Takashi Miike
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Watch: Apple-Produced Takashi Miike Film Shot on iPhone 15 Pro
In what is a refreshing — at least for us at Filmmaker — changeup from the usual sorts of films that get the iPhone demo treatment, Apple has released a new 19-minute short, Midnight, directed by Takashi Miike. It’s no Audition or Ichi the Killer, naturally, but his adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s manga is a lot of fun. There’s also an accompanying short behind-the-scenes video, below, that demonstrates the use of iPhone modes like Action and Cinematic — the former’s handheld stabilization and the latter’s rack focus — as well as, most impressively, the use of the phone’s LIDAR scanner […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 6, 2024 -
Sukiyaki Western Django, Django and Dream Demon: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations
Japanese horror and action master Takashi Miike is one of those directors who’s so prolific that it’s easy to take him for granted; ever since he caught American cinephiles’ attention in 1999 with Audition and Dead or Alive, he’s been cranking out something close to a half-dozen movies each year, releasing his kinetically supercharged orgies of style and violence faster than some viewers can keep up with them. While I wouldn’t try to make the case that all 100-plus Miike productions are masterpieces, when he’s firing on all cylinders – as with Audition, or last year’s First Love – he’s […]
by Jim Hemphill on Jul 3, 2020 -
TIFF 2019, Day 2: I Was at Home, But…, Zombi Child, First Love
As Giovanni Marchini Camia notes in this valuable, context-providing review/interview of I Was at Home, But…, Angela Schanelec’s fourth feature, 2001’s Passing Summer, was the first to give rise (in a Die Zeit review) to the term “Berlin School,” an imprecise but generally accepted designation for contemporaries including Christian Petzold, Maren Ade, Ulrich Köhler, Christoph Hochhäusler, Thomas Arslan et al. As Camia also notes, Schanelec’s relationship to this term is tense; her work is the most overtly severe, and it’s taken her longer to break through than her highest-profile peers. Internationally, Schanelec didn’t receive significant recognition until her ninth feature, 2016’s The Dreamed Path, until […]
by Vadim Rizov on Sep 6, 2019 -
Watch: “Feminist Film or Exploitation? Takashi Miike’s Audition” (NSFW)
The title pretty much says it all: is Takashi Miike’s indelibly scarring Audition feminist, misogynistic exploitation or both? The answer in Jessica McGoff’s video essay is a mixture of the two, which isn’t too surprising. Caution: contains both graphic violence and also some brief nudity, either of which might be objectionable in your workplace.
by Filmmaker Staff on May 10, 2016 -
Rotterdam at 44, Volume #2: Yanks in Holland, Suicidal Poets & the limits of J-Horror
The program of American narratives assembled in Rotterdam by Ralph McKay and Inge De Leeuw includes a smattering of world premieres and, for the first time in a while, no films making their international debuts after bows at Sundance. (The latter likely due to the first-time collision of dates between the two festivals.) There is a consistency to the loose narratives in a lot of the work. We get by turns somber and cluttered ensemble pieces with light running times, generously adorned with micro-indie actors whose faces will be familiar to the ever-shrinking flotilla of scenesters who follow such films, […]
by Brandon Harris on Jan 27, 2015 -
Ten Lessons on Filmmaking from Director Takashi Miike
Few directors out of Japan are as controversial as Takashi Miike, a man who has been surprising audiences for years with anything from stomach-wrenching horror films to slick yakuza films to happy-go-lucky children’s films, with no less than 70 directing credits to his name. This year at Cannes he surprised fans perhaps more than ever before by premiering his most mainstream film yet, a smart thriller that seems to be begging for a Hollywood remake. Shield of Straw follows a team of security police who must transport a psychopathic killer across Japan to Tokyo for trial. The criminal in question […]
by Ariston Anderson on Jun 3, 2013 -
Cannes 2013: Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son and Miike’s Shield of Straw
Hirakazu Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son engages with questions of family and identity, exploring what it means to be a father, using a plot device in which children from two different families are switched at birth, a detail that is only discovered when the sons are about to enroll in school. The film’s primary point of identification is Ryota, a young father and ambitious businessman who strives to provide for his family and also to ensure that his son will have every opportunity for success. This desire for success is conveyed from the very opening shot, in which Ryota’s son, […]
by Chuck Tryon on May 21, 2013 -
“MAKING MOVIES WITH KIDS IS FUN”
From Takashi Miike’s blog covering the production of his new film (helpfully translated and posted by the folks at Japan Film News): “So what’re ya shooting?” It’s a picture about a fierce battle between Aikawa Sho and a bunch of young boys.?So, half the actors are kids. “I’ve said this before but… is that really safe?” This is a wholesomely violent movie. You can revel in excitement that doesn’t fit within established genres, and after watching it I would like people to discuss human suffering with their mates over a few sakes at their local izakaya. Heh heh heh. Next […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 10, 2006
