This controversial and prolific director made his one-hundredth film in 2017 which unfurled on delighted audiences during this year’s Cannes Film Festival. With a reputation for having a predilection for scenes containing extreme violence and sexual perversions, he has made wide-ranging films from strange, bizarre and violent, to dramatic and gentle. Known for his dark sense of humour and pushing the censorship boundaries as far as they will go, Miike turns 57 this month and shows no signs of slowing down.
The most fun you can have watching a string of gory dismemberments, Takashi Miike’s latest film, adapted from Hiroaki Samura’s manga of the same name, is set in the time of the Shoguns and is sheer sword-swinging, shuriken-slinging, cinematic carnage.
Scarred samurai sell-sword Manji (Takuya Kimura) can’t be killed – but there’s no shortage of enemies lining up to put this to the test. Stab him, bash him, mangle him, chop off an arm or a leg – a powerful curse to live forever helps him recover from any wound, albeit painfully. Enter a gutsy girl who has vowed to take her revenge against an evil sword master; will Manji help her? The body count is going to be epic.
This is a visceral, pulse-pounding orgy of immaculately choreographed violence.
Friday 25th August
140 min
15+
Film Festival
