Koroshiya 1 aka Ichi The Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
Based upon the popular manga, one of Miike's (many) 2001 efforts is arguably his most notorious, because of the strong use of sexualized violence, masochistic use of torture, and strong, gory, bloody violence.
The Yakuza boss of the Anjo gang suddenly goes missing, and a stack of cash disappears with him. It's left to Kakihara (the excellent Tadanobu Asano) to try and find him... by any means necessary. Kakihara is a sadomasochistic oddball, and probably a nihilist to boot. He loves torture of all kinds, whether it's inflicted on himself or on other people. He longs to be hurt by somebody who really loves inflicting pain. Bless...
The Yakuza are getting set-up by an old man, who -a la Yojimbo- appears to be playing the two rival gangs for his own gain. In the midst of this he also has control over a lunatic killer cry-baby, Ichi (Tadanobu Asano), whom he manipulates in order to get certain gang members killed.
Set in the seedy streets of Shinjuku, Miike is clearly in his element. The combination of his favourite location, hyper-violent blood & gore, glorified misogyny, mutilation and violence are all on display here. As a result, Ichi the killer has been cut (or rather mutilated) in several countries... Germany, Hong Kong & the USA have in the past released severely cut versions, and in some countries was simply banned outright! Of course it almost goes without saying that the dreaded BBFC also took the scissors to Ichi, trimming 3 and a quarter minutes worth of the movie, mostly due to sexualized violence. Both USA Blu-ray releases and (of course) the Dutch releases remain fully uncut.
The earlier Tokyo shock release (bottom right) looked like an SD upscale, but was the only uncut English-friendly version I could find at that time (2010). Thankfully, in 2018, a newer version with a new transfer was released by Well Go USA. It's a big improvement over the 2010 release, but not without it's problems. To quote the blurb: "A new transfer was created in 4K resolution from a 35mm inter-negative at L'Imagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy." And therein lies the problem. L'Imagine Ritrovata. Those partially-sighted, colorblind dingbats in Bologna have screwed up yet another transfer. I can't believe they still get work, it's unfathomable! Not only do they ruin what appears to be perfectly reasonable transfer from a newly-created 4k source, but they do their usual, poor grading effort of "green-vision". Smearing all the video in a grotesque green tint. And then there's the black crushing. Brutal. Disgusting. Ruined. That said, however, this is still a better quality image and sound that the previous release. It's a pity there are no decent extras to speak of, so I'll have to keep hold of both copies (there are multiple interviews on the 2010 release). But L'Imagine Ritrovata, you've got to close down! Everything you touch turns to shit!
Aside for the technical aspects of Ichi, it still remains an excellent adaptation of an explicit manga. The effects are iffy (not great, good), the story is also good, and the cast are uniformly excellent. Miike is having a bloody ball with this kind of material.
Ichi also has an interesting ending, with equally interesting opening & closing credits. Not at all for the faint-hearted, Ichi is highly recommended, but it really, really isn't for the squeamish!
