For completely understandable, and absolutely obvious reasons, the respected and revered Mr. Takashi Miike must decline travelling from Japan to attend the film series in his honor at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The festival itself, Shinjuku Outlaw: 13 Films By Takashi Miike is still happening, and we envourage everyone able to attend to still do so. We all here at ScreenAnarchy send our thoughts and prayers to our friends, family, and cohorts in Japan during this dire time. Our hearts are with you.
Once again, here is the full screening schedule.SHINJUKU OUTLAW: 13 FROM TAKASHI MIIKE
March 17 - 20AGITATOR (2001) 150m
In Miike's moody suburban yakuza epic, a young enforcer weathers the fluctuating loyalties of enemies and associates. Featuring Miike as a mad-dog wildman. This is title is not yet available on DVD!
AGITATOR screens on March 19.
AUDITION (1999) 115m - Including pre-screening Q&A with Miike.
Considered by many to be Miike's masterpiece, AUDITION is also the film credited with breaking Miike wide in the U.S. as a bona fide auteur. The film follows the horrific results after a man looking for a submissive bride gets an extravagantly sadistic keeper instead. With brutal acts of torture and sexual violence, the film will test the stomachs of even the most experiences horror viewer.
AUDITION screens on March 16.
THE BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA (1998) 119m - Including post-screening Q&A with Miike.
Considered one of Miike's milder films, he trades blood and violence for visuals and whimsy in this one. The film marked a turning point in his career with this beautifully told fable about a salaryman and yakuza who are sidetracked on their mission to secure a company's business interest in remotest China after they learn of a secret which allows some of the villagers to fly.
THE BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA screens March 18.
THE CITY OF LOST SOULS (2000) 103m
In this effortless mix of comedy, film noir, and Hong Kong action, a Japanese-Brazilian hit man and a Chinese hairdresser attempt to flee the country and their psychotic exes. The film delivers an honest though often comical look at drug culture.
THE CITY OF LOST SOULS screens March 17 and March 19.
CROWS ZERO II (2009) 133m
Based on the popular Hiroshi Takahashi manga, Crows, Miike stays true to the source material with a hyper-stylized comic-book adaptation. The follow up to Crows Zero follows the students of Suzuran All-Boys High School, a literal school of hard knocks. This time students face off against the students of Hosen Academy, a rival school, whose students are feared as "the army of killers." The film was a box office hit, starring Shun Oguri. This yet another title being screened that is not available on DVD.
CROWS ZERO II screens March 20.
FUDOH: THE NEW GENERATION (1996) 98m - Including intro by Miike.
A high-school yakuza gang leader seeks oedipal revenge in Miike's first trademark blend of splatter, over-the-top twists, black humor, crazy characters, and sex and violence. After a mob ringleader murders his of his own sons, the surviving brother vows revenge on his father with his friends from school.
FUDOH: THE NEW GENERATION screens March 17.
THE GREAT YOKAI WAR (2005) 124m
A children's film courtesy of Takashi Miike? Believe it. In this delight for all ages, a boy must retrieve a magic sword to end the war between funkalicious demons and the forces of technology. Soon he becomes a hero known only as the "Kirin Rider" who helps lead Japan in a war against invading monsters. It is a story of a boy's transformation into a hero and his attempts to conquer evil.
THE GREAT YOKAI WAR screens March 20.
ICHI THE KILLER (2001) 129m - Including intro by Miike.
In its original run many theaters offered vomit bags before the screenings for this one. An albino sadomasochist with a crocodile grin and a fetish for lavender leather runs amok in Miike's famed underworld bodice-grinder. "Those who want to be jolted out of their gourd should drop everything and run to ICHI," wrote VA Musetto of the New York Post.
ICHI THE KILLER screens March 18.
IZO (2004) 128m
Crisscrossing centuries, an angel of death slaughters thousands on the road to deliverance, in Miike's wildly inventive and genuinely disturbing saga. The film tells the story of Izo Okada, a legendary Samarai and his blood encounters throughout his life.
IZO screens March 18.
LEY LINES (1999) 105m
The final in the series of Miike's Black Society Trilogy, LEY LINES follows Japanese youths who flee to Tokyo only to live amongst the world of prostitution and organized crime, angering their neighborhood's reigning group of gangsters. Set in the seedy world of small-time crooks, Miike's heartbreaking film follows three Chinese-Japanese country toughs who flee to Tokyo only to find more trouble.
LEY LINES screens March 18 and March 20.
SHANGRI-LA (2002) 105m
Proving he can't be pigeonholed, Miike does his best "Preston Sturges" with this delightful comedy about a group of homeless people living in a utopian shantytown outside Tokyo. This is the third title in the series that can't be found on DVD!
SHANGRI-LA screens March 20.
SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY (1995) 100m
Turf wars, rent boys, ethnic tensions, and so-bad-its-good club music abound in the first serving of Miike's ultraviolent, serpentine-plotted Black Society trilogy.
SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY screens March 17.
13 ASSASSINS (2010) 126m - Including intro and post-screening Q&A with Miike.
Sneak preview!
Miike's latest is a faithful sword-slashing remake of the 1963 samurai-siege classic. The finale? A 40-minute battle royale. A Magnet Release.
The film's sneak preview screening will be followed by a reception!
13 ASSASSINS screens on March 17.
SPECIAL THANKS
Co-programmed by Marc Walkow and co-presented by Subway Cinema. Special thanks to Magnet Releasing for 13 ASSASSINS.
PUBLIC SCRENING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 16
9:30 AUDITION
Thursday, March 17
2:15 THE CITY OF LOST SOULS
4:30 SHINJUKU TRIAD SOCIETY
7:00 13 ASSASSINS
10:00 FUDOH: THE NEW GENERATION
Friday, March 18
1:00 LEY LINES
3:15 IZO
6:00 THE BIRD PEOLE IN CHINA
8:40 ICHI THE KILLER
Saturday, March 19
6:15 THE CITY OF LOST SOULS
8:30 AGITATOR
Sunday, March 20
2:00 THE GREAT YOKAI WAR
4:30 SHANGRI-LA
6:45 LEY LINES
8:50 CROWS ZERO II
Below the break see Takashi Miike introducing his recent film 13 Assassins at the 67'th Venice Film Festival last year.