Omega Micott's logo just popped up.
It's kind of scary.
Here's the opening music...
Why don't we introduce ourselves first?
I'm the manga artist, Hideo Yamamoto.
I'm the director, Takashi Miike.
It brings back memories, doesn't it?
I don't remember the first time I saw this.
Do you forget things easily?
You could say that.
This is around the end
of last year, isn't it?
That's right.
We're just reminiscing now, not doing commentary.
This beginning part is cool.
We had the music first.
His name is Seiichi Yamamoto, he's a crazy guy.
He told me to think different.
I think if the music was different, the edit would be, too.
I always look forward to the opening most when I watch movies.
In this case, the film is not ordinary, so I couldn't wait to see it.
The opening of a movie is often made by a different crew in other countries.
Is that so?
Soul Bass is one of the famous "opening" directors.
The openings for the 007 series have a totally different feel from the features.
There are many directors who create the openings abroad.
I see.
You have to catch people's attention in the opening.
Especially in the U.S., the opening is also a part of the entertainment.
How does a director feel letting other people do it?
If I believe the editor is talented, I would love the person to do it.
It would add a different flavor to the film.
Is it common in Japan?
Not really, a director usually likes to say he did everything himself.
It's not traditional to have a different director for an opening in a Japanese film.
Besides, it costs more if we do it that way.
That's why it's hard for Japanese directors to adapt their style.
The movies directed by music video directors have elaborate openings.
That's true.
But then, often the feature isn't as good as the opening.
It's R-rated from the beginning.
Audiences abroad will understand this.
How's that?
How the title of the movie appears...
They will figure out what this movie is about, right from the beginning.
The movie title appears in sperm.
What's that sperm made out of?
That sperm is...
That's Shinya Tsukamoto's sperm.
Is it real?
Yes, but there wasn't enough, so some staffers contributed.
And our CG team shot it as the base image...
...and they used CG to create the title slowly coming up.
But mainly it's Tsukamoto's sperm.
Did he volunteer?
Well, he occasionally makes a mess on the set.
He'll unload before his scene, so we asked him to put it in a bucket.
I thought it was fake sperm.
I had to fuss over the authenticity.
But that's probably the only part where we used the real stuff.
I wonder if shooting an adult film and a movie like this are similar.
It's very similar.
I've compared notes with people from that industry.
They say the real stuff is the best.
I wouldn't want to be on the set.
An adult film set?
No, when you were shooting that sperm scene.
We couldn't make a mess like this in a rented room...
...so we used real blood and CG blood.
Which is CG blood?
The blood on the walls and ceiling is made of CG.
The blood on the walls is not real?
No.
I didn't know.
We made a bloody room with CG, and inserted the person later.
We'd be in trouble if we did that to a rented room...
...so it was no problem to make the room look clean like this.
I had no idea.
I have to thank the CG team for this.
Usually, CG is meant to create something imaginary.
So people who work with CG aren't used to creating blood with CG.
They had a hard time making the blood on the walls look real.
You wouldn't know how smoke should come out from a slashed-open mouth.
In which of your movies did you use CG most?
I think it's this movie, this film is loaded with CG.
It took about half a year.
Just for the CG scenes?
That's right, because we didn't have that many CG specialists, like Hollywood.
We had a small staff for the CG effects, and each of them worked individually.
It sounds like a lot of work.
It's interesting that they use computers to create CG, but...
...it's really a handcrafted work.
You can't just work on someone else's stuff.
Only the person who's working on it will understand what he's doing.
So in a way, each CG effect has it's own personality...
...and I think it's more interesting that way.
There must be 1.8 times more CG effects than I originally noticed.
Probably.
Actually, I like figuring out whether I used CG or make-up.
This actor, Mr. Arizono, he's a very strange man.
You can't make this character with CG.
I agree.
Actors are very interesting.
I can't help but just watch the movie.
It brings back memories...
This movie has been shown in many film festivals all over the world...
...and some audiences are repulsed and some are pleased.
The film is shocking people everywhere.
I feel like this movie is starting to grow bigger by itself.
You created Ichi...
...it became a film, and now is being introduced to the world.
Well, actually most countries cannot show this movie as it is.
But things are different in Holland.
You can smoke marijuana legally there.
So there's no problem showing the uncut version in Holland.
As is?
That's right.
In Hong Kong, certain scenes were edited out.
What about in Japan?
It seemed like the MPCEC didn't know what to do.
So they just made it R-rated, so minors couldn't see it.
I didn't want to edit it, so that minors could see it.
Minors should just watch it secretly.
It may be illegal, but I think it's healthier to watch this R-rated version.
I'd get advice to change certain scenes, and I'd pretend that I'm listening...
...but I'd end up ignoring them.
Is there anything you just can't do in a film?
Yes, there were strict rules about what you can't do in a film.
But you can't follow every rule when you make a movie like this.
And the MPCEC understands it, so it was kind of give-and-take.
So minors cannot buy the DVD?
That's a difficult question...
I don't know...
But basically, you can buy anything as long as you pay for it.
I wonder if this film is going to be on the same shelf...
...as an adult video in a video rental store?
Many people in the film industry think it is...
...according to the categorizing rule.
But I think it's totally up to the vendors.
They could put it on the front if they want to sell it.
I don't, and I shouldn't, have control over where the vendors put my film.
We're talking about this movie, which was made a long time ago.
And we talked about making this film a couple of years prior to that.
There's this big time gap...
You can't talk about how this movie came to be made that easily.
Only the people who were involved in the film know...
...what is ICHI THE KILLER really about.
This movie we see here is a final product, but...
...I met a lot of people throughout filming.
And I felt like we were creating something other than Ichi...
...as if we were coming up with ideas for the next film.
