Koroshiya 1 (2001)

As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of achieving.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Sakichi Sato (screenplay), Hideo Yamamoto (manga)

Stars:

Tadanobu Asano, Nao Ohmori, Shin'ya Tsukamoto

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tadanobu Asano	...	Kakihara
Nao Ohmori	...	Ichi (as Nao Ômori)
Shin'ya Tsukamoto	...	Jijii
Paulyn Sun	...	Karen (as Alien Sun)
Susumu Terajima	...	Suzuki (as Sabu)
Shun Sugata	...	Takayama
Tôru Tezuka	...	Fujiwara
Yoshiki Arizono	...	Nakazawa
Kiyohiko Shibukawa	...	Ryu Long (as Kee)
Satoshi Niizuma	...	Inoue
Suzuki Matsuo	...	Jirô / Saburô
Jun Kunimura	...	Funaki
SABU	...	Kaneko (as Hiroyuki Tanaka)
Moro Morooka	...	Coffee Shop Manager
Hôka Kinoshita	...	Sailor's Lover

Storyline

When a Yakuza boss named Anjo disappears with 300 million yen, his chief henchman, a sadomasochistic man named Kakihara, and the rest of his mob goons go looking for him. After capturing and torturing a rival Yakuza member looking for answers, they soon realize they have the wrong man and begin looking for the man named Jijii who tipped them off in the first place. Soon enough Kakihara and his men encounter Ichi, a psychotic, sexually-repressed young man with amazing martial arts abilities and blades that come out of his shoes. One by one Ichi takes out members of the Yakuza and all the while Kakihara intensifies his pursuit of Ichi and Ichi's controller Jijii. What will happen as the final showdown happens between the tortured and ultra-violent Ichi and the pain-craving Kakihara?

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Plot Keywords:

pain | face cut off | extreme film | breasts | misanthropy | 

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Taglines:

Ai wa, kanari itai. (Love really hurts.)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong perverse violence/gore and sexuality, language and drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is a live-action theatrical adaptation to Hideo Yamamoto's seinen manga Koroshiya 1 (1998-2001). In 2002, the film would later have an installation of an OVA that is based on the mangas titled Ichi the Killer: Episode Zero and it is directed by Ishihira Shinji. In 2003, a live-action direct-to-video prequel that is based on the previous manga Ichi (1993) is also released under the title 1-Ichi and it is directed by Masato Tanno.

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Goofs

When Kakihara is attacked in the streets, protective padding is visible under his clothing. Look for it when he bends over backwards without falling over, before he removes his piercings.

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Quotes

Kakihara: Wow... this is great!

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Crazy Credits

End credits scroll up, down, left, right, forwards and backwards.

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Alternate Versions

The version shown in Ireland is the same UK cut version i.e misses 3 mins 15 secs of sexual violence.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 J Horror Films (2016)

User Reviews

You can rip someone's arm off with your bare hands!

What can one say about Ichi the Killer? I do have to say, without a doubt, it is one of the most unique films I have ever seen. I was afraid going in, after hearing all of the hype, that it would be gore just for the sake of gore. But the way it is portrayed and the characters are what really drive the movie and make it stand out from other gorefests. It may be my sick personality, but I found myself laughing a lot throughout the movie. There is a lot of black humor in the film, which I enjoy. I would not consider this a horror movie by any means though, as I was not scared at all while watching it and it had none of the tendencies of a traditional horror film. The only thing that kept me from giving it 10 stars is the ending, which is a bit abstract, but I'm sure it was intended that way. But I would recommend this film to anyone, cause it's something everyone should experience. The only movie I could compare this to would be Dead Alive, and that is a very loose comparison. Just do yourself a favor and watch it.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Cantonese English

Release Date:

22 December 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Koroshiya 1

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$1,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,750, 12 November 2017

Gross USA:

$20,285

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$80,631

Company Credits

Production Co:

Omega Project, Toho Company, Omega Micott Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min 117 min (heavily cut) 110 min (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1