Visitor Q

Visitor Q is hard to deal with, but I think I'd call this a masterpiece. This is an update of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema. It's often compared to Pasolini's Salò because of its shocking content, but, plot-wise, it's virtually a remake of the 1968 film, brilliantly updated and moved to modern Japan. Teorema is not Pasolini's best film, but I do consider it a great one. It is a very simple allegory. Miike expands the concept even further. A family is falling apart, and a stranger whom nobody seems to know moves into their home and starts knocking some sense into them (sometimes literally). There are some truly disturbing things in Visitor Q that few people of sound mind and body will want to sit through. Fortunately, I am not of sound mind or body. If you can take it, the film can be extremely funny, as well. And I think it actually captures something truthful not only about the decay of Japanese culture, but also the rest of the world. It just does this in the most extreme way possible. Most will probably judge that it goes too far. I thought it was amazing.

Following an extremely disfunctional family, who do anything from prostitution to necrophilia, the audience is in for a bit of a shock. Somehow it's decently made and believable thanks to the raw actors performances. I have no idea how someone writes a script like this, gets it funded for production and finds actors to bring it to life. So strange, but far from fantasy.

Another world exists, and we are given a glimpse into that world: where sons beat their mothers, fathers are attracted to their daughters, and random strangers take up residence in a home and begin to run the household as they see fit. This is the world of "Visitor Q".

I've been on something of a Takashi Miike kick lately, thoroughly enjoying "Audition" recently. He's more offbeat and push-the-envelope than much of what passes for horror in America. This film is no exception. While the violence is much less than I've seen from Miike, the bizarre sexual aspects are pushed to new limits.

I don't know what I can write here without being obscene, but it's hard to describe this film without at least mentioning a few of the extreme sexual cases presented: incest, necrophilia, sex with feces, a woman who enjoys making herself lactate until she's flooded the room. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you're looking for something weird, this is your best bet. The only film that comes close to being this strange is "Slaughtered Vomit Dolls", which is more gross and artistic than this -- this film is just weird in general.

So, how do you judge a film that's bizarre? As art? Because the plot is really hard to pin down (not much happens, and the visitor is never explained). The acting is amazing, at least as far as they really pulled off the dark humor (I think most people will miss the fact this is supposed to be funny, but you can tell the violence is exaggerated on purpose). I really liked it, if for no other reason than that every time I thought it couldn't get weirder, I was wrong.

If you watch the opening scene and don't mind what you see, watch this film. I was uncertain at the beginning because the use of video quality made it seem all too real. But after the initial shock faded, I really few in love with this family and wanted to know what was going on. Not sure I understand it, but that just leaves me wanting to see it again. So, yeah, if you're into bizarre films or Miike (or both), put this on the top of your list!

This was the fourth Miike film I've seen (Audition, Ichi, Gozu...well 5th if you count his short from Three Extremes) and I think this was by far the most bizarre and disturbing. I'm not squeamish or easily affected by movies so it didn't really disturb me but I can see where it would be disturbing to the average viewer. Miike did manage to hit upon almost every taboo in the books. I'll admit that I did feel somewhat dirty because I got turned on by the opening scene...but hey, it's a just a movie.

Overall I think it was a unique take on the reality TV craze and voyeourism in general. While I didn't like it as much as his other movies that I've seen it's definitely worth checking out.

I rented Visitor Q on DVD because I've seen Takashi Miike's name in the newspapers recently. I wanted to get a taste of what this guy was about before I saw any of his new movies. And you know what? When it comes to the criminally insane, Takashi Miike is KING!

Visitor Q is not something that i was ready for. At the very base, it is the story of a dysfunctional family trying to come together. But on the surface, I couldn't even begin to explain how INSANE this movie is.

I know I liked it because I was glued from beginning to end, and I was severely punished and rewarded at the same time.

This movie probably contains 5-10 fetishes in it, none of them which excite me in the least. However, I gathered that this movie was a huge metaphor for the need of a family to stick together and maintain closeness. Hopefully, you'll be able to hold back your vomit to discover this.

A definite 7/10