Miike is a genius. A twisted genius perhaps, but a genius nonetheless. For evidence of this claim one needs to look no further then his finest masterpiece, Ichi the Killer. Miike claims he can't understand how people can put things like love, violence and sex into different categories in films and this is well evidenced in the exotic glimpse he gives us into the dark, Yakuza dominated underworld of Shinjoku. This movie features a huge cast of colourful characters. The story revolves around the worryingly calm, Sado-masochistic, Yakuza: Kakihara (pictured) and his attempts to find his missing boss. While Kakihara scours Shinjoku he is drawn ever closer to the elusive killer: Ichi. That is as close to a synopsis as I can give as the true story of this epic film is so much more complex and detailed then can be encapsulated in a 5000 character review. For example there is also the intense character study into the mind of the title character, a man who in a single fit of rage turns into a bloodthirsty murderer but is still ultimately trapped within the mind of an innocent child, ashamed by what he has done and unable to truly understand why he is doing it. Ichi is superbly played by Nao Omori who successfully goaded this viewer into feeling a deep sense of pity for him with his apologetic manner and infantile naivety. Tadanobu Asano is a very close second in terms of excellent characterization for Kakihara, a man whose apparent asexuality and lack of a normal emotional spectrum lies only in the fact he regards violence as the only way of expressing love. If these characters weren't colorful enough there's also the pouting, attention seeking prostitute Karen (played sensually by Alien Sun), the manipulative Jiji (who might sometimes seem analogous of Dr. Frankenstein in how he has raised Ichi to become something more powerful then even he can control), the long-suffering father Kaneko and his impressionable son Takeshi, the comic and vengeful Suzuki... the list goes on. Despite the large cast size, everyone still receives excellent character development, and it is never forced, it is always a flowing component of the narrative. Better still, by the time the film is finished there is plenty of room for interpretation. Despite this movie being a filmic masterwork of storytelling brilliance some would invariably see the violence in the film and judge it as a mindless gore flick, if anything the violence contained places emphasis on the dichotomy between Ichi's alternate mindsets and Kakihara's strange view on the world. Though having said this, the film is NOT for those with refined sensibilities. Anyway this film is a true testament to Takashi Miike and his rampant disregard for any and all conventions in the world of film.