Happy 60th Birthday, Takashi Miike! Born today in 1960, this Japanese actor, writer, producer and director has tirelessly made over one hundred theatrical, video and television productions since his debut in the early 1990s.
Because of this, it confirmed his status as one of the busiest directors in world cinema. His films range from violent and bizarre to dramatic and family-friendly.
Although he claimed to have attended classes only rarely, Miike eventually graduated from Yokohama Hōsō Eiga Senmon Gakkō (Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film).
This had been under the guidance of renowned Japanese filmmaker Shōhei Imamura ('The Ballad of Narayama'), the founder and Dean of that institution and also a key figure of the Japanese New Wave.
Miike's first films were television productions, but he also began directing several direct-to-video V-Cinema releases.
Today, he still directs V-Cinema productions intermittently due to the creative freedom afforded by the less stringent censorship of the medium and the riskier content that the producers will allow.
Miike's theatrical debut was the 1995 Japanese action/crime film 'Daisan no gokudō' ('The Third Gangster').
However, it was the 1995 Japanese mafia war crime/thriller film 'Shinjuku kuroshakai: Chaina mafia sensô' ('Shinjuku Triad Society') that was his first theatrical release to gain public attention.
The latter film showcased his extreme style and his recurring themes, and its success allowed him to work on higher-budgeted pictures.
'Shinjuku Triad Society' was the first film in what is labeled Miike's "Black Society Trilogy", which also includes the 1997 Japanese crime/thriller film 'Gokudô kuroshakai' ('Rainy Dog') and the 1999 Japanese thriller/crime film 'Nihon kuroshakai'('Ley Lines').
It was Miike's second feature film in 1995 that showcased his extreme style and his recurring themes. Because of this, its success later gave him the freedom to work on higher-budgeted pictures.
Four years later, Miike directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1999 Japanese horror/mystery film 'Ōdishon' ('Audition').
This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again.
Aided by his film-producer friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service.
When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship.
However, he begins to realize that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing (and cringeworthy) half-hour climax.
The film had been based on the titular 1997 novel by Japanese novelist, short story writer, essayist and filmmaker Ryū Murakami.
To create 'Audition', Miike worked with many of his previous collaborators, such being Japanese cinematographer Hideo Yamamoto (no relations to the manga artist).
Miike spoke of his cinematographer by saying that Yamamoto was: "very sensitive towards death. Both of his parents died very young, and it's not something he talks about much".
Many items were deleted from the finale of 'Audition' in the American "R" rated version. Most items are implied, but in the uncut version they are shown.
This includes close-ups of the needles put into Shigeharu's body, a close-up of the hypodermic needle in the tongue and a shot of Asami discarding Shigeharu's dismembered foot after severing the appendage with a piano wire.
When 'Audition' was screened at the 28th Rotterdam Film Festival in 2000, it had a record number of walkouts. At the Swiss premiere, someone passed out and needed emergency room attention.
Said Miike, "I just don't understand people who would walk out on a movie."
In 2000, Miike had gained international fame from directing his other feature from the previous year.
This was the violent 1999 Japanese yakuza epic action film 'Deddo oa araibu: Hanzaisha' ('Dead or Alive', abbreviated as 'DOA').
This was also for directing the 2001 Japanese action crime/thriller film '1, Koroshiya Ichi', lit. 'Hitman One' ('Ichi the Killer'); a masterpiece of insane cinema. The film later played at international film festivals.
The film had its world premiere in the Midnight Madness section at the 26th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 14, 2001. It was later released in Japan on December 22 of that same year.
As a publicity gimmick, barf bags were received by viewers out at TIFF to those attending the midnight screening of 'Ichi the Killer'. Reportedly, watching this film caused one viewer to throw up and another to faint.
'Ichi the Killer' has garnered controversy due to its graphic violence and cruelty, and has been banned in several countries. It has been banned outright in Norway and Malaysia, and banned for distribution in Germany.
The film had been adapted from the controversial adaptation of Japanese manga artist Hideo Yamamoto's titular Japanese psychological body horror seinen (lit. youth) manga series, written between 1998 and 2001.
Four years later after 'Ichi the Killer', Miike made an appearance in Eli Roth's 2005 American/Czech horror/crime film 'Hostel'. His character in the end credits is listed as "Miike Takashi".
Although Miike speaks no English, he did his cameo for Roth anyway, of whom he is a fan.
Miike has since gained a strong cult following the West that is growing with the increase in DVD releases of his works.
Five years after 'Hostel', Miike directed the 2010 Japanese/British action/war samurai film 'Jūsan-nin no Shikaku'('13 Assassins').
The film is a remake of Japanese film director Eiichi Kudo's 1963 Japanese black and white action/adventure period drama film of the same name. The opening of Miike's film is a shot by shot recreation of the 1960s era original.
'13 Assassins' opened in Japan on September 25, 2010. It received critical acclaim from Western critics, who compared it favorably to Akira Kurosawa's oeuvre.
Seven months later, the film opened in the United States on April 29, 2011.
The following month, Miike's 2011 Japanese 3D jidaigeki drama film 'Ichimei' (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai'), premiered In Competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year. It was the first 3D film to do so. The film later opened in Japan mid-October.
The film is a remake of Japanese film director and screenwriter Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 Japanese black and white jidaigeki action/Western film 'Seppuku' ('Harakiri').
Two years after 'Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai', Miike's 2013 Japanese spy thriller/action film 'Wara no Tate'('Straw Shield') was nominated for the Palme d'Or. However, it didn't win. This occurred at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year.
Miike has cited Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven's ('Turkish Delight', 'Soldier of Orange', 'The Fourth Man', 'RoboCop', 'Total Recall') 1997 American action/sci-fi film 'Starship Troopers' as his favorite movie.
Miike has also expressed admiration not only for Verhoeven but for filmmakers Kurosawa, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Japanese film director Hideo Gosha.
Frequently shooting on budgets that wouldn't cover an American film set's craft services tab, and often preferring to shoot on 16mm or digital video as opposed to traditional 35mm film, Miike's freeform style can find his films taking numerous unexpected turns during production.
Miike views himself more as an arranger than an author, and his willingness to let a film develop on its own path and constant encouragement of actors and other crew members to flex their creative muscles has resulted in some of the most dynamic films of the last decade.
His refusal to succumb to the traditional temptation to produce a film that will please the masses has also been a key factor in the development of his distinctive style, and further refusal to bend to widely accepted narrative structure has earned him both harsh critics and a fiercely loyal fan base.
Though critics have pegged him as a genre filmmaker, Miike is reluctant to accept that distinction and prefers not to categorize his films as it may limit their appeal and impact.
His films are also frequently targeted for their excessive and often gratuitous violence, though the director sites that the inherent honesty in that violence is more sincere than what he feels is his contemporaries' romantic misrepresentation of current culture, viewing cinema as an important outlet for such images.
Although Miike may not be a household name, the release of his such enticingly quirky and curious efforts hints at big things in store for the tireless auteur.
Miike has been active from 1991–present.
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