After a long hiatus, it's blog-time again!
Watched 'Gozu' (Japspeak for cow-head), a Japanese film yesterday. It's part of the Singapore International Film Fest. Gozu is from the same man who made 'Audition', and it is sooooo BIZARRE that I must pen the events of the film down before I forget them!
Opening scene: A meeting of the Yazuka (Japanaese mafia) takes place in a restaurant. Minami is a loyal henchman to his Big Brother, Ozaki. Ozaki starts displaying signs of mental illness by claiming to Big Boss that the chihuahua he sees outside the restaurant is a Yakuza attack dog. To get rid of the 'danger', he picks up chihuahua, dashes it against the wall, and again and again. He picks up leash, swings the little dog on it round and round his head, and dashes it again. Blood drips down on the wall. By now, Big Boss is convinced Ozaki has a screw loose. Since mental illness is a threat to the organization, Big Boss gives secret orders to Minami to dispose of Ozaki by ferrying him to the 'Dump' in Nagoya.
In the countryside, Minami is ferrying Ozaki in a car, and Ozaki is sitting behind. Ozaki tells Minami his secret desire to kill Big Boss and take over, cos Big Boss is too sex-crazy to be of any use. Ozaki looks behind, sees a car behind them, and tells Minami that's a Yakuza attack car! He forces Minami to stop (the car behind had to brake abruptly too), goes to the car behind and prepares to shoot the ordinary-looking lady-driver. Lady-driver has blood flowing from nose, and smiles kindly. Minami stops Ozaki from firing at the last minute by knocking him unconscious, and screams to the lady to leave. And instead of continuing forward, we see the car reversing itself back along the road until it disappears from view! *Audience were very amused by now*
Minami drives on, and has conflicting thoughts about killing Ozaki, whom he has sworn his loyalty to. He brakes the car abruptly just before a river, flinging the unconscious Ozaki forward. Ozaki's head slams into the dashboard, making him even more unconscious.
Minami receives call from Boss warning him to finish the job by bringing Ozaki to the 'Dump' or face the consequences. Minami is at a loss what to do; he parks car ouside a coffeeshop in Nagoya, and leaving the unconscious Ozaki in the car, goes in for cup of coffee. Coffeeshop owner is a fat botak guy in a translucent tight sexy top with black bra inside. His 2 waiters are also cross-dressers and have makeup on in addition. 2 old men in the restaurant keep repeating the same topic in their conversation, i.e about how hot the weather was yesterday and how one of them had to put on a t-shirt. Minami has a coffee, and is served a chawamushi (Japanese beancurd) which the black bra guy says is complimentary. Minami gobbles the stuff, feels nauseous, goes to toilet. When he comes out, he glances at car outside, and Ozaki has DISAPPEARED. Panicking, Minami tries to make a call, but his handphone has no reception. Desperate, he asks the people in the shop whether they saw anyone walk in when he was in toilet, but they say no. Minami tries the phone booth, and calls and tells Big Boss of the situation. Big Boss refers him to the Shiroyama branch in Nagoya for their assistance in retrieving Ozaki. Minami goes to the address which Boss gave him, but it turns out to be a monastery. Monk suggests he tries the police station. Minami goes to police station, but the single policeman there isn't of any help. Policeman guesses Minami is not from Nagoya; when Minami asks him where he's from, he says he's from Hongkong!
Minami drives around, gets a puncture, and meets a man with partial vitiligo (disease that makes the skin white) on the face. Man offers to help Minami by taking him to junkyard for tires. Over there, Minami comes across sign that says Shiroyama... voila. Shiroyama Boss says he can get the vitiligo man (which is his own man) to help, provided that Minami can answer a question correctly. If Minami can't answer, he will take something precious from him. Minami asks whether Boss means money or his life, but Boss says no. *We never did find out what that something precious is supposed to be*. Boss gives riddle: 'What takes, and passes as well?' (says the subtitles), and gives time limit of 30 secs. Minami panics, vitiligo man starts counting down aloud, and skips from 20 to 10... Minami protests, and shouts out 'Time' as the answer at the very last second, and he's correct!
Vitiligo man brings Minami to a hotel to spend the night. And straightaway, u can see the hotel is gonna be weird; it looks spooky too, like in a Jap horror show. There were no other people in the hotel, save for the owner who is an old lady, and her brother, a big sized botak man who looks dim-witted.
