I had to give it an 8 because of a lack of rewatchability, but the movie is very interesting. We have Minami taking his unknowing, mentally devolving brother Ozaki on a trip to his arranged death. Minami initially displays little emotion about the task, but he arrives at the town of his disposal after accidentally incapacitating Ozaki at a river that suddenly appears on the road which he drives. Ozaki disappears.
It is later revealed that Ozaki was indeed executed, but only after Minami embarks on a grotesque odyssey through a ghost town, meeting a cast of mysterious and vulgar characters along the way. Ozaki 'returns' to Minami in the form of an attractive young lady who avenges and later rebirths Ozaki, and the three live happily ever after.
To repeat what others here have said, I believe that the story presents a take on Greek tragedy, subtly revealing Minami's guilt and despair over his brother's fate, later recompiling his love via the rebirth.
Miike's willingness to take a story to extreme absurdities provides cinematic experiences that are hard to match, but there is much depth behind the madness, and Gozu is yet another example.
It is later revealed that Ozaki was indeed executed, but only after Minami embarks on a grotesque odyssey through a ghost town, meeting a cast of mysterious and vulgar characters along the way. Ozaki 'returns' to Minami in the form of an attractive young lady who avenges and later rebirths Ozaki, and the three live happily ever after.
To repeat what others here have said, I believe that the story presents a take on Greek tragedy, subtly revealing Minami's guilt and despair over his brother's fate, later recompiling his love via the rebirth.
Miike's willingness to take a story to extreme absurdities provides cinematic experiences that are hard to match, but there is much depth behind the madness, and Gozu is yet another example.