I remember talking about this film, eating oden at a bar.
We'd never thought it would really become a film.
Oomori has a great expression on his face.
He is a strange actor.
How so?
Do you know Mr. Akaji Mano?
He's a great actor.
He's a living legend.
Oomori is the son of Mr. Mano.
I worked with Mr. Mano a while ago.
And when I met him, I told him that it was a pleasure to work with his son.
Then he said to me "Oh right, he's acting, right?"
So I asked Oomori what kind of father he is.
He said, "I don't know. What is an ordinary father like?"
That's why it's so strange that he looks so normal, having a father like him.
Here's another strange actor.
He's my favorite actor.
Quentin Tarantino loves this scene.
This scene?
He is a big fan of ICHI THE KILLER.
I thought you were saying he likes that particular scene.
Yes, he especially likes that scene.
When he came to Japan...
...he said he wanted to meet the guy who yells in that scene.
And Tarantino met Shin Sugata.
I think Mr. Sugata is working with him now.
Really?
Is Tarantino making a new movie?
I think he's shooting a new one right now.
A lot of Japanese actors are in it.
Most of the actors I often use are in that film, including Kitamura.
Kitamura the wardrobe?
No, there's another strange actor, Kazuki Kitamura.
He isn't in this film.
So there are lots of strange actors and Shinichi Chiba in his new film.
When was the last film he did?
What was it?
Jackie Brown?
That's right, but he hasn't made anything in a while.
This film caught his eyes.
I hear he loved this film.
He's a film nerd, I'm sure he watches a lot of films.
You're a film nerd too.
I don't watch movies that much.
I think he likes watching many different films.
I wonder what Asano thinks when he acts.
I don't know, what do you think?
I asked him before, and he said "Nothing."
I believe him.
I think he can get into the mood of any character, anytime.
He's like blank paper on the set.
I think it's very difficult to do that.
It's hard to have experienced something and not to get influenced at all.
He is very unique.
No one can act the way he is, he is truly scary.
When we started casting, using Asano was one of your demands, wasn't it?
Well, I wasn't really demanding...
But you wanted him.
He'd turned down my offer a couple of times before.
So I was pretty desperate.
He doesn't like violence, so...
That's why he rejected you?
Yes, up until this film.
But this is an extremely violent film.
The violence in this film is totally unnecessary and ridiculously excessive.
He's poking his cheek with a needle, just because he wants to...
...not because he needs to.
You might wonder why he's sticking the needle in his cheek.
There are other ways to make him talk.
Using violence because the story demands it, and...
...using violence because he can, are different.
Asano understood it, and that's why he decided to be in this film.
When I make a film, the producer sometimes says to me...
don't see the necessity of the scene."
What's the "necessity" in a film?
That's true.
I'd explain, "I think he just wanted to hit him."
But some people just don't get it.
Was the needle CG?
The part where he's holding a short needle is real.
The part that comes out from his mouth is CG.
What about the blood from his mouth?
That blood is really dripping down from his mouth.
In this scene, Kakihara looks really cruel...
...but actually we are the cruel ones.
I agree.
It's a real torture for Terashima.
Trying not to hurt him and end up torturing him in a different way.
We started setting up in the evening the day before...
...and it took 12 hours until he was ready to be hung up.
He couldn't even go to the bathroom.
Really? For 12 hours?
Well, it took 12 hours to set up, and 12 hours to shoot, so...
...he couldn't go to the bathroom for 24 hours.
We asked him not to drink any liquid three days before filming.
Then we hang him in the air and ask him to act, it's torture
Yes, it is.
But he looked really happy when we finished this scene.
He looked like he'd accomplished something great.
But it must have been tough.
It looks nice.
This scene is pretty, it's got a lot of colors.
A scene like this could end up looking really cheesy, but it looks pretty real.
Our SFX crew made that melting skin on his head.
So it's not CG.
No, the stretched skin, where the hooks are, are created by the SFX crew.
And they blended the artificial skin into Terashima's real skin...
...so it wouldn't be noticeable.
And after that...
...we used CG to erase unwanted lines between the fake and real skin.
And actors are acting in this scene.
There are so many people with different specialties...
...and different ideas are involved to make this scene.
That's one of the elements of making a scene interesting.
It looks like a lot of work.
Yes, it is.
Do you get stressed out?
Yes, but it's just a matter of attitude.
If you have a certain image in your head...
...and trying to get the exact same image on the film...
...it might be hard, and you'll be stressed out.
But instead, I try to focus on what the film will be like when it's done.
If I have time, I'll keep shooting, I don't really set a goal for a particular shot.
That's your style.
I'm usually the one who's satisfied most.
Some people thought I half-assed it.
Our CG crew would want a certain quality in their work.
I'm very lucky to have such hard working crew.
...but I would just be impressed if they got 70% of the work done.
I'd be happy with their work, but they wouldn't be.
They would want to make it better.
A lot of people who work with CG are like that.
They are perfectionists and masochists.
They are hard on themselves.
It would be difficult if we both forced ourselves to work harder and harder.
But we were different, and I think that's why it worked out.
Our CG crew worked harder...
...because they weren't satisfied from just satisfying me.
One suggestive scene after another...
Because it is based on your manga.
This film is truly based on your original story.
I love how you could express things in the manga.
And I wanted to bring that out in the film.
In a way, you can use it as an excuse.
If something didn't make sense, I would just blame it on the manga.
I see.
If you have any complaints please tell them to Yamamoto.
As a director, I find it fascinating.
I wonder what the audiences abroad think of these characters.
What were the reactions of the audience abroad?
It's basically the same reaction as the Japanese audience.
Is it?
Some people enjoy it, and some people walk out during the film.
My friends told me that...