Minami takes a bath alone in the bath-house. Halfway, the door opens, and the old landlady asks if she can join him! Of course he refuses. She goes on to claim that her breasts can lactate... Minami eats dinner, and gets served 2 portions, which the landlord claims it's free. During dinner, drops of milk trickle from the ceiling and fall into his miso soup.
Ok, I'm rather breathless. The film goes on to trace the steps Minami takes to find the missing Ozaki. On the trail, he goes to this shop selling red beans, where a Caucasian lady wearing a shocking red qipao speaks to him in halting Japanese. Minami goes into the shop to take a closer look, and lo and behold, she's reading out from cue-cards pasted onto the wall! Yes, the whole movie is starting to resemble a weird DREAM.
Back at the hotel, the landlady claims her brother has divining powers and can reveal where Ozaki is. Minami agrees to let her try, and in order to invoke the 'spirits' in her brother, she starts whipping the poor man like crazy! And all the while, he claims he can't divine!
Minami then checks out the room upstairs, and realises that Ozaki had spent the night there! There is a message from Ozaki asking him to go to the 'Dump', the place where Minami was to take him and kill him.
Minami goes to the Dump, but there is no sign of Ozaki. The place resembles a slaughter house / meat-packing factory. He asks the person in charge there, and is shown a room with entire human body skins on hangers like in a wardrobe! Then he is told that Ozaki has transformed himself. Minami asks to see Ozaki's 'old' skin, and the person asks him, 'Which pattern tatoo does he have?' And yes, Minami identifies the body-skin by recognition of Ozaki's tatoos! Outside, Minami meets a sultry lady, who tells him he is Ozaki! And she proves she is telling the truth by relating incidents in the past that only Ozaki could have known!
I'm tired now, so I'll summarise events to the end: Minami and the transformed Ozaki go back to their gang, where Ozaki seduces the Big Boss, and kills him. The lady Ozaki then gives birth to the original fully-grown Ozaki (the man) rght in front of Minami, who is horrified. The lady ends up looking wrinkled, after the excruciating birth, but both Minami and the (reborn) Ozaki put her in a bathtub of water, and she goes back to normal. And the three of them live happily ever after. THE END.
Watched 'Gozu' (Japspeak for cow-head), a Japanese film yesterday. It's part of the Singapore International Film Fest. Gozu is from the same man who made 'Audition', and it is sooooo BIZARRE that I must pen the events of the film down before I forget them!
Opening scene: A meeting of the Yazuka (Japanaese mafia) takes place in a restaurant. Minami is a loyal henchman to his Big Brother, Ozaki. Ozaki starts displaying signs of mental illness by claiming to Big Boss that the chihuahua he sees outside the restaurant is a Yakuza attack dog. To get rid of the 'danger', he picks up chihuahua, dashes it against the wall, and again and again. He picks up leash, swings the little dog on it round and round his head, and dashes it again. Blood drips down on the wall. By now, Big Boss is convinced Ozaki has a screw loose. Since mental illness is a threat to the organization, Big Boss gives secret orders to Minami to dispose of Ozaki by ferrying him to the 'Dump' in Nagoya.
In the countryside, Minami is ferrying Ozaki in a car, and Ozaki is sitting behind. Ozaki tells Minami his secret desire to kill Big Boss and take over, cos Big Boss is too sex-crazy to be of any use. Ozaki looks behind, sees a car behind them, and tells Minami that's a Yakuza attack car! He forces Minami to stop (the car behind had to brake abruptly too), goes to the car behind and prepares to shoot the ordinary-looking lady-driver. Lady-driver has blood flowing from nose, and smiles kindly. Minami stops Ozaki from firing at the last minute by knocking him unconscious, and screams to the lady to leave. And instead of continuing forward, we see the car reversing itself back along the road until it disappears from view! *Audience were very amused by now*
Minami drives on, and has conflicting thoughts about killing Ozaki, whom he has sworn his loyalty to. He brakes the car abruptly just before a river, flinging the unconscious Ozaki forward. Ozaki's head slams into the dashboard, making him even more unconscious.
