Gozu (2003)

"Gozu" is an absurdist picture from famed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike. When I call it absurdist, this means that there really is no meaning to the film at all--and all the bizarreness and nonsense really means nothing. Some folks might like artsy nonsense like this--I just thought it was stupid and pretentious.A Yakuza member is told to transport a really crazy and dangerous member of his gang to the countryside. The guy seems to die--but later the dead crazy guy and the driver spends the rest of the film looking for him. During this search, he encounters all sorts of meaningless and brain-melting idiots. There is the old woman who loves to shoot milk out of her breasts everywhere and she spends much of her time filling milk bottles. There are the patrons in a weird restaurant who keep repeating the same lines over and over and over and over. There's a giant man/bull who licks the driver all over the face for no apparent reason as well as an S&M scene involving the milk lady and her brother. And finally, we have the guy with the ladle stuck up his butt. As I said, none of it makes any sense and to me it felt like watching a version of "The Wizard of Oz" made by folks who were both on LSD and had very significant brain injuries. Some folks seemed to love it and think it amazing, others (like myself) think it's just a stupid waste of time.By the way, although there is no apparent reason for any of the weirdness in the film, Miike has made some wonderfully strange films that DID work...and work well, such as the ultra-strange but clever and watchable "Happiness of the Katakuris". The key, though is WATCHABILITY--and "Gozu" has absolutely none.

This is one of the weirdest movie from Takashi Miike, strong, obscure and sometimes hilarious.My advice, don't expect anything... watch it and then take whatever conclusions appraise you best.This is one of those common places where your expectation could be overwhelm, in a good or in a bad way. What you'll see will change the way you look at this director.The gangster scene, a constant in Takashi Miike portfolio, will be approach in a very exclusive and critic way where all his styles combine to bring the watcher with a scent of weirdness that won't let you take the eyes of the screen.A must see for every fan (style or director) but a "leave it on the shelf" for everybody else.

I can't believe how many people gave this film a rating of 7+. I've been referring to IMDb for films to watch for several years now, and this is the first time that I've been so disappointed because of the number of good reviews for this film. Do not just rely on the good reviews, they're so misleading (I should have learned this a lesson a long time ago).Maybe I should have watched an earlier film from the same director, but this one is so awful plain plain awful! Note that I do enjoy watching weird films but this film is just awful (I'll use this word again and again mind you). I agree with the comment of the other reviewer who said that this film could have been squeezed into 30 mins, but no, I had to endure longer than that. The movie dragged on and there were too many unnecessary scenes and lines that are just so annoying!There should be another category in IMDb for weird films, and this should be on top. If you decide to watch this, then let me tell you that you'll just waste your time. I won't recommend this film to anyone!

This movie was absolutely ridiculous. NOTHING was explained. It was a CHORE to sit through and watch the whole thing, without a doubt, one of the worst movies I have ever sat through and wasted my time. There was nothing redeeming about it. The cinematography was boring, the characters were confusing and pointless, the story made no sense. It wasn't even like an "artsy" pointless. It was just stupid! Who are you people out there that gave this 8, 9 or 10 stars?! The only reason I even gave it 2 was because some effort obviously went into getting the actors to all show up on the same day for a shoot. There are about a million other things that are better to watch. Don't waste your time.