...they would see people walk out during the film.
So I think it happens almost every showing, and it's rare if no one leaves.
But if I paid 1800 yen, I would probably stay if the movie sucked.
I just can't understand how people would walk out at any movie.
When I was little...
I would always stay after the movie and watch it again.
I used to do that too.
I would watch the same movie at least twice.
Even if I didn't particularly like the movie...
I would always see something interesting, or just to have time to relax.
Sometimes I would just look at the back of a random guy's head.
Who is sitting in front of me.
I like spending that kind of time in a theater.
I don't understand why people would spend money and walk out on movies.
It's probably around here.
Yeah, I think so too.
This scene is edited in the Hong Kong version.
No tongue cutting?
You could see him cutting his tongue, but not the part where he actually cuts it off.
Very specific.
They just can't give it up.
When you edit a film for that kind of purpose, it'll change the film's rhythm.
Sometimes it can make the scene even more disturbing.
If you were to do that on purpose, it would be kind of scary.
Yes, I could make something more disturbing by not showing everything.
But this scene is really shocking.
Asano enjoyed this scene.
But he was also wondering how it was done.
This actress, Alien Sun.
She is a mysterious woman.
She is Miss Singapore.
Really?
Is she from Singapore?
I think she is, but she is very famous in Hong Kong.
Is she in adult movies?
No.
In China or Hong Kong, if there are naked girls, it's considered a B movie.
There's a line.
And as you can see, her face is so erotic looking.
So, she doesn't really have to take her clothes off to look sexy.
I wonder what kind of private life she has.
What do you think?
It kind of scares me to think about it.
My friends were saying that her body looks really good.
That's a very simple and straight opinion.
There are many different body types...
...and usually everyone has one good part, but her body is so perfect.
Probably her personality, and everything else about her is herself.
That's her real hair.
She must have an extraordinary lifestyle to have that kind of aura.
Did you have any difficulty communicating because of the language barrier?
She is very sharp.
She understood what I wanted her to do.
And we would work it out.
I didn't have to explain the idea in words.
Instead, she just showed me what she understood.
Her dialogues in Japanese, English, and Chinese, she came up with herself.
She ad-libbed?
Yes, but it's really hard to ad-lib when shooting a film.
It's not easy to satisfy yourself since it's something you made up...
...even though you think you did good.
You always feel like you could have done better.
So I'm sure she did her research and studied a lot.
By the way, that scene he bends a woman's hand backwards, is that SFX?
Yes, a SFX artist named Matsui who's worked with me quite often.
He's an expert on making body parts broken and slashed.
He grinned when I told him I want a hand to bend backwards.
He made that one.
I want to know how that scene was shot.
My staff and I were watching a film and studying how it was filmed.
We made those body parts for the mutilation scenes, but...
tried not to put too much emphasis on the body parts.
We avoided having close-ups when they're being mutilated.
They would just be talking, and barn, you see violence in the shot.
We didn't treat violence as something special.
It's not even happening in the center of the frame...
...so some of the people might not notice it.
If you're only looking at the actors, you'll feel off.
We had this great cameraman...
...who has exactly the same name as you, Hideo Yamamoto.
Certainly the way it was shot is very casual.
Satoshi Niizuma, he's my favorite too.
He's been in your other films, hasn't he?
Actually, I only used him in one film, Fudoh.
But his face has such an impact, so...
...some people think they've seen him in other films.
If you don't know him, his face makes you feel like you should know him.
As an actor, he isn't famous or great or anything...
...but he just has this strange presence.
He's retired now, but he used to be a kickboxer.
I don't know if he was strong, but he was unbeatable.
So he's become an actor?
Not particularly, I think he's doing a lot of things now.
He does dangerous stuff.
Dangerous stuff?
He's a bodyguard.
Bodyguard?
What kind of bodyguard?
He gets hired to protect certain important people.
I see.
Sometimes he's asked to investigate a stalker.
That sounds like fun.
People who need that kind of protection could be dangerous.
He might have to protect a yakuza from his rival yakuza.
That's some job.
It's interesting.
I bumped into him in Shibuya once.
It was in a bar, and he was totally drunk.
He said to me, "I'm working", but he was drunk.
He said he had to take the girl who worked there home.
He looked wasted, but when the girl was about to leave...
...he looked totally different and scary.
Are there many jobs like that?
He's been pretty busy, so...
I guess there is a need for bodyguards.
Two hours is pretty long, isn't it?
Yes, but we're lucky there are many interesting actors in this film.
This is awful, isn't it?
It is...
There is not a normal girl in this film.
They either get raped or killed.
I feel bad for them.
What are you talking about?
You're the one who created this story.
I got really irritated by this girl, Goto, while shooting this scene.
Why?
She was just irritating, and I got even more irritated as the filming went on.
It was originally two blows but I made it four later.
Some people just make other people want to get violent with them.
A lot of actors and actresses have this strange thing that...
...makes me want to destroy them.
Makes you want to destroy them?
I don't know how to explain it.
They really make me want to destroy them.
I get to this point where I'm so irritated and confused.
I forget why I want to do such things to them.
He looks scary.
Not only his face, but he's really a scary person.
I could see that.
He's not a bad guy, but he's scary...
...he acts like he's a good guy.
He's a producer as well.
He's a very diligent and interesting guy.
A little while ago, these two had a chance to work together on another film...
These two in same film?
I didn't realize it until I saw both of them on set.
Well, they've acted together, so...
...I really didn't think I had to tell them anything.
When we started shooting they suddenly said...
..."Why are you crying?" - "I'm not crying"...
...and they went back on acting normal.
They were strange.
This is the scene...
The depth of the blade is nowhere near the depth of the body.
There's no way the blade can cut his body in half.