Minami receives call from Boss warning him to finish the job by bringing Ozaki to the 'Dump' or face the consequences. Minami is at a loss what to do; he parks car ouside a coffeeshop in Nagoya, and leaving the unconscious Ozaki in the car, goes in for cup of coffee. Coffeeshop owner is a fat botak guy in a translucent tight sexy top with black bra inside. His 2 waiters are also cross-dressers and have makeup on in addition. 2 old men in the restaurant keep repeating the same topic in their conversation, i.e about how hot the weather was yesterday and how one of them had to put on a t-shirt. Minami has a coffee, and is served a chawamushi (Japanese beancurd) which the black bra guy says is complimentary. Minami gobbles the stuff, feels nauseous, goes to toilet. When he comes out, he glances at car outside, and Ozaki has DISAPPEARED. Panicking, Minami tries to make a call, but his handphone has no reception. Desperate, he asks the people in the shop whether they saw anyone walk in when he was in toilet, but they say no. Minami tries the phone booth, and calls and tells Big Boss of the situation. Big Boss refers him to the Shiroyama branch in Nagoya for their assistance in retrieving Ozaki. Minami goes to the address which Boss gave him, but it turns out to be a monastery. Monk suggests he tries the police station. Minami goes to police station, but the single policeman there isn't of any help. Policeman guesses Minami is not from Nagoya; when Minami asks him where he's from, he says he's from Hongkong!
Minami drives around, gets a puncture, and meets a man with partial vitiligo (disease that makes the skin white) on the face. Man offers to help Minami by taking him to junkyard for tires. Over there, Minami comes across sign that says Shiroyama... voila. Shiroyama Boss says he can get the vitiligo man (which is his own man) to help, provided that Minami can answer a question correctly. If Minami can't answer, he will take something precious from him. Minami asks whether Boss means money or his life, but Boss says no. *We never did find out what that something precious is supposed to be*. Boss gives riddle: 'What takes, and passes as well?' (says the subtitles), and gives time limit of 30 secs. Minami panics, vitiligo man starts counting down aloud, and skips from 20 to 10... Minami protests, and shouts out 'Time' as the answer at the very last second, and he's correct!
Vitiligo man brings Minami to a hotel to spend the night. And straightaway, u can see the hotel is gonna be weird; it looks spooky too, like in a Jap horror show. There were no other people in the hotel, save for the owner who is an old lady, and her brother, a big sized botak man who looks dim-witted.
Minami takes a bath alone in the bath-house. Halfway, the door opens, and the old landlady asks if she can join him! Of course he refuses. She goes on to claim that her breasts can lactate... Minami eats dinner, and gets served 2 portions, which the landlord claims it's free. During dinner, drops of milk trickle from the ceiling and fall into his miso soup.
Ok, I'm rather breathless. The film goes on to trace the steps Minami takes to find the missing Ozaki. On the trail, he goes to this shop selling red beans, where a Caucasian lady wearing a shocking red qipao speaks to him in halting Japanese. Minami goes into the shop to take a closer look, and lo and behold, she's reading out from cue-cards pasted onto the wall! Yes, the whole movie is starting to resemble a weird DREAM.
Back at the hotel, the landlady claims her brother has divining powers and can reveal where Ozaki is. Minami agrees to let her try, and in order to invoke the 'spirits' in her brother, she starts whipping the poor man like crazy! And all the while, he claims he can't divine!
Minami then checks out the room upstairs, and realises that Ozaki had spent the night there! There is a message from Ozaki asking him to go to the 'Dump', the place where Minami was to take him and kill him.
Minami goes to the Dump, but there is no sign of Ozaki. The place resembles a slaughter house / meat-packing factory. He asks the person in charge there, and is shown a room with entire human body skins on hangers like in a wardrobe! Then he is told that Ozaki has transformed himself. Minami asks to see Ozaki's 'old' skin, and the person asks him, 'Which pattern tatoo does he have?' And yes, Minami identifies the body-skin by recognition of Ozaki's tatoos! Outside, Minami meets a sultry lady, who tells him he is Ozaki! And she proves she is telling the truth by relating incidents in the past that only Ozaki could have known!
I'm tired now, so I'll summarise events to the end: Minami and the transformed Ozaki go back to their gang, where Ozaki seduces the Big Boss, and kills him. The lady Ozaki then gives birth to the original fully-grown Ozaki (the man) rght in front of Minami, who is horrified. The lady ends up looking wrinkled, after the excruciating birth, but both Minami and the (reborn) Ozaki put her in a bathtub of water, and she goes back to normal. And the three of them live happily ever after. THE END.
