Gozu

Gozu
Directed by	Takashi Miike
Produced by	Kana Koido Harumi Sone
Written by	Sakichi Sato
Starring	Hideki Sone Show Aikawa
Music by	Kôji Endô
Cinematography	Kazunari Tanaka
Editing by	Yasushi Shimamura
Distributed by	Cinema Epoch
Release dates	July 12, 2003
Running time	130 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Gozu (極道恐怖大劇場　牛頭　ＧＯＺＵ, Gokudō kyōfu dai-gekijō: Gozu, literally: Yakuza Horror Theatre: Cow's Head) is a Japanese cult film directed by Takashi Miike and written by Sakichi Sato.

Plot

Structurally, Gozu is a succession of bizarre scenes sandwiched between a storyline involving Minami’s search for his Yakuza brother Ozaki in a small town, that is reminiscent of the episodic quests in Greek Mythology.^[1]

Minami's encounter with a minotaur-like creature gives the film its name (Gozu is Japanese for cow's head).

Cast

• Hideki Sone as Minami
• Show Aikawa as Ozaki
• Kimika Yoshino as Female Ozaki
• Shohei Hino as Nose
• Keiko Tomita as Innkeeper
• Harumi Sone as Innkeeper's Brother
• Renji Ishibashi as Boss

Reception

Shot on a low budget, the movie was originally planned for release on DVD but its positive reception at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2003 secured its theatrical release overseas.^[2] The film received mostly positive reviews from the New York Times, BBC, Washington Post and internet sites Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, with most critics commenting on the deeply surreal and disjointed nature of the film.^[1][3][4]

See also

• Ox-Head and Horse-Face

References

External links

• Gozu at the Internet Movie Database
• Gozu at allmovie
• Gozu at Metacritic
• Anything But Banal; Takashi Miike on "Gozu" and His Ups and Downs at indiewire.com
• We talk to the cult Japanese director about his latest film to hit the States, Gozu. Miike interview at ign.com
• (Japanese) Gozu at the Japanese Movie Database