On Takashi Miikes first press tour in the United States I was lucky enough to meet up with him at the Mayflower Hotel in Manhattan. Miike is very much as I pictured him. He is a small wiry man with wild multicolored hair who smokes a lot of cigarettes.
Most people know Miike as the mad Japanese filmmaker who makes confusing, frenetic and violent films such as Ichi the Killer and Audition. His latest, Gozu, is no different. The plot involves a gangster who goes insane, gets himself killed and then his body disappears. Now his brother, Minami, must find him while avoiding the man with a cow head who licks him and the hotel owner who sells her breast milk by the bottle. Gozu is being released July 30th into theaters.
Please be aware that Miike speaks little English and this interview was conducted with the help of a translator.
Check out the website for Gozu
Daniel Robert Epstein: You do so many projects. How did you decide to do Gozu?
Takashi Miike: It started with an idea from the executive producer of Gozu named Harumi Sone. Hes an old man who used to be a very popular actor in Japan but he recently hasnt done well as an actor. Most of his roles he gets are old men in the Yakuza who get killed.
He decided to produce a movie so that he could act in it. He ended up having his son, Hideki Sone, play the main role. Thats the power of him convincing me to make Gozu.
DRE: You're not credited with writing many of your films. How easy is it to take a script and turn it into a distinctive Miike movie?
TM: I work with people that dont control me. The kinds of people that approach me, give me the freedom. Its lucky that I get that situation all the time so I can be me in any film I make. But at the same time as a director I have to see what images I get just from reading the script and it all passes through my mind. That is why every movie looks like my movie.
DRE: What film of yours would you compare Gozu to?
TM: In a way, Visitor Q [released in 2001] and Gozu are very similar. Both my budgets on those films were so low but that gave me so much freedom.
DRE: In the press notes for Gozu you call yourself crazy. Have you ever been to a psychiatrist?
TM: [laughs] I go to the dentist not a shrink.
DRE: Your films dont make a lot of money in the United States but the people that do know of them are usually obsessed with them. Have you met any of those American fans?
TM: When I made certain films for straight to video I never thought that international film festivals would take the work. When I went to film festivals in foreign countries I was so happy that my movies got to be seen internationally. I myself enjoyed watching my own work with a large audience that appreciated it more than I expected.
DRE: Your films often seem like actual nightmares and very human at the same time. Is it difficult to balance that?
TM: I dont try to keep things balanced. That is the way I am and since this work comes from me, it ends up like that. I never intentionally try to do anything but that is the way I see the story.
DRE: Do you understand your own films?
TM: I understand what is going on in them. I believe that even when the actors are killing themselves onscreen that hope can be wrested from the film. I tried to leave images of hope in Gozu so the audience can understand.
DRE: I believe much of what comes from Japanese art is due to the end of World War 2 when the atomic bombs were dropped. Do you believe your work can be traced back to that?
TM: Its very natural that I got influenced from that post World War 2 culture because thats where I was born. I think you are right about that influence.
DRE: Many people on SuicideGirls are fans of Ichi the Killer. What was your inspiration for that movie?
TM: It came from a manga. But I believe that Ichi the Killer came out perfectly because of the people I worked with. It came out really well and Im very happy with it.
DRE: What made you want to adapt a manga?
TM: When you do something like that, it can be a big box office hit. Also it was a challenge.
DRE: I discovered Shinya Tsukamotos work a long time ago and you collaborated on Ichi the Killer. Will you work together again?
TM: I am fond of Tsukamotos work. Many people say that my work and Tsukamotos have similarities but I dont think that is true. Its a different style of filmmaking. But I like to work with Tsukamoto as an actor and Im sure we will again.
DRE: Gozu is definitely disturbing and many people vomited in the theater while watching Audition. Is that a reaction you relish?
TM: People that say that both Gozu and Audition have a crazy last sequence. But in a way they are different. In Audition nothing happens for the first 60 minutes, which was intentional because I wanted to bore audiences. It goes very slow and there is no story. I intentionally speeded up the story for the last half hour.
For Gozu the craziness is only the last 15 minutes. People wondered what was going on and why the main character was doing what he was doing. But when you see the man struggling to come out of the womans vagina the audience becomes of part of the birth. You feel happy when he finally comes out so the audience is on the womans side.
DRE: What are your favorite English speaking filmmakers?
TM: David Lynch, but who fascinates me the most is Paul Verhoeven. No modern director can make a movie like Starship Troopers.
DRE: What about David Cronenberg?
TM: I like Cronenberg.
DRE: Do you have any tattoos?
TM: Yes, how did you know?
DRE: [laughs] Where are they?
TM: Its two scorpions, one on each of my shoulders.
DRE: What were you like as a teenager?
TM: I was just a regular kid who went to see cartoons. I also used to go outside to capture frogs and then throw them away. I played with a lot of fireworks as well.
DRE: Even though English is not your first language, have you thought about making a film in America?
TM: Maybe in the future if I get the opportunity here I would because it would really be interesting. It would be a good chance to stretch and see if I could make a film in a place where I dont really belong.
DRE: How are you able to make so many films?
