takashi miike

Miike was born in Yao, Osaka, Japan. Although he claimed to have attended classes only rarely, he graduated from Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film (Yokohama Hoso Eiga Senmon Gakko) under the guidance of renowned filmmaker Shohei Imamura. Miike has garnered international notoriety for depicting shocking scenes of extreme violence and bizarre sexual perversions. Many of his films contain graphic and lurid bloodshed, often portrayed in an over-the-top, cartoonish manner. Much of his work depicts the activities of criminals (especially yakuza) or concern themselves with non-Japanese living in Japan. He is known for his black sense of humor and for pushing the boundaries of censorship as far as they will go. It should be noted that, despite his somewhat notorious reputation, Miike has also proven himself to be capable of directing lighthearted children's films (Zebraman, The Great Yokai War), touching period pieces (Sabu), and subdued, moving pictures such as the road movie The Bird People in China.
I watched this movie without any expectations as I had not seen anything else from his works altough knowing some names and loving Asian cinema. From reading what Ive read so far about his work, this is definately one of the "other type of movies". He is an extraordinary filmmaker and such are his works. The Bird People in China reflects magical realism pulling a very fair line between illusion and the truth. The whole movie is a journey of two Japanese guys: a "salary-man" and a Yakuza debt-collector who are looking for a jade mine in China, the search leads them to a small village in the middle of nowhere, with beautiful scenery and fading traditions of the bird people. At one point of the story the two men have to choose whether they want to stay or go and what will it bring to the village if the world will find this last jewel, that brings many desagreements and the story ultimately becomes a voyage of ideological discovery of modern man. Last but not least Miike has made this into a scenically stunning movie, where his comic vision towards to the only true adventure is the hunt for meaning.
A fairytale-like movie, where for my surprise, the best shot was about killing, which can also try to caracterize a little his work. And just because I like these kind of facts: Miike is almost never publicly seen without wearing sunglasses.