Japan's Punk Filmmaker

Admittedly, I am Basic. I’ve accepted it. But the fun part of being Basic that folks don’t talk about? You get to discover all sorts of fun shit. For example, a new director with all sorts of intriguing films that I had never heard of or seen. The first time I was aware of Gakuryû Ishii was in a Daily Grindhouse post about BURST CITY (written by our very own Jeremy Lowe). What was this Japanese punxploitation movie that seemed to live on the edge of apocalypse? When Arrow released the Blu, I quickly snatched it up and was blown away.

I had to find more, but a lot of his early works weren’t readily available outside of Japan. Also, it was a bit confusing as it seemed like the director had three different names? Not like pseudonyms like Jim Wynorski or David DeCoteau, but periods of filmmaking where he would go by a certain name until he changed to the next.

Sogo Ishii, Toshihiro Ishii, Gakuryû Ishii. What could it all mean?

Ishii’s films are starting to trickle out into the world now, with a Region B Blu of CRAZY THUNDER ROAD (never before seen outside of Japan…legally, anyways) from Third Window Films. It’s a good time to learn more about this prolific director who is constantly evolving as he addresses Japanese society from various angles. Luckily there’s this video from Morlock aka Zettai Japan that covers those early punk-drenched films that seem like Alex Cox fused with Shinya Tsukamoto to create a deliriously defiant mutant. It’s a fascinating video that will leave viewers hunting down these titles and discovering more corners filled with artists new to them.

If you like the video, please subscribe to Zettai Japan YouTube channel and be sure to follow him on Twitter.