Takashi Miike

"I can only work realistically while wanting to depict something unrealistic." Raised in a working-class, mostly yakuza-dominated city, Miike grew up immersed in an atmosphere of urban violence and secrecy. He spent much of his free time at the local cinema and motorcycle racing, which allowed him to develop both an artistic sensibility and a passion for adrenaline. After finishing high school, he moved to Yokohama to study at Shôhei Imamura's school. Soon after, he began working as a production assistant on the television series Black Jack (1981), marking the beginning of his long and frenetic career in the industry. Ten years later, he reached the position of assistant director. The emergence of V-Cinema, a genre of action films that incorporated comic and erotic elements, offered him the opportunity to debut as a director. In 1995, he released Shinjuku Triad Society, a film that brought him success and recognition for his extreme style, opening the doors to bigger budget productions. From then on, he continued to push boundaries, playing with different genres and challenging audiences with more than 100 films to his credit, including Audition and Ichi, the killer.