I'm a great fan of Miike, but unlike Audition or Visitor Q, which could be described as decidedly ambiguous satires, I don't think Ichi the Killer has a point to make at all. The aim seemed to have been to transfer it from the original manga to a live-action film as faithfully as possible. This is, I think, an interesting exercise in and of itself, partly because Miike often plays fast and loose with his sources, partly because of the obvious differences between manga and live action.
I enjoyed it. It's possibly the most violent film I've ever seen - even Braindead fell short of this sort of excess. But like Braindead, I didn't feel any malice behind it. Ichi the Killer is probably best described in the words of one review I found of it - "born out of Miike's frustration with a PG-13 world."
Perfume V - he tries, bless him.
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