I think audiences want to see something impossible.
It's not interesting if it's logically possible.
People like it when the weak defeat the strong.
Before, you talk about the depth of the blade...
...you have to think how he keeps that blade in his shoes.
Actually, the crew tried to come with the mechanism first.
If they don't understand something, they can't stand it.
I told them the size of the blade...
...then they asked me where it's hidden.
It's impossible.
It's a different story if he doesn't have the heel.
Some people care about the realistic details...
...but I just want to make it happen.
So it was brought up.
When I met with CG crew the other day...
...we talked about the blade in the shoes.
What I had in my head was that...
...there is this thin flexible metal plate on the side of the shoes.
Then a mechanism releases and the metal plate pops out.
I told them about it, and they were like "Huh."
The blade comes out really fast.
Actually, I like the fact that it comes out so fast that you can't see it.
The art director asked me about the mechanism.
When we asked about this costume place, Jap Koubou...
...to make Ichi's costume and shoes...
...the first thing they asked was about the blade.
They needed to know, so they could design and pick the materials for it.
But I couldn't give them an answer.
I didn't want to reveal the mystery of a hero.
It's a mystery how the blade comes out, but it just does.
I wanted to keep it that way.
We could have probably come up with some logical explanation, just for the film.
...but I decided not to. I wanted to make it even more mysterious.
I felt like I was making something imaginary, like a Sci-Fi or fantasy film.
Maybe I wanted Ichi to be a hero.
We put the image on the video screen with CG later.
Really?
We shot a version where he was actually in this scene.
He was sitting right in front of Kakihara.
There was an accident and the film was damaged.
Did you reshoot this scene?
Yes, we found out that Arizono couldn't make it that day.
He started another project.
We were in trouble.
We had to improvise.
I remembered that Arizono faints and falls when Kakihara cuts his tongue...
...so we decided to put him in the hospital.
They were having a meeting through a videophone.
There was no choice.
It was a problem.
But that kind of problem puts us into the position where we have to be creative.
The more problems we encountered, the more interesting the film became.
If I didn't hear that story,
I would think that the scene was meant to be that way.
I think I was accidentally born into this world.
I don't question why I'm here, but I try to think what I can do.
The film becomes more interesting when you encounter a problem.
I had to deal with a lot of difficulties while shooting Ichi.
I realized that when I was trying to overcome the troubles.
I could get closer to the actors.
We can feel the closeness when we're struggling together.
You're forced to do something that wasn't planned.
If there was no trouble, it doesn't matter who directs it.
I'm sure it has something to do with personality...
When someone is in trouble, that's when you see his true power.
You look like you are good at situations like that.
It's not necessarily a good situation, and sometimes I want to run away.
I think I'm looking forward to problems subconsciously.
Tsukamoto is making a new film now.
He was invited to the Brussels Film Festival. It's known to show bizarre films.
It's at Brussels in Belgium.
He was a judge for the festival.
The head of the judges was Christopher Lee.
He's a famous Dracula actor from a long time ago.
In addition to Tsukamoto, there was the guy, Freddy.
Freddy from the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET was one of the judges.
Dracula, Freddy, and Tsukamoto were judging the films.
I was at the festival for about a week.
It was really funny watching Tsukamoto.
He was walking around like a somnambulist.
He was a judge, he was forced to watch every film.
He had to see three to four films a day.
He would come out of the theater exhausted.
And the films they show in Fanta are really bizarre.
He would have this strange look on his face after each showing.
I would go ask him what kind of movie it was.
He would tell me, "It's a story about a dog that becomes really big."
The next day, he would tell me, "A cat was eating people."
He was exhausted.
Were all films like that?
Well, as you could see from the judges,
Fanta Film Festival is more like a cult film festival.
There are always many hardcore fans in the festival.
There are rooms that you have to dress up in costume to see the events.
This film festival always makes me realize how crazy Europe is.
Of course, ICHI THE KILLER was shown at the festival.
There was a party at the end of the festival.
You have to wear a costume to participate in the party.
A famous film critic, Tokitoshi Shiota, was there too.
He was a three-eyed monster.
The party was held in the basement of a slaughterhouse.
It was a deserted slaughterhouse.
They turned the basement into a huge dance hall.
If you were not an invited guest, you had to be in a costume.
It was great.
I saw Yoda, even Pikachu.
Many costumes are very elaborate.
I saw a couple of Kakiharas in the crowd. They had make-up on their mouths.
Mr. Shiota wanted to be Kakihara first.
He went to one of the make-up booths at the party hall.
Then he saw a couple of Kakiharas there.
He decided to become a three-eyed monster.
I don't know why he picked it, but he looked good.
It's like Halloween without any costume on.
The third-eye made him look even more strange.
Were those Kakiharas wearing the same costume?
They had red on.
It was right after when it came out.
They all had make-up on, but they didn't have the same outfits.
Majority of the audience was in their late 40s to early 50s.
I thought they were cool.
Did you decide to do this cheek scene on the set?
No, we had it planned. He has fake stretchy cheeks on.
Really?
Yes, it's all special make-up.
You can't really tell the difference between fake and real cheek skin.
That's what so great about Matsui.
He's a very good special make-up artist.
He's almost obsessed when it comes to mutilating body parts.
Look at it stretch, it's awful.
This scene was originally in the script?
Yes, that's right.
The screenplay was written by Sakichi Sato. He's crazy.
You can't really describe how it stretches in the script.
It didn't say his cheeks stretched that much.
He was supposed to pull it as much as he could.
Human skin doesn't stretch that much.
I thought I would ask Matsui to make it stretch more.
I like how she gets so turned on by stretching it.
My mind starts getting new ideas watching this film.
I originally created the story and now I'm watching it as a film.
