Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

Miike's Hara-Kiri is beautifully directed, but it's also depressing, boring in parts, and not terribly original. 

I'm having a problem finding movies I'm interested in. I was watching the trailer for Blitz seeing if I could get into it enough to watch it, and I felt like I wanted to see something with swords. I had Hara-Kiri on my list of movies to watch, so I watched the trailer for that. I wasn't exactly sold, but I decided to go with it anyway. I wanted something with a little substance, even if I was running the risk of being bored.

Apparently, according to IMDb, the original was better. I didn't even know there was an original. I found out about the remake when I was looking through Ignatiy Vishnevetsky's reviews. He liked it, and I've always been interested in Miike's stuff. 13 Assassins was good, although everything before that was pretty crazy. I can't even believe I watched that stuff anymore. Supposedly the original draws you in more, and there's more dialogue between the father and the clan guy.

That would've been good, because my suspicions were right: I got bored, especially in the middle. I really lost interested when they took the focus away from the present-day stuff and started talking about how Hanshirô knew Motome. The cinematography was great, though. I loved the camerawork and the sets. It really was beautifully directed. I don't know why Miike shot it in 3D. That probably didn't add much, although it would've been a good effect with the falling snow. 

I liked the slow, deliberate pacing of the camera and people's movements, and the fact that we saw what happened to Motome and then afterward learned why it happened made it more interesting.

13 Assassins

Nothing unexpected here, but it was engaging most of the time, and you can definitely tell it's Miike.

Sukiyaki Western Django

In terms of this being a Miike film, it's actually a little disappointing. Maybe the fact that this is a classic Japanese story, told as a Western, set in "Nevada-Utah," with Japanese actors who are speaking a language they don't know (English), was weird enough that he decided the story itself should be normal. It was a little surreal to need subtitles on something in English. The movie doesn't seem to have a whole lot to say, and it's probably better if you've seen Yojimbo and/or Django, but aside from a few disturbing things happening, it's interesting for aesthetics alone.

Audition

Easily the least-weird Miike film I've seen.

Gozu

This is really freaking bizarre, but what else do you expect out of Miike? It's also a fairly entertaining ride, and the ending is pretty funny.

Ichi the Killer

I love a lot of things about this movie, especially Kakihara's outfits, and of course the smoke thing.