From The Black Society to The Isle: Miike Takashi and Kim Ki-Duk at the intersection of Asia Extreme

Abstract

Miike Takashi and Kim Ki-Duk are established figures at the forefront of the Asia Extreme movement. Despite the superficial associations between the two film-makers and the pan-Asian faux-genre of extreme cinema, there are a number of connections that link Miike and Kim as artists beyond the violent or potentially misogynist content of some of their films. While critical reactions to both filmmakers make a case for the location of both squarely in the realms of the Asian Extreme mainstream, textual features see both subscribing to characteristics that can be located within key South-East Asian concerns of national identity and gender (despite Miike and Kim's specific positioning within their respective national characteristics). Paying close attention to the national positioning of both filmmakers, as well as to their transnational, western reception, this article argues that, within the boundaries of separate and distinct national identities, Miike and Kim both explore similar themes of fractured identity, cultural dislocation, gender and the failures of language. Through close analysis of Miike's Black Society (kuroshakai) trilogy (1995, 1997, 1999) and Kim's The Isle/Seom (2000) and Bad Guy/Nabbeun namja (2001), the article explores the transnational meaning and stylization that link these two significant film-makers beyond the limits of the Asia Extreme discourse.