Cool Bad Guys In Japanese Cinema

[Mulboyne]

With the Oscars coming up, I was talking with some friends about Javier Bardem's character in last year's "No Country For Old Men" and Anthony Hopkins performance as Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs". Both men won the academy award and both characters they portray are murderers. In some sense, they are evil incarnate but charismatic. We then tried to come up with similar examples in Japanese films but couldn't quite get a handle on anyone. Obviously there are charismatic anti-heroes who are killers, crooks and villains in yakuza films and the like but that's different, more akin to the kind of character Clint Eastwood would play and the sort of role that Beat Takeshi often takes on.

My friends said that there were certainly such characters in anime and manga but then couldn't really come up with anyone. In a less alcohol-befuddled state, one I think fits the bill is Eihi Shiina's "Asami" in Audition



If anyone has other thoughts on compelling portrayals of evil and cruelty in Japanese films then let me know because there must be more out there.

[Dragonette]

Tatsuya Nakadai in Sword of Doom is about as evil as they come, and leaves most viewers wondering what made him get that murderous. I, for one thought it was a very memorable, though blood-drenched performance.

I can't think of any others, but I know they must be out there.

[Tengu Kid]

Theres alot of good ones! Japanese villains, in my opinion, tend to be really sinister and with much more screen presence then western actors that get alot of recognition.

Kenji Matsuda in 'versus', insanely over the top but brilliant with it.
Rolly in 'Jisatsu Circle' (responsible for one of the few scenes in a movie that has genuinely turned my stomach)
Its a bit overused but Tadanobu Asano is great in 'Ichi the Killer'
Just a few there, but theres plenty more in my data banks of mind-shite!

[sublight]

Tomoyasu Hotei isn't an unhinged psycho in Samurai Fiction, but damn is he cool.

As a bonus, he comes with his own kick-ass soundtrack.

[ColinizeR]

I just got Sex& Fury and Female Yakuza Tale....

five stars both!

[Takechanpoo]

Tomoyasu Hotei isn't an unhinged psycho in Samurai Fiction, but damn is he cool.

As a bonus, he comes with his own kick-ass soundtrack.

Hotei himself confessed his father was Korean.
And his mother is hafu of Japanese and Russian.
So it is subtle to include him as Japanese cool bad guy.

[wuchan]

Hotei himself confessed his father was Korean.
And his mother is hafu of Japanese and Russian.
So it is subtle to include him as Japanese cool bad guy.

douche.

If his passport says JAPAN he is, by law, Japanese. It's retards like you that make this a shitty place.

[leitmotiv]

....... one I think fits the bill is Eihi Shiina's "Asami" in Audition

I emphatically second that choice.....

I saw the flick at an small theater in nyc and watched in amusement as several visibly upset art-house moviegoers ran out during the infamous scene where Asami..... [SPOILER REMOVED].

Could not immediately find a link - but I recall reading that at film festival showings back in 1999 or so provided Audition PR brochures in the form of specially printed air-sickness bags.