Izo
{{short description|2004 film by Takashi Miike}}
{{Other uses|IZO (disambiguation){{!}}IZO}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Izo
| image = Izoposter.jpg
| caption =
| director = Takashi Miike
| writer =Shigenori Takechi
| starring = Kazuya Nakayama
Takeshi Kitano
Bob Sapp
| producer =Taizô Fukumaki
Fujio Matsushima
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|2004|08|21|Japan|df=yes}}
| runtime =128 minutes
| language = Japanese
English
| budget =
}}
IZO is a 2004 Japanese surrealist period horror film directed by Takashi Miike. The main character of the film is Izo Okada (1832–1865), the historical samurai and assassin in 19th-century Japan who was tortured and executed by beheading in Tosa.
Izo appeared previously in Hideo Gosha's Hitokiri (1969), then played by Shintaro Katsu. However, Miike's portrayal of the character (or rather his spirit) transcends reality (and time and space) and is more of a surrealist exposé of Izo's exceedingly bloody yet philosophical encounters in an afterlife heavy on symbolism, occasionally interrupted by stock footage of World War II accompanied by acid-folk singer Kazuki Tomokawa on guitar. Kazuya Nakayama plays Izo and the many characters he encounters on his journey include figures played by Takeshi Kitano and Bob Sapp.
Cast
- Kazuya Nakayama as Okada Izo
- Kaori Momoi
- Ryuhei Matsuda
- Ryôsuke Miki as Hampeita Takechi
- Yuya Uchida as Spirit
- Masumi Okada as Politician
- Hiroki Matsukata
- Hiroshi Katsuno as Samurai
- Masato as Samurai
- Bob Sapp as Monk
- Takeshi Caesar as Samurai
- Takeshi Kitano as The Prime Minister
- Daijiro Harada as Judge
- Renji Ishibashi as Samurai
- Mickey Curtis as Monk
- Kazuki Tomokawa
- Taisaku Akino
- Hiroyuki Nagato as Elder
- Susumu Terajima
- Saburō Shinoda
- Ken Ogata
- Joe Yamanaka
Awards
Izo was awarded the best Special Effects prize at the Sitges Film Festival (Spanish international festival specializing in fantasy and horror films).{{cite web | work=cultflicks.net | title=Izo | url=http://www.cultflicks.net/horror/izo.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221083333/http://www.cultflicks.net/horror/izo.html| url-status=usurped| archive-date=21 February 2013| access-date=2008-09-16}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0377079|title=Izo}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2004/eb003080.htm|script-title=ja:ＩＺＯ|access-date=2007-07-21|language=ja|publisher=Japanese Movie Database}}
Reviews
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050914054008/http://www.asianfeast.org/miikerecensioni/izoenglish.htm dinaMiike – review and interpretation]
- {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130221083333/http://www.cultflicks.net/horror/izo.html Cultflicks – review]}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050429023841/http://www.d-kaz.com/reviews/review.php?id=218 d+kaz]
- [http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/izo.shtml Midnight Eye]
- [http://mtsai.blogspot.com/2004/09/izo.html Martin Tsai (reprinted from WestEnder)]
- [http://nipponcinema.com/db/review/izo/ Nippon Cinema] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311191348/http://nipponcinema.com/db/review/izo/ |date=11 March 2007 }}
See also
- {{IMDb title|id=0200710|title=Hitokiri}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Takashi Miike}}
Category:Films directed by Takashi Miike
Category:Films set in the 19th century
Category:2000s Japanese-language films
Category:Japanese action films
{{2000s-Japan-film-stub}}