TM: The movies I am offered I have no reason to say no to. I was busier when I was an assistant director. In Japan the directors fee isnt very high so I always wondered how American directors make a living with the amount of films they do. For me, its very natural to make that many movies.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
Takashi Miike photo by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Most people know Miike as the mad Japanese filmmaker who makes confusing, frenetic and violent films such as Ichi the Killer and Audition. His latest, Gozu, is no different. The plot involves a gangster who goes insane, gets himself killed and then his body disappears. Now his brother, Minami, must find him while avoiding the man with a cow head who licks him and the hotel owner who sells her breast milk by the bottle. Gozu is being released July 30th into theaters.
Please be aware that Miike speaks little English and this interview was conducted with the help of a translator.
Check out the website for Gozu
Daniel Robert Epstein: You do so many projects. How did you decide to do Gozu?
Takashi Miike: It started with an idea from the executive producer of Gozu named Harumi Sone. Hes an old man who used to be a very popular actor in Japan but he recently hasnt done well as an actor. Most of his roles he gets are old men in the Yakuza who get killed.
He decided to produce a movie so that he could act in it. He ended up having his son, Hideki Sone, play the main role. Thats the power of him convincing me to make Gozu.
DRE: You're not credited with writing many of your films. How easy is it to take a script and turn it into a distinctive Miike movie?
TM: I work with people that dont control me. The kinds of people that approach me, give me the freedom. Its lucky that I get that situation all the time so I can be me in any film I make. But at the same time as a director I have to see what images I get just from reading the script and it all passes through my mind. That is why every movie looks like my movie.
DRE: What film of yours would you compare Gozu to?
TM: In a way, Visitor Q [released in 2001] and Gozu are very similar. Both my budgets on those films were so low but that gave me so much freedom.
DRE: In the press notes for Gozu you call yourself crazy. Have you ever been to a psychiatrist?
TM: [laughs] I go to the dentist not a shrink.
DRE: Your films dont make a lot of money in the United States but the people that do know of them are usually obsessed with them. Have you met any of those American fans?
TM: When I made certain films for straight to video I never thought that international film festivals would take the work. When I went to film festivals in foreign countries I was so happy that my movies got to be seen internationally. I myself enjoyed watching my own work with a large audience that appreciated it more than I expected.
DRE: Your films often seem like actual nightmares and very human at the same time. Is it difficult to balance that?
TM: I dont try to keep things balanced. That is the way I am and since this work comes from me, it ends up like that. I never intentionally try to do anything but that is the way I see the story.
DRE: Do you understand your own films?
TM: I understand what is going on in them. I believe that even when the actors are killing themselves onscreen that hope can be wrested from the film. I tried to leave images of hope in Gozu so the audience can understand.
DRE: I believe much of what comes from Japanese art is due to the end of World War 2 when the atomic bombs were dropped. Do you believe your work can be traced back to that?
TM: Its very natural that I got influenced from that post World War 2 culture because thats where I was born. I think you are right about that influence.
DRE: Many people on SuicideGirls are fans of Ichi the Killer. What was your inspiration for that movie?
TM: It came from a manga. But I believe that Ichi the Killer came out perfectly because of the people I worked with. It came out really well and Im very happy with it.
DRE: What made you want to adapt a manga?
TM: When you do something like that, it can be a big box office hit. Also it was a challenge.
DRE: I discovered Shinya Tsukamotos work a long time ago and you collaborated on Ichi the Killer. Will you work together again?
TM: I am fond of Tsukamotos work. Many people say that my work and Tsukamotos have similarities but I dont think that is true. Its a different style of filmmaking. But I like to work with Tsukamoto as an actor and Im sure we will again.
DRE: Gozu is definitely disturbing and many people vomited in the theater while watching Audition. Is that a reaction you relish?
TM: People that say that both Gozu and Audition have a crazy last sequence. But in a way they are different. In Audition nothing happens for the first 60 minutes, which was intentional because I wanted to bore audiences. It goes very slow and there is no story. I intentionally speeded up the story for the last half hour.
For Gozu the craziness is only the last 15 minutes. People wondered what was going on and why the main character was doing what he was doing. But when you see the man struggling to come out of the womans vagina the audience becomes of part of the birth. You feel happy when he finally comes out so the audience is on the womans side.
DRE: What are your favorite English speaking filmmakers?
TM: David Lynch, but who fascinates me the most is Paul Verhoeven. No modern director can make a movie like Starship Troopers.
DRE: What about David Cronenberg?
TM: I like Cronenberg.
DRE: Do you have any tattoos?
TM: Yes, how did you know?
DRE: [laughs] Where are they?
TM: Its two scorpions, one on each of my shoulders.
DRE: What were you like as a teenager?
TM: I was just a regular kid who went to see cartoons. I also used to go outside to capture frogs and then throw them away. I played with a lot of fireworks as well.
DRE: Even though English is not your first language, have you thought about making a film in America?
TM: Maybe in the future if I get the opportunity here I would because it would really be interesting. It would be a good chance to stretch and see if I could make a film in a place where I dont really belong.
DRE: How are you able to make so many films?
TM: The movies I am offered I have no reason to say no to. I was busier when I was an assistant director. In Japan the directors fee isnt very high so I always wondered how American directors make a living with the amount of films they do. For me, its very natural to make that many movies.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
Takashi Miike photo by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 25 of 30 COMMENTS
AndersWolleck said:
no one saw Gozu?
I love Miike. Yes, I did saw it, I love self-generating misters or madams