Ichi the Killer

Flowing like water and flying like wind; this is the way the Japanese film industry describes the acting of Tadanobu Asano. And my, oh my, how he flows in "Ichi the Killer." Asano plays hyper-sadomasochistic Kakihara of the Japanese mafia Yakuza in a movie that is a strong contender for the most demented of all time. Let's just say that director Miike Takashi relishes in the arterial spray like no other director out there. Tarantino, maybe...maybe. If released at your local Super Cinema...what am I saying? The possibiltiy of this movie seeing several thousand big screens in 'merica is as likely as monkeys flying out of my a-hole.

Not only does our little Ichi kill with reckless abandon, he gets off on it. If that weren't enough, he only kills because he has been hypnotized by an ex-Yakuza who has a plan to take down the whole Anjo-Yakuza branch of the gang via Ichi.

In one particular scene, aforementioned Kakihara proves he is so, so sorry to the bosses in the Yakuza. He is apologetic because he decided to hang a fellow Yakuza from the ceiling with hooks to try and get some info. Kakihara then decides to make some shrimp tempura and rather than waste the hot grease, he dumps it on said hookee. The bosses deem this treatment a wee-bit excessive, so Kakihara makes amends by chopping off his own tongue. He is careful, however, to wear a bib to protect his wardrobe when he chops said tongue. And then, he immediately answers his phone afterwards and has one of the funniest/sickest conversations in cinema history.

So, a song to measure up to that insanity? I think I found it. Appparently, this song is huge everywhere in the world except for here. I give you - "Schnappi - Das kleine Krokodil" - some German craziness. If this tune doesn't make you want to kill, I don't know what will. UPDATE! I found someone who shares my sentiment. Click here to take pot shots at Schnappi with a machine gun. Warms the cockles of my heart. Long live Ichi!

Schnappi