Ichi the Killer 2001

I watched this movie religiously 15 years ago when I was in high school and I was so pleased that its aged beautifully. In its day, Takashi Miike's breakout yakuza gore comedy was too bleak, violent & weird to get more than an underground but hardcore appreciation. In 2017, the film is practically quaint, refreshing & poetic. The world and its cinema have caught up.

Without this new age classic, you wouldn't have Only God Forgives, The Dark Knight's Joker or the once streaming list of gory action films like Kill Bill and Tokyo Gore Police. I'd argue that this is Japan's answer to Fight Club that is perhaps just as radical, entertaining and influential. Its a brisk gritty adventure in impotent assassins, rape fantasies, single dad blues, suicide, torture, S&M, slapstick, existentialism, bureaucracy and male identity.

The film was one of the first films to play like a violent video game or adult comic book but its the ironic humor and mature wisdom that elevates this into an unforgettable moment in time. Check it out.