Miike's Imprint finally available

From Horrorview, “Asking Takashi Miike to direct an episode of Showtime’s Masters of Horror series is akin to inviting your alcoholic brother-in-law to a cocktail party; you just know he’s going to make a scene, and, in the end, the only thing people will remember about your summer brouhaha is the guy who projectile vomited an undigested mini-bratwurst across the room and into your boss’s teenage daughter’s cleavage. The reality is, however, that your busted-up brother-in-law’s antics, however embarrassing to you, were the highpoint of your boring little party.

Miike’s Imprint, the episode of Masters that was deemed to intense for even cable television, would likely make just such an impression on the jaded viewers of the otherwise staid series. This is the episode everyone would have remembered; the hour of gruesome, cringe-inducing, genuine horror that would have shaken up the oh-so-stale status quo.

Imprint tells the story of Christopher, (Drago) an American who ventures into the wilds of Japan in search of Kimomo (Michie), the love of his life that he promised to come back for. His quest leads him to a whorehouse in a region populated by demons and monsters of a decidedly human sort, where he meets a disfigured young woman (Kudoh), who tells him of Kimomo’s demise at the hands of the brothel’s other workers. The mysterious young woman doesn’t seem to be telling him the whole truth, however, and the answers may lie in the stories of her past.

Easily the best and most cinematic of the Masters of Horror entries, Imprint also clearly pushes the envelope in terms of what can and cannot be shown on American television. There’s some very disturbing imagery, here, as well as a lengthy torture sequence that literally had me wincing and yelling out in disgust. It was one of those “No, no…they aren’t gonna show…oh, SHIT, they did show…oh…wait…no, no….AAAGH!! SHIT!!” moments that Miike seems so fond of delivering. When I first heard that this episode wasn’t going to be aired, I thought it was a clever marketing ploy to move DVDs. Having seen it, I no longer think so. This makes every other entry in the series look like an episode of Blue’s Clues by comparison.

On a personal note, I think this is one of Miike’s most intriguing works. The director sought out actors based on their appearances and not on whether or not they could speak English (being that this was, for all intents and purposes, an “American” project), settling on a group of performers who had to learn their lines phonetically (save for Drago and Kudoh). After seeing how the strange inflections and pronunciations fit in with the rest of the nightmare qualities of Imprint, it seems like a great fit for the hallucinatory nature of this episode, and one that lends Imprint something of a quirky, Fellini-esque quality. The film is also incredibly beautiful, with great use of color, surreal sets, and fantastic anime-inspired costumes and hairstyles that offer a stark contrast to the grungy and indistinct world in which these people inhabit.

All that being said, there are some problems with Imprint, especially Billy Drago’s ultra-over-the-top performance which is actually kind of distracting, but, thankfully, he spends more time looking on in shocked silence than actually delivering lines. I like Drago, usually, but here he seems to be in full-on improvisational method actor mode, pounding his head against posts, slapping at the floor, and speaking in a strangely off-tempo manner that borders on the unintelligible. While the non-English speaking cast’s strange sounding cadence and inflection lent Imprint an art house quality, Drago’s crazed turn is purely dinner theatre. Kudoh, however, turns in a marvelous performance, and, seeing as she is the focus for much of the film’s running time (as well as its narrator), it is she who carries Miike’s twisted fantasy through to its jarring conclusion.

Anchor Bay releases Imprint with the same bevy of extras it’s blessed the entire series with, including a commentary track, extensive featurettes, bios, stills, and much more.

Imprint certainly lives up to the hype, and even if, like me, you’ve been somewhat disappointed by Masters of Horror as a whole, this one episode offers a lot of hope as to what this series can accomplish when done right. This is one of those rare instances when the best truly is saved for last.“

Wow, watch a really gross teaser here.