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Masters of Horror - The Banned Episode : Takashi Miike's Imprint
This was Takashi Miike's first "movie" to have English as it's spoken language. However, I think I would have preferred it was filmed in Japanese with English subtitles. It was almost impossible to follow what Christopher (Billy Drago) was saying most of the time as he put emphasis in the wrong places and tended to run on some sentences, while abrubtly stopping others. "I'm looking -- for Komomo. She was -- a good girl. I came -- back for -- her. You must tell -- me the truth!" For the most part, you just couldn't tell what he was talking about and he has the oddest display of emotions. He often spoke as if he were blindingly drunk and speaking through a wet sponge. Billy Drago really needed to be replaced by a competant actor, any actor, really. The stages and sets were all decorated beautifully, however. The effects, when needed, weren't entirely over the top, although you could tell some liberties were taken with one piece of effect. You'll recognize it when you see it. This episode has rich, lush colours as opposed to the dimly lit, gritty style of every other episode during the First Season. I love it. Great job, Miike.
This, at it's basis, is a love story. A horribly dark, morbid love story, but a love story all the same. Christopher has come to this island of cutt-throats and whores to find his true love Komomo. This island is FULL of Asian people, so I wonder why they all speak English. Quite a few of the actresses seemed like they were saying their lines phoenetically and probably had no idea what they just said. That gets a little distracting after a while, especially when the other whores start to yap in a group. Christopher walks along cages upon cages of hookers trying to capture his attention so they may go home with him and do all sorts of dirty things for pay, I imagine. The air is filled with screeches and yells and moaning. Not finding the right girl, he is asked to stay, at a good price and with a nice girl. The man, who is apparently the leader of the little village, stands maybe 3 foot and has a tall hairpiece that peaks with a rooster skull on it. It looks like part of his nose has been bitten off and I can't understand a damn thing that comes out of his mouth.
Christopher picks the young girl who had been sitting in a darkened back corner of the cages. Later, as he sips sake, the girl attends to his needs. When he asks her about Komomo, she does not have good news for him. The scenes around this one show just how bad of an actor Billy Drago is. I was quite close to turning off the DVD. I kept on, however. Christopher insists the girl tell him a story as he dozes on the floor. She tells him the story of her childhood, of being in a poor family, of when her father died, and when she was sent away to "a better place", the brothel. She goes on that at the brothel, Komomo and the girl became friends. One day, when a ring is stolen and Komomo is implicated, the whores along with the whore bosses(?) devise a way to punish Komomo. It really was quite icky and I kept having to clench and unclench my toes.
Not believing the story, the girl starts a new one. This one is of her mother not being a midwife, but an abortionist. She used the plant roots her daughter cleaned and brought her, then the fetuses were thrown in the river. The fetuses bubbled and bobbed among the rocks and waves, umbilical cord streaming behind them. The girl herself was thrown into the river as a fetus, but somehow, managed to survive two days in the river. The mother then decided to raise her. This version of the story has another version of Komomo's background and death. Not wanting to believe her, Christopher begins yelling at the girl. He suddenly hears a voice, "Tell her the truth!" Upon obeying the voice, a third story of the girl and Komomo is laid in front of us.
I really don't want to explain what the stories are or how they differ, but I thought it was quite an interesting way to tell a story. Unlike that jackass, John Landis, Takashi Miike seems to be able to include some humourous moments without completely taking out the creep-out factor. And trust me, there will be parts when you're laughing out loud and other times you'll be cringing. This episode is definitely one of my favourites and I wish it had been aired. I'm making a guess though, but I think it's all the fetuses bobbing down the river that sent the review board into a tizzy or maybe the "Bucket o' Fetus" that was featured at the end. What did I learn from this episode? Asian women are crazy and never NEVER! choose the quiet hooker. She's a goddamn loon!
3.1 / 4.0
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