Visitor Q

Title: Visitor Q

Director: Takashi Miike

Review:

Jeez, I don't know where the heck to begin with this one. Well I guess it could be talking about Miike and how he is known for his ultra violent yakuza films or his love for shocking the heck out of his audience. But I could also talk about how he doesn't just shock for the sake of shocking. There's some context and a message that accompanies the shocking imagery. Such was the case with Visitor Q a very strange journey, but ultimately a very shocking, entertaining and thought provoking one.

The story is about this incredibly dysfunctional family in which everyone is living in their own little world. There's no unity...no love. Heck, when the movie starts out you think they are all different stories, then, slowly you start to realize that this people are all related and living in the same house hold. The mothers a heroin addict, the kid gets beat up at school by bullies, so he takes it out on his mother by violently hitting her, the fathers a failed reporter who is trying to come to grips with his premature ejaculation problem and the daughter, well shes a whore (literally!). So as you can see, this family is all over the place. In comes a strange visitor who suddenly starts to live with them, observing them from afar. Not talking much, just observing at the insanity of the everyday lives of this four crazy people.

The thing about this movie is that, yes it is very shocking with the images. In fact, I don't think you will ever see a movie as crazy as this one. I'm sure of it. Not even in your wildest craziest horniest dreams will you see the crazy things that you will see on Visitor Q. But you see, the film is not only about the shock value, for Miike makes sure that there is substance to the story, because it really touches upon some important social themes. It talks about the importance of family and love, about the role of the father as protector of the house hold, about the need of motherly love and about bullies getting whats coming to them. I think that many of the themes explored on this film are very relevant for the Japanese culture and I'm sure Miike is just venting all those frustrations out through this artistic outlet, but Ill be damned if all this social commentary isn't relevant to any other culture.

Then there's the Visitor Q. He is just someone who starts to co exist with the family and I saw him as maybe God coming down to earth and seeing this family quietly acting as only an observer, seeing what he has created and what his creation has turned into. He is almost emotionless...though he will let the family members know when they are doing something wrong by banging it into their head. Literally! Anyhows, I'm sure many people will have their own interpretation as to who the visitor is and what he represents...so Ill leave that up to you.

All in all I thought this movie was hugely entertaining, just because of the fact that I couldn't believe some of the things that were happening on the screen as I watched. Some of the things are so amusing that you cant help but laugh. At the same time, just like when you watch a film by Lynch or Cronenberg...you know there's some deep commentary on the human condition in there somewhere. So you watch...watch and interpret. Watch and try and figure it out. Amazed and shocked as you learn.

Is it a horror movie? I don't know, Its as much a horror movie as some might consider Mullholand Drive or Lost Highway a horror movie. It goes deep into those dark regions of the human mind. The insanity and crazyness of the situations can get horrifying if you look at it from that perspective. It does have some gore and blood, but Id say its more a horror movie because of the places that it takes us on a psychological level.

Though I must go down in saying that this film is certainly not for everyone. It certainly isn't for anyone who likes their movies safe and Hollywood like. Its not for those who love happy endings and that warm feeling inside. Its more for those unconventional people who like to dive deep into to the dark regions of the human psyche and are brave enough to see what they find.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

I rented Visitor Q on DVD because I've seen Takashi Miike's name in the newspapers recently. I wanted to get a taste of what this guy was about before I saw any of his new movies. And you know what? When it comes to the criminally insane, Takashi Miike is KING!

Visitor Q is not something that i was ready for. At the very base, it is the story of a dysfunctional family trying to come together. But on the surface, I couldn't even begin to explain how INSANE this movie is.

I know I liked it because I was glued from beginning to end, and I was severely punished and rewarded at the same time.

This movie probably contains 5-10 fetishes in it, none of them which excite me in the least. However, I gathered that this movie was a huge metaphor for the need of a family to stick together and maintain closeness. Hopefully, you'll be able to hold back your vomit to discover this.

A definite 7/10

Amazing movie playing around with the idea of reality TV, voyeurism and even the nature of reality itself.