I remember the process it took.
I can't remember if there was any scene about Ichi and a kid in the manga.
I feel like there was. I can't remember now.
You created the original story, but I usually work with the finished script.
A lot of film people don't feel like they're creating new content.
We start from making the story into a film.
I started thinking.
Maybe it's more interesting if we come up with the original story.
Make the film as an extension of the story.
I feel like traditional Japanese filmmaking is running out of options.
Are you planning to do it?
I've been writing a story.
I don't know how to explain.
It's fun, but I really don't know what to do with it.
What do you mean?
I have to explain my story to producers, and I'm getting tired of it.
The story I'm trying to create is very hard for some people to understand.
In your case, you've already gone through the process.
Your work has been accepted by the audience and established fans.
After all that, a film is created.
Making something that has potential to
become a film is different than making a film.
Just making films can dull your sense of creating something original.
I have to change the perspective
and create something from the very beginning.
Otherwise, it's not going to be my movie.
I realized that when I was shooting ICHI.
When I'm writing, I don't know what to do after I finish.
It doesn't move forward from there.
Are you planning to make it into a film?
Eventually, I plan on making a film based on it.
Is it hard to develop the story without seeing the reaction from the audience?
It is, and if the producer has an objection, I have to start over.
As I write I'll come up with different ideas and concepts.
I have to change the budget and the actors according to the story.
I have to think if it's worth going through all that trouble.
You found such a perfect apartment.
This place had strict regulations.
I wanted to use a building in Shinjuku.
This scene...
This is the face of our Assistant Director, Nishiumi.
Awful, isn't it?
He was useless as an assistant director, so we decided to use his face.
We still work together.
He used the picture of this face for his New Year's cards.
Who would want to receive a new year's card with this on it?
Especially the beginning of the year, you know?
He's a strange guy.
Most of my crew act and make money from acting.
Actors are making a film.
And my AD has to be able to act well.
I see.
The professional actors act better when they work with unique actors.
The actors were inspired by the ex-kickboxer, Niizuma.
He isn't acting scary. He is scary.
Professional actors give up trying to act scary like him.
They will come up with something scarier.
Many different elements can make a film more interesting.
You can't do that in a play.
You have to have good actors for a play.
If you have one bad actor, he can ruin the whole play.
It's different in a film.
When actors break the balance in a film, the film can be very interesting.
There will be limitless possibilities of what the film will be like.
That's true.
What's happening now?
This is right before he returns to the office filled with organs.
He can feel it.
You know something is about to happen.
Actually,
I wanted to have ten times more organs than this.
When I shoot a scene like this, it makes me want to add more.
We kept adding more organs.
That's a lot of organs.
Organs are very fascinating.
Those organs are from two pigs.
Just two?
Yes, it was enough to fill the floor.
Originally, I wanted to use one long intestine from the esophagus to colon.
But I couldn't find it.
I heard you poured vanilla extract all over this room.
Yes, the smell was so intense.
I heard a lot of people liked this scene.
He says a human is made of one long tube.
I wanted him to tug at it.
I would shoot the beginning of the intestines to the colon.
You like organs, don't you?
I don't hate organs.
One of the difference between my manga and your film,
are the amount of blood and organs.
I imagine it's hard to draw organs in a manga.
I think so.
I don't think there are any organs in my manga.
Is he burning the body parts?
Yes, on the roof.
Outrageous, isn't it?
His son is there playing.
They are spending some family time.
I like when there are two completely different elements in a scene.
The characters are acting normal.
The music in this film is the same thing.
Usually, the music is composed after the movie is made.
The composer, Seiichi Yamamoto, didn't watch the whole movie.
He composed the music based on your manga.
There are move than 40 songs. He spent a long time composing.
I asked him to do whatever he wanted, so the music itself has its own story.
None of the music is made for a particular scene.
That's not the composer's job. He creates music.
The music is what he felt from the manga. We just put the music in the film.
We matched up each music to each scenes by ourselves.
By yourself?
I got to pick the music and put it right where I wanted.
I felt comfortable doing it.
There's Sakichi.
This guy, kicking the guy on the ground, looks like he's from the streets.
Our screenwriter, Sakichi Sato.
Did he request to do this scene?
No, but we all agreed that only he could do a scene like this.
He was typecast.
Either him or Jiro & Saburo.
When you shot this scene, you asked if I wanted to be in the film.
Did you have an idea when I was showing up in this film then?
"When" isn't really a problem.
It's the matter of where we are in the film.
The kind of moment we're in,
we would come up with something for you to do.
When we cast, we're not just filling the spot for the characters,
We want to be sure that's the actors we're looking for.
We prefer the actors to be themselves and enjoy the role.
I would show it to my friends to see the results.
I can always make a decision right on the spot.
I'm not good planning ahead. I just go with the flow.
We could be more creative when we encounter a problem.
I think that's how a film is made by involving a lot of people.
My publishers and I were talking about this scene the other day.
We were impressed how this event from the past was put into the story.
It's very complex but very natural.
It's at some Chinese restaurant. They are eating ramen.
This is the first day of filming.
Normally filming starts with an easy scene.
Because of the schedule, we had to shoot this on the first day.
The crew and actors met at this scene for the first time.
The scene where Kakihara turns around is the very first shot of him.
This is a very intense scene.
That's why we picked a dingy ramen restaurant.
If this was a couple of days after we started shooting.
I'm sure they would act differently.
I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing.
It's a waste of time to think about it.
Oomori and I didn't discuss what Ichi was like.
We started filming to understand Ichi.
I didn't talk to the actors.
I didn't know what I wanted either.
If I directed actors to act in certain ways, it would be boring.
I avoided eye contact with everyone.
They were a little nervous when we started shooting.
