For once, Friday the 13th doesn’t belong to Michael Myers. Because this weekend, Japanese director Takashi Miike presented at the Sitges Film Festival his 3 new movies of this year. Whoever is a follower of the festival and the amazing filmmaker will know that Miike has a very special relationship with Sitges. He is one of the regular guests at the festival, where usually every year he presents a movie or two. This year it is special because he not only presents 3 films, as I mentioned before, but one of those titles was filmed here in the town of Sitges.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (2017) is the first movie Takashi Miike has filmed in the town of Sitges. It’s an adaptation of a popular Manga from Hirohiko Araki, that tells the story of a teen gifted with supernatural power discovers the truth behind his cursed and bizarre bloodline, and the evil that lurks within his town.
Blade of the Immortal (2017) has the honor of being the feature film number 100 from the outstanding career of Takashi Miike. Another adaptation of a Manga, this time from author Hiroaki Samura, is a mix between fantasy and a classic samurai tale where Manji, a highly skilled warrior, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu.
Finally, The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (2016), yet another Manga this time from the characters created by Noboru Takahashi, is an action comedy where a young undercover cop tries to get back with his former love, while unraveling the mystery behind the head of the police force. Meanwhile, he has to protect the boss’ daughter. It is a sequel from Miike’s The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2013).
The three movies are big productions very different from each other, which is something almost no other filmmaker nowadays is capable of. Switching an extremely bizarre teenage film to a crazed violent jakuza one and then a delicious samurai movie that breaths from the classics are something only a genius can do. And without any shadow of a doubt, Takashi Miike is one. Miike-san, Sitges is your home, and you are welcome here anytime you want.
Besides two of the three Miike movies in the program, these are the films we watched today:
- Happy Death Day (2017) 5/10 – A revision to the plot of Groundhog Day (1993) in the key of teenage horror slasher that can’t be more than a mere hollow entertainment movie. [Read full review here]
- A Special Lady (2017) 6/10 – Korean gangsters and revenge film starred by a woman turned into henchmen turned into a she-pimp turned into a vengeful Lots of action for a good movie that, although it’s highly entertaining, doesn’t bring anything new to the panorama.
- Caniba (2017) 6/10 – A crude documentary about a real-life cannibal who survives in the suburbs of Tokyo. [Read full review here]
- How to talk to Girls at Parties (2017) 7/10 – A British punk science fiction fantasy love story about three teenage boys in the dump London suburb of Croydon. One of the most refreshing and visually innovative titles of the last years. [Read full review here]
- Blade of the Immortal (2017) 7/10 – Takashi Miike’s samurai movie of this year is this epic that drinks from the classics, but all mixed up with fantasy and black magic. A must see for the fans, and for lovers of cinema in capitals.
- Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (2017) 6/10 – This is what happens when Takashi Miike has carte blanche to adapt a manga. Monsters, magic, humor and great visual effects under the hand of the gifted in bizarre Japanese genius. [Read full review here]
