Lesson of the Evil (Takashi Miike, 2012)

[HungFist]

Miike's been very hit and miss lately, but this one looks very interesting:



Teaser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUijfXFmGXg

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-K9LMo2Ojw

Site:
http://akunokyouten.com/index.html

via logboy

[SpearheadBT]

What are supposed to be his best films? I saw Ichi the Killer and didn't really like it, and thought Shinjuku Triad Society to be rather decent.

[HungFist]

The thing with Miike is that he's done everything from splatter to period drama and musical... when it comes to Miike recommendations, the first question you have to ask is "which genre"?

I've seen 35 movies from him, but half of them I can't really remember anymore as I saw them almost 10 years ago. But I recommend you start with the excellent Audition (drama/horror). For an over-the-top action/yakuza/violence Dead or Alive (cop/yakuza) is a good choice. The more realistic Rainy Dog and Graveyard of Honor, which I've seen a long time ago but hardy can remember anything about, are highly ranked as well. For the true "Miike cinema" Gozu and Izo are both hardcore, but the latter can only be recommended to Miike veterans. Visitor Q, yet another Miike film that I can't remember much about, also belongs to this category. Happiness of the Katakuris (horror-comedy/musical/zombie) does the job if you're looking for something easier approachable. Personally, I love his recent family films The Great Yokai War (fantasy/family film) and Yatterman (wacky superhero/comedy/family film). His 13 Assassins remake is also very popular, though I found it over-rated.

[logboy]

i tried counting how many i've seen from miike's films - think it's just under 60, including some on discs not officially released, if you're wondering - and i'd say ignore recommendations and just dive in to what catches your eye. personally, and this is a recommendation i suppose, i prefer the 90's films. i'd say many seem to fit into one genre but this is probably because so many were v-cinema or just plain low budget. yakuza films sit well there, and there's lot of use of a genre as a vehicle for ideas that both sit well with the genre as well as often being unusual for it.

i've often also found that there are far smarter ideas contained that are often ignored for the more salacious / easy take on what's going on, so it's worth noting 99% of miike text online is utter nonsense and just the excitement of people who should know better that to regard that as a true perspective on what's exciting about anything - it's been some years since i watched it, but 'ichi the killer' has great ideas about individual control and social manipulation, i think ... ?!

remember that most of his stuff was shot in two weeks (and often on a calculated budget of 'unit price of a rental VHS multiplied by number of rental stores in japan that will buy at least one copy' and that you get biggest-draw stars and styles to make it pay-off but also get someone given a chance to do something unusual with it so as not to be too down-the-line with the result, and that he's applying his own perspectives onto another's material a lot of the time, trying hard to also provide an entertaining day's work for each of his staff (including the actors!) rather than simply trying to be all about any one perceived or interested person - whether that\s the viewer or the writer. makes for some might impressive uses of compromise; always watch the interviews with miike to get far more insight too.

the only films i've not liked that much are the larger budgeted films, but there's a few good ones in there too. i think '13 assassins' is the closest to 90's miike i've seen since 'sun scarred' / 'scars of the sun'.

[HungFist]

I was scared of seeing this after Miike's previous effort Ai to Makoto (For Love's Sake) turning out a worthless drivel and Windgrouds' typically pessimistic press recap finding so many negative reviews/phrases to quote. But, to my relief, even the 129 minute running time and lack of any deeper sub-context couldn't prevent the film from being one of the year's more entertaining rides.

With most Japanese films these days looking like ass because of either low production values, or that dammed fashionable "contrasts to hell" look (which also make Ai to Makoto pretty ugly to look at), it felt like a bucketful of fresh air to see Lesson of the Evil's razor sharp, natural and colorful visuals. This by far the best looking film Miike has ever done.

It's true there isn't much character dept and none of the sharp satire of Fukasaku's Battle Royale (which feels an oddly close comparison) but is that really such a big sin? Lesson of the Evil is a slick thriller with goregeous visuals*, some silly back story, outrageously violent massacre finale, attractive youth cast, and Hideaki Ito's utterly charming performance as The Bold and the Beautiful's Ridge gone shotgun psycho in high school.

Yes, it could be better, but who expected Miike's shotgun slasher to aim for the intelligence award of the year? Seeing the lovable English teacher electrifying crows to death at his forest cottage, and listening to Die Moritat von Mackie Messer (1928) you know Miike's not dead yet!

Lesson of the Evil should also restore the producer's faith in Miike after the miserable box office failure of Ai to Makoto. In one month Lesson of the Evil has done more money at the domestic box office than The Dark Knight Rises in all year! In the light of the recent real life event all US screening seem destined to be cancelled, though.

* a typo that, in closer look, turned out not to be that much of typo anyway.

[HungFist]

I'm quite amused that my friend, who is a high school English teacher, stated Lesson of the Evil is his favorite movie of 2012

[HungFist]

Very funny Miike bit:
http://youtu.be/LGsRSPLk408

[HungFist]

Lesson of (the) Evil HK BD & DVD:
- http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... ctID=13633
- http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... ctID=13634