They didn't know what their motivations were.
Who knows what you're supposed to do. Isn't that what acting is all about?
This is the point where things start to get crazier.
Not from the view of someone particular.
You have a sense all hell will break loose soon.
When they walk into the restaurant, it's a flashback.
That restaurant scene is like a midpoint of the past and present.
When I was reading the screenplay, I could tell this was the transition point.
I could see a red line on the script.
I'm sure different directors see the sign on different spot.
I saw the schedule and we were booked to shoot this scene the first day.
I thought it was fate.
This scene was shot a lot later, so Oomori already knew what Ichi was like.
It looks very natural, even though it was shot days apart.
We don't have the person who records how scenes connect and make sense.
As long as the actors act the way they feel.
I don't care if the scenes don't connect.
It didn't matter if the actors didn't know what they were doing.
I'm not too worried about the details.
I don't think I'm quite there yet to think about the details.
I should enjoy myself instead of trying to make a film that makes sense.
I don't think I can become a good director, and I don't wish to be one.
Do you know any other director like?
I wonder...
I'm sure there are some.
Usually, a director is a very intense person. You're not at all.
I fall asleep when I try to be very serious.
Is this the scene where Ichi gets another mission?
Yes, Jijii is trying to make him go on one last mission.
Ichi's having doubts about his mission.
There they are, Jiro and Saburo.
This is actor, Suzuki Matsuo.
He is unique.
He is very mysterious.
I remembered when we were casting, we were thinking to use real twins.
Then you said, "Let's do it with CG."
I thought that was funny.
When I thought of these characters, I didn't think we could find perfect twins.
I see.
Then "twins" became an important element in the story.
It would be really hard to find twins that could act and be unique.
If Mitoizumi had a twin brother, it would be perfect but it's impossible.
It would be scary if there were two of him.
It's a different kind of scariness.
Sabu had not been acting for a while before this.
What do you think of him as an actor?
I like him.
He looks very normal.
He was in my films before he started directing.
He was probably frustrated from directing.
He felt he could have made a better film if he acted himself.
He knew exactly what he wanted.
He decided to act again.
His pride had been making him avoid acting.
I'm glad that he came out of his shell and started acting again.
Are there any bad actors?
I'm sure there are some actors that I don't get along with.
I always find something interesting about every actor.
Maybe I'm just trying to see anything I can in them.
Out of respect.
I'm impressed by simple thing.
Acting is a strange occupation.
I wonder if they really think about their future.
Maybe that's why I find actors fascinating.
There are many filmmakers in this film.
For instance, Tsukamoto.
He usually directs and acts in his films.
I have the actors around me when I make a film.
Their world is actually far away from mine.
If I decide to act in my own film
I would just play some joke character.
It's not the same as what the real actors do.
I don't know how they can do that for a living.
I don't think I can live like that.
Even if they are not famous.
Actually, I respect them even more if they are not successful.
He's casually walks down the street in that costume.
You can do that only in Kabukicho.
It's a city where anything could happen.
Didn't he stand out?
Not at all.
Some people said, "It's Ichi."
They didn't cause a scene or anything.
There was a fire in Kabukicho and a lot of people died.
Anything that happens in Kabukicho is very unrealistic.
You can't tell if it's really happening or it's just a dream.
The fire actually happened and a lot of people were burned to death.
To me, that incident was more shocking than September 11th.
September 11th?
The World Trade Center incident.
I know what you mean.
Kabukicho is like a scene from ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
I visit a lot. The inside of Kabukicho changes constantly.
I feel unease being there.
The people in the city are different but it's still Kabukicho.
That's what Kabukicho is like.
I can't take this scene. The sound is a little too much.
A lot of people can't take it.
Even I thought it was a bit much.
Metal against metal.
That sound.
It sounds a lot nastier than nails screechy on a blackboard.
It goes straight to the bones.
People who barely made it through the "tongue scene" would walk out here.
This is the second point.
If you make it through this scene,
you're immune to it.
It's just a matter of how you enjoy the rest of the film.
There are people who stop reading manga when there's a scene like this.
I would get drawn in.
If they made it through the scene, they would be able to read the rest.
The tongue scene must be the hardest scene.
You can sense something bad is coming.
Did you use CG just for the face?
No, we shot Jiro and Saburo separately.
He had to play two roles.
This is a perfect plan.
What do you mean?
If an actor has two different roles, he gets paid for each character.
We only had to pay him for once character.
If I had everyone act as twins, the cost for actors would be half.
It would be a story about twins.
They are from the twin planet.
His keen sense of smell.
Originally, we were supposed to use K-9 dogs.
It said so in the script.
It's really difficult to handle a German Shepard.
It would take a long time to shoot.
We would have to wait for the dog to do what you want it to do.
We had a lot more to do and couldn't afford the time.
If we didn't have Matsuo, it would have been different.
You can put ears on Matsuo and he would be a dog.
If it was a different actor, the result would not be the same.
Did you consider a different actor for the twins?
We had some, but basically our producer
Mataro Miyazaki did the casting.
You can tell while casting,
Miyazaki was really picky.
He is.
This scene, where Kaneko snaps.
Was it in the script?
He's being seriously violent, so I think it was.
I heard a lot of people were surprised by this scene.
I think many people felt betrayed.
In the end, Kaneko is a human being.
Many people felt that they could even be friends with
Suddenly his true self is revealed.
They were even more shocked because they trusted him.
He gets enraged and kills the girl.
I can totally understand the mental state he's in.
I'm sure you could.
To me, his reaction was very natural.
From the scene of him having the conversation with other yakuza in the hallway,
to him getting enraged.
A situation changes someone's perspective.
Everyone knows their true self, but they pretend that they don't know it.