Among all the scenes -- of which there are many many memorable ones -- I thought the one which has the key to the movie is when the father is frantically taping the attack on his house and speaking at the same time and among a frenzy of "reporter-talk" he says,

"What are we supposed to feel?"

The key to the movie is, you are never allowed to know what you are supposed to feel. These days, in movies and TV, we are frequently "told" what to feel. Takashi Miike takes this and pulls the carpet from under all of us. he builds his film around the phenomenon of TV/media, emotion-building, exposing, exploiting... Yet keeps this tension through the movie and does not allow us for a moment to settle in our armchairs, does not for one moment let us get into that comfy zone of being told what to feel.

And hence watching this movie becomes this eerie, stressful process as noted by everyone else. Am i disgusted, indignant, amused, sympathetic, angry, confused? You are never told. You have to go through it on your own. And that is the point.

A lot of people joke about Visitor Q being a family film and being a good film to watch with your whole family, but the funny thing is that I really did watch this film with my whole family! Mum, Dad, sister and even dog sat down to watch this with me and we all made it through to the end. We all had very different reactions. My Dad called it something along the lines of "sick crap" and wondered why I would buy this sort of thing. My Mum was more understanding, but thought it was just a film to shock its audience. My sister was just plain confused, and I'm pretty sure my dog fell asleep! Visitor Q is not a film for everyone. You either 'get' this sort of thing or you don't. I think Visitor Q is the type of film you can't really judge until you know what it was trying to say. It's very easy to say "this is just a mindless, sick piece of work. Chuck it on the bonfire!" but knowing Takeshi Miike, like I sort of do, Visitor Q has much more to say beneath its disturbing and perplexing surface.

The film opens with one of the most disturbing scenes in the whole film. It's an explicit (but blurred) sex scene between a father and his daughter. The scene feels like it's going on forever and it's extremely uncomfortable to watch. Thankfully it's not entirely clear at first that the two are related (I thought it was a man and a prostitute by the way they were communicating) until there's mentioning of her Mum and her allowance. It sets the tone for the film.

Visitor Q feels like a series of increasingly effed up events within a strange and thoroughly dysfunctional family. Miike addresses every taboo in the book and it's not an easy watch. Some of the more alarming taboos are played for laughs though, which makes it a little easier to watch, but it just comes across as plain weird! Visitor Q is a seriously deranged film and just about matches Gozu in terms of absurdity. I'm still not entirely sure in what it all means, but some have pointed to the visitor as being the viewer, which is an interesting take.

The film looks extremely low budget. It has been given an alarming sense of realism thanks to the documentary style in which it has been shot. It looks grainy and cheap, but it suits the film well. It's devoid of the Hollywood gloss we constantly see in mainstream films, which makes everything seem all the more disturbing. Visitor Q is extremely slow to begin with and is even a little boring sometimes, which is a shame. Thankfully though there are some funny moments to keep you going and the final half hour is pretty much non-stop footage of disturbing behaviour.

I don't really know if I liked it or not, but it's certainly something I'll never forget. I was hoping for something more because people always rave about it, but is that just because it dares to break so many taboos in 80 minutes? Visitor Q is a film for people with open minds and those people who only watch Hollywood movies should stay well clear of this. It's sometimes tedious, but always disquieting. I would've liked more character development around the family because they really are an interesting lot. I wouldn't recommend watching it with your family though like I did. It does get a little awkward!

This movie is more messed up than words can explain. It has no real plot, just a lot of graphic crap. This movie must have come from the mind of some daranged psycho because besides having necrophilia, pointless murders, and incest...this movie also combines scenes where the mother repeatedly gets her butt kicked by her family as she injects herself with drugs and then later becomes a chronic lactater. The explicit nature of her forcing herself to lactate left me sick to my stomach and forced to shower immediately after leaving the theatre. To be honest, I felt like I was going to hell for having watched this piece of garbage. There was no part in this movie that wasn't disturbing and if you know of anyone that has seen this movie and "liked it" then immediately stop talking to that person because he/she is most likely psychotic or has tendencies to become one. This is a movie that should never be shown in a public setting again because after the movie showed the theatre stayed quiet with no applause and just blank looks and complete silence during the credits. Luckily, most of the audience had left by then so maybe it was just us.