Takashi Miike is back with a pair of films that promise to shock
Maverick Japanese director rejects the horror label for his latest offerings
Mention the name Takashi Miike to film fans, and transgressive works such as cult horror film (1999) and the notoriously gory (2001) usually come to mind. But with close to 100 films under his belt, the 54-year-old Osakan is an amazingly versatile director whose filmography includes children's films along with movies about yakuza and samurai; he has also ventured into the realm of science fiction and wild comedies.
WATCH: trailer for Miike's film As The Gods Will
At the 9th Rome Film Festival, where he received the maverick director award last year, Miike spoke about how, having begun his career making direct-to-video films for what's known as Japan's V-Cinema in the 1990s, his imagination and productivity were boosted by having to work with extremely low production budgets but with considerable creative freedom.
"For a long time I was free. I didn't belong to any type of studio, or any company. I kept a sort of freedom and a light touch," he says.
"Now there are TV companies that need a sort of compliance to society. They have to be very careful not to be sued, to conform to all the rules and regulations. I would like to be even freer, but I don't always get that amount of freedom," he says.
