If this is your first dive into the realm of Takashi Miike, STOP. GO BACK. REMOVE THIS MOVIE FROM YOU DVD PLAYER. You have to start somewhere less obscure than this movie. You can start out with Audition (or one of the Dead or Alive movies), follow that up with Happiness of the Katakuris and then either Ichi the Killer or Visitor Q. Once you have seen that, then you are ready to savor the flavor of this movie. To try to describe this movie would do the movie and you, the reader, an injustice. This movie just has to be watched and experienced. What can you expect from Gozu ?? Yakuzas. Killer Yakuza attack dogs. Lots of driving. Transvestites. Breast milk. Seance. Horse cropping. Sex. Birth. Ladles. The plot is based on the adventures of a yakuza made-man (Ozaki) and his underling (Minami). Ozaki is going crazy and the Boss has ordered Minami to take care of him. From there on you'll just have to watch to get the point (if there is one). As compared to his other movies, this one doesn't really have much of a story. The sheer obscureness or strangeness (and/or dark comedy) holds the various events together, linking them into a movie. At the same time, you are sitting there waiting to see how much more bizarre things can get. The movie passed by pretty quickly, with little slowdown. Fans of Miike should definitely see this movie. For everyone else, see the movie at your risk.
-Celluloid Rehab
