Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writer:

Sakichi Satô (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 July 2004 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Minami, a member of the Azamawari crew, highly respects his Aniki (brother) Ozaki who has saved his life in the past...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Violence | Milk | Yakuza | Bra

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yûta Sone	...	Minami (as Hideki Sone)
Shô Aikawa	...	Ozaki
Kimika Yoshino	...	Female Ozaki
Shohei Hino	...	Nose (as Shôhei Hino)
Keiko Tomita	...	Innkeeper
Harumi Sone	...	Innkeeper's Brother
Renji Ishibashi	...	Boss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ken'ichi Endô
Kanpei Hazama
Masaya Katô
Tamio Kawaji		(as Tamio Kawachi)
Susumu Kimura
Hiroyuki Nagato
Hitoshi Ozawa
Kazuyoshi Ozawa
Sakichi Satô	...	Coffee Shop Manager
Tokitoshi Shiota	...	Gozu
Tetsurô Tanba
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sakichi Satô		screenplay

Produced by
Kanako Koido	....	producer
Harumi Sone	....	producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Kazunari Tanaka

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Production Design by
Akira Ishige

Set Decoration by
Akira Sakamoto

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masato Tanno	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist
Hitoshi Tsurumaki	....	sound designer

Other crew
Winston Emano	....	publicist
David Magdael	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Klock Worx Co.
• Rakuei-sha

Distributors

• Pathfinder Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Pretty Pictures (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinema Epoch (2009) (USA) (all media)
• I-On New Media (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Versus Entertainment (2005) (Spain) (all media)

Special Effects

• Arquebuse (sound effects)

Other Companies

• Filmcraft  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Gozu (International: English title) (USA)
Yakuza Horror Theater: Gozu (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for aberrant sexual and violent content, and for language.

Runtime:

France:130 min (Cannes Film Festival) | USA:129 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

UK:18 | Australia:R | Australia:R (2008) | New Zealand:R18 | France:-16 | Japan:R-15 | Hong Kong:III | USA:Unrated | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Company:

Klock Worx Co.

Quotes:

Female Ozaki: Wanna have sex?

Movie Connections:

References "Riget" (1994)

Cow head .. hmmmm ??

If this is your first dive into the realm of Takashi Miike, STOP. GO BACK. REMOVE THIS MOVIE FROM YOU DVD PLAYER. You have to start somewhere less obscure than this movie. You can start out with Audition (or one of the Dead or Alive movies), follow that up with Happiness of the Katakuris and then either Ichi the Killer or Visitor Q. Once you have seen that, then you are ready to savor the flavor of this movie. To try to describe this movie would do the movie and you, the reader, an injustice. This movie just has to be watched and experienced. What can you expect from Gozu ?? Yakuzas. Killer Yakuza attack dogs. Lots of driving. Transvestites. Breast milk. Seance. Horse cropping. Sex. Birth. Ladles. The plot is based on the adventures of a yakuza made-man (Ozaki) and his underling (Minami). Ozaki is going crazy and the Boss has ordered Minami to take care of him. From there on you'll just have to watch to get the point (if there is one). As compared to his other movies, this one doesn't really have much of a story. The sheer obscureness or strangeness (and/or dark comedy) holds the various events together, linking them into a movie. At the same time, you are sitting there waiting to see how much more bizarre things can get. The movie passed by pretty quickly, with little slowdown. Fans of Miike should definitely see this movie. For everyone else, see the movie at your risk.

-Celluloid Rehab