Your true self comes out once in a while.
If you accept your true self and watch this film
you'll understand the characters' feelings in this film.
They are very honest about what they believe.
They don't lie to themselves.
Everyone in this film is very pure.
I felt really good shooting these characters.
I didn't have to think about small stuff.
This is a good scene.
It's also a sad scene.
It's like watching wild animals.
We ended up using teeth that looked like animal teeth.
Normal teeth will not work especially with that kind of scene.
If they were normal teeth, you wouldn't be able to see the teeth.
And feel the pain he was in.
He looked like a monster and that was the only way to show his teeth.
The teeth didn't look like that in other scenes.
We decided his teeth would transform when he bites.
CG crew had many questions working on this.
They thought the scene didn't make sense.
What does "Kawa" mean?
Actually,
we used the sound effects of crows crying, and they're crying "Kah" there.
I've heard crows cry "Kawa."
I'm not really sure if it's a
different kind of crow or they cry "Kawa" at a certain time of day.
All I know is there are crows that cry "Kawa."
I thought crows in Japan must be all the same.
I tried to find crows crying "Kawa."
I couldn't find crows who made that sound.
You may not have notice it but I'm sure everyone has heard of it.
I want people to remember that scene.
That's what I wanted to do but we couldn't get the sound.
I want to show he only loves things that are different from others.
He was looking for the one that cries "Kawa", so he could feed it.
That's the reason behind "Kawa."
I heard you like crows.
I find them fascinating.
It's scary when they fly to me in a pack.
It gives me goosebumps.
They are part of everyday life.
They are everywhere.
My office is in Shibuya.
When I'm in the office, I only hear cars and crows sound.
They're everywhere, but most people don't like them.
We don't know where they sleep.
I like how they are mysterious.
I have a lot of crows in CG samples.
I can use crows in my films anytime I want.
She's speaking in English here.
Ichi understands what she's saying.
In this film
there are no translations involved with each characters.
Characters speak their own language. They understand each other.
If it was a film about culture differences, then it'll be a different story.
Nationality doesn't matter in ICHI, but their personalities are more important.
That's why we took out the language barrier.
Jijii and her have conversations in their own language, Japanese and Chinese.
You may find it a little strange but it doesn't bother you much.
That's true.
This film itself is stranger than anything else.
Forget the small stuff.
This room was really small.
It's actually a lot smaller than it looks.
You can see that there are only three Tatami and a half in this room.
The camera takes up half a Tatami, it's almost impossible to film.
I really liked this room.
If it were a normal cameraman, it wouldn't have happened.
Our cameraman, Hideo Yamamoto said, "I can do it."
When you make a film like ICHI, you can't let problems like that get in the way.
It's physically impossible.
We used a crane to shoot this shot.
You brought in the crane from outside?
Yes, we squeezed a small crane inside.
It was crazy.
Is this a real apartment?
Yes
How did you find this place?
I'd told my location people what I had in mind,
and they did the searching.
This is actually very close to our office.
Michiko Kitamura, our wardrobe person, has an assistant
who lives in this complex.
Our costume studio is located downstairs.
There are very few areas left in Tokyo where you can find this kind of apartment.
Maybe in Okubo or Nishi Shinjuku,
but they are disappearing.
True
That's why I wanted to use this apartment,
this complex may not be here next year.
I wanted to film here before it was gone.
See, her foot is gone but you still see the outline in the background.
Did you add the background later?
We used the same background shot where her foot was.
This scene was shot twice from the same angle, one with and one without the actors.
We removed her foot from each frame and
replaced it with the background.
That sounds like a difficult process.
Motion control is usually used to do that kind of stuff.
We did not have access to motion control
so the crew had to get creative.
Sometimes the method isn't very practical
but it can create the perfect effect.
If we had everything we needed to make a film
it would be more professional and a better quality.
I like the struggle and improvising, that makes it more interesting.
You can tell Asano really enjoys playing his character.
Was this shot later in the film?
Yes, this room was built on set.
This office is built on set inside a bigger room?
Yes, we built this on set
inside a bigger office.
This is different from shooting on a set built in a studio.
The room was created in a building in the middle of the city.
It must have been a different experience for the actors?
I think going into a normal building
affects how the actors feel on set.
I think so too.
It may not be hard to create the set or lighting in a studio,
but it's hard to feel a reality you can't see.
Wasn't there a scene where he got his penis cut off?
No, there wasn't.
There was a scene where he was about to, but it didn't show it.
We couldn't show that even if we had shot it.
It was explicitly drawn in the comic.
But you can't do that in a film.
I don't have that kind of skill.
When making a film from a comic, you try to be true to the original.
I could be very honest in making this film.
The comic is the big brother and my film is it's little brother.
It was easy for me to make it into a film.
If I cant' express it the way the comic is, I let the comic win.
It was my safety blanket.
If it wasn't based on that, I might have struggled more.
I felt like I could be honest with myself.
This is another great scene.
Looks good, doesn't it?
I've seen some commercials using the same kind of effect.
Where you put someones face on a different body.
You can clearly see there is something wrong with it.
It's obviously not his body.
We purposely make it look fake.
I like it that way.
You'd be impressed if you couldn't tell if it was real or not.
The CG person almost had a nervous breakdown.
It took three months to create the scene.
It was done frame by frame.
He had to look at it every day for three months.
When someone works in that kind of situation
the finished project is always great.
With better equipment and material, his job would have been easier.
Since he was going crazy, the scene became crazier.
That kind of job is priceless.
Tsukamoto's character shows his true personality in this scene.
I like the raw look of it.
If it took three months to make, how much did it cost?
We had a budget meeting and added more money.
Isn't it expensive to use a CG?
