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A not-quite tongue-in-cheek send-up of Japanese censorship and pat, by-the-numbers yakuza gangster films, this gonzo feature follows a lower-level underworld assassin (Joe Shishido) as he's toyed with and tormented by a higher-up after a botched job--caused by a butterfly. Seijun Suzuki's strategically placed animated sequences obscured 'offending' material, thwarting censors and delighting fans of the director's black humour. Suzuki, incidentally, was fired by his studio and forced to work in television for 10 years after this film. Shishido, with his collagen-enhanced cheekbones, makes a terrific anti-hero whose unusual quirks (Suzuki reasoned that a man obsessed with the scent of warm rice would signal to audiences that this guy was quintessentially Japanese) instantly endear him to new fans.
