Izo

Izo is a vector-movie: it has a point of origin (Izo is put to death in the opening sequence), direction and speed (arbitrary revenge as determined by the edge of Izo's sword), but no destination. It must be stressed that unlike "traditional" narratives, it consciously avoids the end-point/solution/destination. The movie lets the aesthetics of its form shape the meaning of the story. The aesthetics in question being: hyper-loaded symbolism as conjured in Noh theater; PS2 architecture of the action - labyrinthine violence for its own sake leading up to the next level, which is more of the same with a different CGI background; MTV approach to video editing - Izo's bounces between layers of reality with the approximate speed of a cable channel surfer are spliced with archival footage and several "unplugged" Kazuki Tomokawa performances where the ancient Greek chorus would provide emotional emphasis.

The experience is not exactly rewarding but definitely unparalleled.

Apart from some questionable world-conspiracy and misogyny moments, an overall entertaining, extreme, and cryptically new take on film storytelling. Miike in his radical element.

Sometime during the late Endo period, noted samurai Okada Izo is tortured and ritually slain upon a crucifix. His soul does not die, however, embarking on a period hopping journey through space and time. Fueled by bloodlust- and with occasional pauses for philosophical rumination- the vengeful spirit of Izo murders with impunity, slaying any and all who cross his path. Whether or not his appetite for revenge is satiated- and if his soul is cleansed by all the bloodshed- remains to be seen in the strange, stylish thrill-ride that is Takashi Miike's 'Izo.'

An action epic with a metaphysical foundation, 'Izo' is a bloody odd film from a director who specializes in them. Written by Shigenori Takechi, the film has a non-linear narrative structure that jumps through time periods like a springbok, and can be a little confounding and hard to follow. The journey the titular character goes on is intensely violent and frequently exciting, though uneven and imperfect. Throughout the film, thrilling battle sequences are interspersed with plodding, dialogue-heavy scenes that frankly don't work.

While one can appreciate the fact that Takechi and Miike are attempting to add another dimension to the tale, amid the madness of time-shifting, gore-splattered fight scenes, philosophical ponderings are jarring and out of place. The narrative becomes imbalanced, and the film's pacing suffers as well. Which is not even to mention the fact that the philosophy at the heart of 'Izo' is rather shallow and simplistic, and could easily be expressed in a more eloquent, understated manner. Fans of Miike will probably be left a little underwhelmed by the proceedings; some may even be bored.

Though, to repeat oneself, the action in 'Izo' really is pulse-pounding stuff. Expertly choreographed, the battles are fast and frenetic; and will surely have you on the edge of your seat. Federico Benvenuti and Ravindra Pratap Singh Ricky of the stunt team do marvelous work and the displays of swordplay in the film are breath-taking. In fact, the brilliance of the action unfortunately underscores again the deficiencies of the story and dialogue. It's a real shame Miike didn't have a screenplay to work with as strong as the action in his film.

What he does have is an emotive, off-beat soundtrack from Kazuki Tomakawa that is unforgettable and unique. Tomakawa periodically turns up in the film to serenade Izo and the audience, like the minstrels in 'Cat Ballou,' or Jonathan Richman in 'There's Something About Mary.' Tomakawa sounds a little bit like a Japanese Tom Waits, and the intensity and weirdness of his songs and his performance suit the crazed events of 'Izo' perfectly.

The film also boasts stylish cinematography from Nobuyuki Fukazawa, who has for many years worked on the show 'The Woman of S. R. I.' His muted efforts give the film an assured, stark visual style that is arresting and admirable. The set and costume design is also striking, with the titular character's main outfit being especially notable. Additionally, while Yasushi Shimamura's editing is a little loose during the dialogue scenes, he cuts the battles together masterfully; and his work deserves praise.

