating more films
My votes:
1)13 Assassins (2010)
2)Audition (1999)
3)Rainy Dog (1997)
4)The Bird People in China (1998)
5)Shinjuku Triad Society (1995)

[Curtis, baby]

The bird people in China

[rischka]

i got 9 thx to a long lost bf

ichi the killer
audition
birdpeople in china
izo

[thoxans]

ichi the killer

well, i'll be... i never woulda guessed

[nrh]

have seen...30 i think? for now -

negotiator
ley lines
deadly outlaw rekka
ai to makoto
dead or alive 2: birds

crazy that miike really is one of the only prominent survivors of the last few decades of japanese film industry boom and bust cycles, that he's now making glossy pop adaptations and idol tv series makes total sense for filmmaker who has somehow managed to seize every single creative or economic opportunity (from cannes festival art house to childrens movies to theater) that comes his way.

he has his very clear auteur interests of course, for years he's claimed young thugs:nostalgia as his favorite of his movies and if i recall i think it makes a pretty good key to unlocking some of his concerns, but mostly i think he is a very strong interpreter of material, both more analytical than he is usually given credit for (the shock value of ichi for example tends to obscure just how precise his adaptation choices are) and totally intuitive (deciding to structure all of deadly outlaw rekka around flower travelin' band's satori album after realizing he had cast the lead singer in a bit part).

[St. Gloede]

Big Bang Juvenile A
Gozu
Ichi the Killer
Audition
Visitor Q

[thoxans]

will try to watch at least one more

and actually watched the happiness of the katakuris already! what can i say? it's japanese af. if i owned a dope ass little izakaya, this is the type of movie i'd put on replay sans subtitles in the background, so all my uhmurican customers could sit there and think to themselves 'wtf?' but it's not just j-crazy, i also found it absorbing. there's an energy to the surreality throughout that lends an infinitely watchable momentum to the rather sitcom-y setup. and it helps that this might be the most consistently funny miike i've seen so far. all of his films have at least some semblance of dark humour, but this one actually achieves full-on comedy status. reminded me a bit of the little juzo itami i've seen; that kind of utterly absurd silliness, flat affect in the face of the farcical, y'all know what i mean. just a flatout fun flick. don't know if it'll supplant anything on my current list, but i had a damn good time nonetheless. and it put me in the mood for more miike. so much so, if i'm feeling lucky, might even try to tackle the black society trilogy for the poll

[john ryan]

Seen 20

1. Audition
2. 13 Assassins
3. Hara-kiri
4. Ley Lines
5. Dead or Alive 2

[Lencho of the Apes]

Seen 8.

Big Bang Juvenile A
Gozu

[wba]

A wonderful, wonderful director!
One of the best, in terms of vision, technical know-how, creativity, etc.

Hard to decide on the best, cause I've only seen a small sample of his work.
But here are my favorite 5 masterpieces, those that touched me the most and made me weep:

01. Dead or Alive (1999)
02. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006)
03. Ichi the Killer (2001)
04. Gozu (2003)
05. Graveyard of Honor (2002)

Miike seen: 13

PS: I know I've only picked out love stories, but I think that's what Miike does best: making films about LGBTQ love, longing and desire

[thoxans]

might even try to tackle the black society trilogy

just finished shinjuku triad society. seemingly the spiritual cousin of dead or alive (1). good alternative titles would be blowjobs: a romantic tragedy, or more simply comeuppance. did not realize this was like the earliest of miike's early films. it shows, in ways, but you can still see the filmmaker that he would become. this isn't an outlier. miike clearly knew his concerns and interests from the get-go. sure, it's rough around the edges, but when has a miike flick not been just that? what i'm really noticing in watching so many of his films so close together is how he wraps things up. he's great at bringing things full circle, oftentimes in a much more sentimental way than might seem possible. sometimes, things end in a huge explosion, but i'm really seeing a pattern of caring about the people, even after all they've gone through, like finding that glimmer of hope amidst the blackness. idk. looking forward to rainy dog and ley lines

[nrh]

watched his 2014 manga adaptation as the gods will last night. it's part of a kind of weird recent genre of 'death game' comics, where a bunch of people (usually high school students) are forced to participate in some kind of game like ritual with complicated rules or die, i guess a sort of grislier variation on "fighting up the ladder" japanese boys comics.

here the games are adaptations on japanese children's games - there's a version of red light green light, a kind of game of tag with a giant maneki neko lucky cat eating children dressed like mice, and so on. the film leaves the school set quite quickly for elaborate cgi backdrops (most of it takes place inside a giant white cube floating over tokyo).

it's maybe the most anonymous miike films i've seen from this generation. he does well with the cgi set pieces, and the set-up would seem to feed into some of the concerns of his crows zero films and lesson of the evil, but young cast is bland even by recent japanese idol standards and the set-piece after set-piece structure doesn't give him much room to stretch at all. ends on intriguing cliffhanger but no sequel seems to be forthcoming...

many people seem to like this a lot more than i do though.

[thoxans]

as the gods will

wow. i feel like i watched this exact same film, in sono's tag (which came out a year later)

[nrh]

wow. i feel like i watched this exact same film, in sono's tag (which came out a year later)

and the novel tag is based on had already been adapted into a film in 2008, with 5 sequels and a prequel tv series

[thoxans]

i've been had

[mesnalty]

Tonight I watched First Love, his newest one (assuming he hasn't made like 5 more since 2019). It's been getting a lot of praise and seems to have a reputation as his most gonzo film in a while, but I was let down; it actually seems kind of tame by Miike's standards, though admittedly I've seen very few of his films. Some good stuff, but the zaniness mostly comes in the form of bullets and swords a-flying.

Seen 5:

1. As the Gods Will
2. Audition

[josiahmorgan11]

Seen many but only love these two.

1. Audition
2. Dead or Alive 2: The Birds

[flip]

d

you can pick our next director if you want! rob reiner is available

[thoxans]

where's kanafani when i need him to run some stats? is there a way on boxd to figure out from what dirs i've seen the most films? i luv monte hellman, but i'm not even sure if his filmog is long enough to qualify. i hate to say it, but this next round might have rob reiner written all over it. i'll get back asap with a nom or a pass, as soon as i'm able to figure this conundrum out

[Curtis, baby]

You can see with letterboxd pro. It's only like eight bucks a year

[thoxans]

pass. i got nothing

[flip]

T

if thoxans is passing (you can have another chance later this round if you change your mind) then it's greg's turn to pick a director if you want to!

[nrh]

happy to see 2003's yakuza demon after the disappointment of as the gods will. this is very low budget crime drama about orphan son of small yakuza family inserting himself into a gang war with disastrous consequence, but also about found family, working class pride, managers vs. workers ethics, and what happens when you let your job define your identity.

miike really does know where to put the camera, it's almost never pretty but there is always a perverse utilitarian logic to it that somehow builds up to something forceful. think the final shot is one of the most moving gestures i've seen from miike...

also 9 hellman, 4 reiner

[...]

If I remember right, last time it looked like Milestone or Zhang would work, so I'd suggest one of them, Milestone preferably, but either is fine if Zhang has more views. Or, of course, Ron Howard.

[wba]

Milestone: 4
Zhang: 10
Howard: 9
Hellman: 1
Reiner: 5