Fudoh: The New Generation (Takashi Miike, 1996)

Are there many filmmakers as diverse as Takashi Miike? Just the other day, I wrote about his 1997 noir effort Rainy Dog, and today, I'm writing about Fudoh: The Next Generation, an ultra-violent, crude, and no-holds-barred yakuza revenge film from just a year earlier. In fact, his wikipedia entry mentions the fact that Miike has one of the most confusing career paths ever; he is becoming both more and less mainstream at the same time. But back to Fudoh. Riki Fudoh, as a little boy, secretly witnesses his father kill his brother in order to solve a rivalry with another gang. Ten years later, Riki has acquired a gang of classmates and children, and decides to take revenge on his father and their entire yakuza organization. The fact that children are used as killers isn't used as a funny or silly thing; in fact, they are pretty creepy, and really effective. Fudoh's bodyguards are two female classmates, one with powerful vaginal muscles and, uh, a little something extra. Some of the things in the movie are so crass that they're hilarious, and some are just weird and a bit disturbing. Plus, I think this film takes the prize for using the most fake blood in one scene ever -- a car is literally flooded with it. Shocking, but not outside of Miike's realm. A good, brainless time. 7.5/10

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