Also praiseworthy is Kazuya Nakayama, starring as Izo. Nakayama has a strong presence that dominates the screen, and his performance is steady and impressive. He handles himself well in the fight scenes and manages difficult dialogue with a remarkable ease. The character and his motivations may be somewhat recherche, but Nakayama is consistently commendable. His supporting cast are all terrific, but get very little to do in comparison. Kaori Momoi and Takeshi Kitano are particularly good and, though on screen for a short time, leave an indelible impression on the viewer.

At the end of the day, Takashi Miike's 'Izo' is a bit of a mixed bag. Though containing thrilling action sequences that will have you glued to the screen, the dialogue is mediocre and overly wordy. Additionally, the film's philosophical cogitations come across as a little half-baked, and the non-linear narrative structure can be confusing. The film does feature a great Kazuki Tomakawa soundtrack and a strong central performance from Kazuya Nakayama, as well as fine cinematography from Nobuyuki Fukazawa. To cut a long story short, 'Izo' is a film both muddled and memorable; another unique offering from one of the strangest directors in cinematic history.

In the distant past, a great samurai warrior named Izo was put to death in a most heinous manner. But his spirit does not rest, and he now wanders the earth, traveling through time, killing (almost) every living thing he comes across. While most of this film is just pure slaughter (which many fans will enjoy), watch for the deeper messages and symbolism.

The acting all around was wonderful. As usual, unless you're a big fan of Japanese cinema, you'll probably only recognize Takeshi Kitano. This makes it far easier for me to comment on the acting, not having to make running jokes on an actor's past career. Takeshi is pretty much flawless in his film choices, so you should already know this will be good when you see his name (not to mention it's a Takeshi Miike film, which is great).

My expectations for this film were mixed. As stated, Miike and Kitano are a great pair, but I was told this was something of an action film and less of a horror film. And I suppose that's true, although horror fans are going to get more than their share of blood and questionable perversity (incest, anyone?). I came out liking this film a lot more than I had thought I would, thinking there's no way it could out-do "Visitor Q" or even "Audition". But I think it very well may have.

The blood is what's going to attract most people. Izo kills school children, an old warrior with a voice box, businessmen and everyone else. It sprays a lot, and the swordplay is enjoyable. The variety of things killed makes up for the fact that the plot doesn't really have much to offer (besides countless stabbings, slashings and beheadings).

What hooked me was the philosophy and symbolism. We have Izo, who is consumed with rage, slowly turning into a demon as he kills (what appears to be a Japanese oni, though my grasp of Japanese mythology is limited). We have a troubadour who follows him around singing songs (some of them up to seven minutes in length). Is he the narrator, or Izo's soul crying out? We have the snake creature, the mother of all humanity and a board of directors for some big corporation. And, most interestingly, a teacher teaching students about "democracy" and what a "nation" is in the most abstract of terms. Like what John Searle or Richard Rorty would say. And if Izo is killing everyone, we are left to wonder why there remain a few -- very few -- people he leaves alive.

Come for the blood and stay for the symbols. You'll need to watch this one two or three times to really begin to understand and appreciate it. In all fairness, it may be boring for some people (how many times can you stab someone) but I think it's art in the purest, most animalistic of forms. You like "Audition" or "Ichi the Killer"? Give this one a shot.

The Philadelphia Film Fest program guide described the plot of IZO as such:

"A samurai travels through time with just one goal: to kill every single human on the planet."

That basically sums it up. A man takes a sword and hacks away at nearly all the people he comes in contact with. He stabs a military general to death with the help of some zombie soldiers. He slices his own mother's body in half from the waist down. He kills some kids, he kills some businessmen, and he kills a real estate agent who turns out to be a vampiric demon. When he kills infinity (yes, infinity ITSELF, not an infinite number of people) and the movie STILL doesn't end, things start to get a little tedious.

Knowing Miike, you'd be right to expect some outlandish violence, a high body count, and perhaps a mind-boggling plot from all of this. What you might not anticipate is a lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo, World War II stock footage played backwards and forwards, and a guitar player who appears every so often to sing throatily about elephants and flowers. (At one point the camera lingers on this guitarist's face for a full SEVEN MINUTES or so without any cuts or camera movement.)

