Noémie Merlant

I discovered Ichi the killer with my sister, a fan of Asian cinema, mangas and horror movies, from The Exorcist to Battle Royale, The Ring or Ichi and The Hills Have Eyes, that we would rent at the videoclub. I was about 13.

Something in this weirdness spoke to her, often because in horror there are different and misunderstood characters, strange worlds that make us feel less alone, and that give hope… And cathartic gore and violence; and because we come out unscathed and alive.

Ichi has remained anchored in my mind all these tears, I did not want to see it again. So I’ll tell you what I remember of it after all this time to see what impact a film can have. Did I reinvent, re-imagine parts of it?
I’ve seen very few Miike films, I know it’s controversial and not considered his best work, but it’s the one that still inspired me today when I directed Les femmes au balcon:(The Balconettes) he dares everything, he pushes the levers beyond the limits of the absurd, the possible, the acceptable. It’s like a rollercoaster. You hold your breath, you scream, you laugh, you close your eyes, you let go. I think he doesn’t take himself too seriously. And there’s those crazy images of Tokyo, never again filmed like that…  A hypnotic main protagonist, I almost fell in love with him, and the  terrible angel’s smile - at the time in my little town, there was a gang of boys called the White Caps, who gave the angel’s smile to whomever crossed their path. That’s also why the film fascinated me so much. Today I believe the White Caps were an urban legend.

It features mobsters, gangs; I remember a girl literally split in two on her feet, you can see all her innards and one half falls away.. And Ichi, the shy sadistic lunatic, very young. The one with the angel’s smile. It’s best to have a clue on what you're going to see in order to immerse yourself in it. You don't force someone to go on a carnival ride that could make them puke without warning them first…