If we calculated the hours they spent on the machines,
we would've needed a Hollywood budget
My crew makes their money somewhere else.
Putting Tsukamoto's face on another body
is only done in my films.
That's not the CG crew's normal job.
They are doing this for fun?
Yes, they make money doing other things,
and I ask them to have fun making my film.
Don't they need to make money to eat before having fun?
Yes.
People who make a decent living have to be strong.
Filmmakers like me don't have time for fun, we are always busy.
It's boring to make something just to be busy.
That's why my audiences find my films boring sometimes.
There is no remedy for this in the Japanese film industry.
You look like you're having fun.
I make a lot films so I don't have to think about my worries.
This way if one movie doesn't do well, I'd still have money to eat.
Since I do the same thing, I don't make a lot of money.
I can't change how I am.
If I made one film every other year,
the quality of my films would be different.
I would go insane
if I spent two years working on ICHI.
You're right.
I need to know I'm making something beyond human understanding.
Then there's a question if I can make something I don't understand.
I told myself that I'd make this film to have fun.
For this film, I actually made the time to have fun for myself.
I controlled the time just for myself, and decided to have fun.
Many directors do their best work
when not under pressure make a film.
I know what you mean.
It's like having sex. It's better when unexpected,
than when you're tense and preoccupied about it.
I like how you described that.
I'd love to have unexpected sex.
I'd really like unexpected sex.
See the crushed face?
It was in the exhibition of Ichi at Parco.
You could see from the other side of the face.
This way everyone could experience the world of Ichi.
Were there any other faces?
Shin Sugata's face was there.
I forgot my ticket, so I had to pay to get in.
What is the white stuff?
I think Ichi ejaculated.
That's pretty detailed.
Is his penis out?
I guess he came in when Ichi was jerking off.
It's getting close to the climax.
I was still writing Ichi around this time.
The climax of the film is different form the comic.
I asked you what was going to happen
and you asked me the same question in return.
Yes, I did.
How many endings did you have for Ichi?
I only had one.
If Kakihara gets caught here, I move onto what happens next.
I don't think about what if he doesn't get caught.
I see.
Why is it shot in the daytime?
It's difficult to shoot in the city at night.
You have to think about the light and other technical stuff.
It's a lot easier to use natural light.
Besides, I wanted to shoot Ichi under sunlight.
Kids are out playing and they are killing each on the roof.
I thought it was very healthy.
They are all outside under the sunlight.
It's really cold
in the middle of December.
Too cold to stand still.
Actors are strange
They look happy when they're in a horrible situation.
Was everything done according to script?
Yes, but Sato's script doesn't say exactly what the
actors are supposed to say.
Their actions are Avery clear in his script.
If ten people read the script, then I have ten different ideas for dialog.
You assume how they're feeling.
For example, when you see the kid
you think of all the possibilities.
You can use him to emphasize the violence in the scene
or it could be a great moment between father and son.
It was up to the audience to decide how they feel.
Everything is done as scripted
but how the audience feels might be different.
I guess the theme changes depending on how its shot.
Yes, we all had different feelings about Ichi when we were shooting.
I had to explain how I wanted some scenes to be.
I only directed the camera angles for the scenes at the end.
I left the crew to think about how they felt.
Otherwise this film couldn't be completed.
We weren't trying to achieve any one thing together.
He is Kakihara, but also Tadanobu Asano.
How he thinks about his fate is up to him.
That's not something I should be directing.
How many times did you shoot these scenes?
No, most of them were done in one take.
Just a single take?
We usually rehearse the actors lines and the camera work,
but this isn't the kind of scene you need to rehearse multiple times.
If rehearsed, we would get something we could replicate next year.
If you only rehearsed once or twice,
it all seems very original.
That's why we didn't rehearse much.
The camera man had a hard time framing the characters in the shot.
That was up to them too?
Yes.
Really?
I explained what was happening, but I let them do the work.
I thought the shots were directed.
I directed them on the angle of the camera.
The placement of the characters in the frame was not directed.
If he's going to sit, the cameraman knows he's sitting.
How he sits or whether he pauses then sits,
are things you things you can't direct when shooting.
When the cameraman had the perfect shot,
it looks like everything was planned.
Sometimes I would direct him, but I'd rather let him do what he wants.
I love the expression on his face.
I don't want to die like that.
The way he fell would be totally different if wasn't Asano.
And I would feel different about his death.
It's exciting to see him lose his balance on the edge.
I don't know how to explain it.
He isn't trying to save himself.
He looks a little odd when falling.
He really wants to know how it feels to die.
You stand on edge of a tall building
and you feel like you're going to fall.
Maybe it close to that feeling, like you're going to fall.
He falls into the pit that's surrounded by other buildings.
That's very Kakihara.
He's about to die and still talking. I would have fainted.
And he's verbally expressing how much he's enjoying it.
I did not add sound when he actually hits the ground.
He was acting really cool right before he dies.
The are many poses when some one falls to their death.
Why did you choose that pose?
I wanted him to look like he was running.
Really?
Yes. I wanted a fresh take on his death.
It's the end, but looks like the beginning of something.
It does look like he's running.
I remember we worked on his pose
for a long time.
If we shot the scene another day, it would be different.
Some people shoot multiple shots,
I'd rather have one good shot than multiple shots to choose from.
The credits are confusing.
I watched it twice and never saw my name.
Everyone's name is in here
When you put them all together, you can't see it.
Too much information can be useless.
It's great if your name is the one going up.
Some of them are upside down.
The authors love to see their names
in the beginning and at the end.
I'm not satisfied.
I'm sorry.
I'll have to pause it to find my name.
There is another Hideo Yamamoto, it might be easier to spot.
Yes, but I don't know which one is me.
It says original story by
Okay, good.
That's it.