‘Ichi the Killer’ Receives the 4K Treatment
I will always remember the first time I witnessed Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer, it absolutely blew me away. I had never seen anything quite like it and to be honest, I don’t think anything has come close since. It’s a violent masterpiece which is now getting a visual upgrade with an all-new 4K restoration courtesy of Well Go USA and Emperor Motion Picture.
From the Press Release:
ABOUT THE RESTORATION
ICHI THE KILLER was originally shot on 16mm and telecined in HD video for post-production, before
being filmed out on 35mm inter-negative for the making of release prints.
A full digital restoration of the director’s cut of ICHI THE KILLER was undertaken by Emperor Motion
Pictures in 2017. A new transfer was created in 4k resolution from a 35mm inter-negative at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. It was then digitally restored and colour graded in 4K resolution. With a running time of 128 minutes, this restored version of ICHI THE KILLER, as personally approved by Takashi Miike, is presented it its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
ABOUT THE CUT
ICHI THE KILLER has been released in several versions over the years. While Takeshi Miike’s original
cut was 128 minutes long, the original US release was heavily cut to receive an R rating from the MPAA, and was only 117 minutes long. The UK version was cut to 120 minutes, and the German version received over 18 minutes of cuts at 110 minutes. Since its release, the film has also been periodically banned in several countries, including Norway, Germany, and Malaysia.
This restoration features Takashi Miike’s full-length, original 128 minutes cut of the film.
Synopsis: Takashi Miike’s ICHI THE KILLER has endured as one of the most influential pieces of genre filmmaking of the last two decades, and now it returns in a stunning all-new 4k restoration approved by Miike himself. This visceral, bloody, and often hilarious film follows Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’ killer brings him into the orbit of a demented costumed assassin known as Ichi (Nao Ōmori).
And according to Bloody-Disgusting, the new Ichi the Killer restoration will be playing in New York at the Metrograph from today for one-week only. It will later be rolled out across North America in specialty theatres.
