AGITATOR
The Cinema of Takashi Miike (Paperback edition)
by Tom Mes
'Fierce. Nonsensical. Vulgar. Powerful. These are words that could be
used to describe Takashi Miike. But without doubt the most essential words are
self-assured and clever.'
- Shinya Tsukamoto
Audition. Dead or Alive. Ichi the Killer. Visitor Q.
These films have amazed, stunned, delighted and shocked audiences the world
over, garnering critical acclaim for their Japanese director: Takashi Miike.
Seen as one of the most important filmmakers to emerge in Japan in the last
twenty years, Takashi Miike has directed 49 feature films and 3 TV series in the
space of 11 years. Many of them still unseen outside Japan, Miike's films are
marked by a dazzling visual style, brilliant narrative invention and a
willingness to go far beyond accepted boundaries.
Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike examines each of these titles
in-depth, revealing a provocative but remarkably consistent body of work.
Illustrated with hundreds of stills, behind-the-scenes pictures and rare
photographs from the director's private collection, this is the first ever study
devoted entirely to the work of one of the world's most exciting filmmakers.
Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike includes:
- Foreword by film critic/director Makoto Shinozaki
- Chapter 1. The Dirt Bike Kid
Takashi Miike's early years, from his first experiments with frogs and
firecrackers at age 3 to getting his first shot at directing 28 years later.
With exclusive pictures from Takashi Miike's own collection!
- Chapter 2. Themes in the work of Takashi Miike
- Chapter 3. The Video Years (films, 1991-1995)
An in-depth look at his early made-for-video films, from 1991's Eyecatch
Junction to 1995's Naniwa Yukyoden.
- Chapter 4. The Outlaw Director (films, 1995-2002)
Even more in-depth, individual analyses of all Miike films and TV series
from 1995's Shinjuku Triad Society to 2002's Deadly Outlaw: Rekka.
- Chapter 5. Stray Dog
Miike as actor, producer and other non-directorial activities.
- Chapter 6. Ichi the Killer production diary
Takashi Miike's own diary of his experiences making the notorious Ichi
the Killer. Published in English for the first time ever!
- Chapter 7. 'I can't pretend to know what I'm doing' A
career-spanning interview with Takashi Miike.
- Chapter 8. Filmography
A complete filmography with cast and crew credits, running times, Japanese
titles, release info and more.
- Appendix: DVD Releases
Detailed information on all existing DVD releases of Miike's films, with
info on region coding, subtitles, extra features, etc.
- Afterword by Shinya Tsukamoto
- Exhaustive and complete, Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike is
destined to become the definitive word on the most talked-about filmmaker of
the decade.
- the author:
Tom Mes is the founder and co-editor of MidnightEye.com, the world's leading
English-language publication on contemporary Japanese cinema. His work has
appeared in such magazines as Fangoria, Impact, Japan Magazine and Skrien.
His writing on Takashi Miike has been published in England, the US, France
and Russia.
408 pages including 8 pages in full colour
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