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Takashi Miike’s gonzo western isn’t quite the bit of all-out visual and conceptual insanity that fans of Japan’s most grotesquely creative filmmaker were probably hoping for, but it’s got enough moments of startling violence and sheer lunacy to satisfy even those who might wish the director had gone even further (and who, perhaps, might wonder why he didn’t). Miike’s story is inspired by the legendary rivalry between the Genji and Heike clans, which ushered in the era of the samurai in Japanese history, though he’s more interested in giving homage to the works of Sergio Leone and the mythology of “The Man With No Name” (and, perhaps, a self-conscious grindhouse aesthetic in general, as demonstrated by the stunt casting of Quentin Tarantino as the film’s old-timer narrator). Here, the Genji and Heike clans are reinvented as two warring gangs, Yojimbo-style, which are soon torn asunder from the inside out by a mysterious gunman who serves as a prostitute’s personal vengeance demon. A stylish, exciting, fast-paced romp — Tarantino himself might even call it “cool.
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