Though I think I may have liked Izo, I have many criticisms.

First of all, for a film about sword-fighting, IZO lacks both the beauty of HERO and the direct outrageousness of KILL BILL. Quite simply, the fights were poorly choreographed and involved too many cheesy stunts. Izo flies over his enemies a few times, just like the characters in CROUCHING TIGER flew, only less elegantly. Izo dodges a bullet in slow motion just like Neo did in the MATRIX. The sound of a heart beating played over fade-ins and fade-outs just like it does in every made-for-TV horror flick in existence. During the rare times when Miike WASN'T deploying effects that have already been clichéd for years, each sequence seemed to go like this:

1. Close up of Izo's face 2. Close up of other guy's face 3. Shot from behind other guy as Izo hits him in the stomach with sword 4. Close up of other guy falling down

For the first ten minutes I didn't mind the lack of special effects or variety, but once I realized that there wouldn't be any progression and that the film would go on like this for a full two hours, I began to feel rather antsy.

The repetitive fight scenes could have been alleviated by some decent cinematography. If you can't give me an engaging plot, at LEAST give me something interesting to look at! But no. The whole movie had a very sloppy vibe, as though it had been rushed through production. Many of the shots seemed haphazardly composed or not composed at all, like arbitrary shots of tree branches and jittery hand-held action footage. Indoor shots were often over-exposed by light coming in from the windows but otherwise under-exposed. I sometimes had the sensation that brief flashes of stock footage were inserted to make up for gaps in continuity. Also, it could be that I saw a worn print, but the first half of the movie had a very brown, drab feel. Perhaps some sharp color could have livened things up.

So yes, the movie was boring, ugly and maybe an EL TOPO rip-off, but somehow I thought it was good anyway. Part of my positive opinion stems from the fact that I admire any director who has a dream and achieves it, no matter how wrong they may be to do so. Also, intellectually, this IS a very engaging film. Since Izo is so unrealistic as a character, the viewer is practically forced to understand his journey as an allegory. In my opinion, Izo represents the grudge mentality: when someone hurts him, or acts like they want to hurt him, he always reacts swiftly and lethally. When a person ignores him or approaches him in kindness (like the schoolteacher, a few of the women, or the children of the future who have learned that nations do not really exist), he lets them pass without harm. His general aim is to destroy anyone who claims to have more power than he does, including the Prime Minister and God. Through juxtapositions with World War II footage, we see that Izo's attitude is linked with Japan's stance during World War II: surrender is dishonorable, but by not surrendering, one is only asking for more violence. In order to stop war, one must cease to threaten it, thereby undercutting the formation of a grudge.

While watching IZO, I felt like I would understand the details better if I were more familiar with Japanese traditions and culture. My feeling was correct. After probing around the internet, I learned that Izo was a true historical figure, a samurai-turned-homicidal maniac. I also learned that the unusual style of music played by the guitarist (fanciful lyrics, anguished voice) is a distinctive Japanese genre that emerged after World War II in response to all the suffering.

Still, I would not recommend IZO lightly, not even to Miike fans. I'm not sure if the film is brilliant or terrible, but overall... life is short and IZO is long. Watch it only if you have the time or patience for such an undertaking.

Izo is the sort of movie-thing that straddles the line between awesomeness, pretentiousness, and an as of yet unidentified third sector that cannot be described with human language.

So this time-traveling samurai dude kills a ton of people, and along the way this other dude sings nonsensical things for ten minutes at a time while sounding like he's just eaten a cat who was itself gargling nails. There's also some possibly gratuitous nudity and some certainly gratuitous scenes of swords appearing from places where they should probably not appear from.

I only have about half of an idea what Izo is about, but I think it means that Takashi Miike hates everything except slimy grown men being forced out of tiny female orifices at the ends of movies. And personally, I love him for it.