Ichi the Killer (2001) on Netflix

R20012h 9mAction Comedy Crime

Kakihara, a sadomasochistic yakuza lieutenant, hunts his missing boss Anjo and the 300 million yen he took. The trail leads to Ichi, a timid young man with blades in his shoes.

Netflix3.5/5
IMDb6.9/1064,558 votes
Rotten Tomatoes65%

Trailer

Plot summary

Anjo's body is gone, and Jijii's cleaning crew has left a spotless room with the evidence pointing at Ichi, a timid young man whose violent urges Jijii knows how to trigger. Kakihara, his sadomasochistic lieutenant, reads the scene as an escape with clan money and begins hunting. He questions Anjo's girlfriend Karen and has his men torture a rival clansman for answers that do not come. The name he is left with is Ichi, and it brings the prospect of pain beyond anything he has found. Ichi, meanwhile, watches a pimp attack a prostitute from a balcony, and kills with blades that spring from his shoes.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Ichi the Killer (2001)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

The British Board of Film Classification refused to pass Ichi the Killer uncut, citing "scenes of mutilated, raped or savagely beaten women or of sexual pleasure from violence"; a compulsory cut of three minutes and fifteen seconds was demanded, and the cut version was passed with an 18 certificate.
For its Hong Kong release the film had sixteen minutes and 59 seconds cut, and it was banned outright in Norway and Malaysia and banned for distribution in Germany.
As a publicity gimmick, viewers at the Toronto International Film Festival's midnight screening were handed barf bags, and bags were also given out at the Stockholm International Film Festival; reportedly one viewer threw up and another fainted watching the film.