Lesson of Evil (Aku no kyoten)

Probable not the most politically correct movie, but then when was Takashi Miike a politically correct director? The films I have seen by this enfant terrible of Japanese film could never really be classed as making films ‘in the best possible taste’, including two films that are absolutely unmissable, Audition (1999), which established Miike’s reputation as a director who was more than willing to cross excepted boundaries, and the outrageously violent gangster movie Ichi the Killer (2001).

In 2012 he made Lesson of Evil or as it was known in its country of origin Aku no kyoten which was described by Mark Player in his Midnight Eye end of year report as perhaps the directors ‘most gleefully sadistic outing since Ichi’ and compared it to other films in the great mans body of work including Visitor Q (2001), Dead or Alive (1999) and Gozu (2003). And politically correct it isn’t, being about a killing spree of pupils in a High School, something that has happened in the USA and the UK and not forgetting the mass killing of 69 participants of the Workers Youth League summer camp by the far right terrorists Anders Behring Breivik on the Norwegian island of Utoya in July 2011.

The films narrative possess the question ‘do you know the difference between right and wrong’ and involves a charismatic English teacher Seiji Hasumi who charms his way into the hearts, minds and in some cases the body’s of his young charges. But unbeknown to both pupils and the school authorities Hasumi, played brilliantly by Hideaki Ito who had worked with the director previously in Sukiyaki Western Django in 2007, is a seasoned psychopath who is prepared to go to great lengths to solve what he perceives to be wrong with the school.

Based on the novel Aku no Kyoten by Yusuke Kishi (first published serially from July, 2008 to July, 2010 in monthly magazine "Betsatsu Bungeishunju" and then published in novel form on July 30, 2010 by Bungeishunju). This is the first time that Miike has been totally responsible for a script; previously he has been in partnership with other writers.

This is a profoundly violent movie but one from which you can never divert your attention even with the prior knowledge that what your watching has been panned by the critics, not because it’s a badly made or acted film, which it certainly isn’t, but because it has been deemed as unacceptable subject matter. One thing you can be sure of is that it will not be the last time Miike produces something that upsets staid cinemagoers!

13 Assassins 2010.

Japanese Film Poster.

Takashi Miike, branded the enfant terrible of Japanese cinema, first came to international prominence with Audition (1999). A film about a middle-aged widowers search for a young, beautiful, traditional Japanese bride starts at a sedate pace but ends as a horrifying nightmare of sadistic depravity. When I initially saw this at the RBC Film Theatre it was the first time I had witnessed people actually walking out of the cinema during a screening!  His 2001 film Ichi the Killer is possibly the most deliriously violent film ever made. Adapted from a manga of the same name the BBFC refused to allow release of the uncut film in the UK citing its extreme levels of sexual violence towards women but that rather misses the point. As Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp stated in in their guide to New Japanese Film “The film is a strongly critical examination of the relationship between violent images and the spectator, as well as being an excellent character piece” Miike started his career on Japanese TV and then as part of Japan’s V-Cinema (films made for direct-to-video) that have less stringent censorship and allow directors more creative freedom.

This genre-busting director has tackled, drama, comedy, gut-churning horror, Yakuza action movies, musicals and a spaghetti western, amongst others. He has never been afraid to portray taboo busting content including bizarre sex or very extreme violence. Miike can be truly described as a cult director.

Manga Illustration.

His latest main stream UK release is a period drama, 13 Assassins (2010), which is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name by Kudo Eiichi. Sticking closely to the original and set in 1844 near the end of the Edo period, it’s a traditional story of a group of Samurai and Ronin assembled by the war weary veteran Shinzaemon Shimada, the former Shoguns Samurai, into a potent band of assassins to eliminate the evil and politically dangerous Lord Naritsugu the current Shoguns younger brother. The film represents the final days of the Samurai who battle against corrupt authorities and is similar in tone to Kurosawa’s epic Seven Samurai (1954). Four typical Miikesque moments are, Naritsugu’s mutilated plaything, kicking the head of his loyal general Hanbei after it was severed during sword play, a boy urinating in the street and a herd of blazing cattle running amok during the 45 minute battle sequence at the conclusion of the movie.

Film Still.

This is action driven Japanese cinema at its most powerful, the shear energy of this fine samurai movie is a real cinematic treat. This type of movie does not come our way very often so well done the RBC Film Theatre for yet again programming such a marvellously enjoyable film.