Violence, director Kinji Fukasaku once told me, is "a pillar of filmmaking." But on-screen mayhem regarded as extreme in Fukasaku's 1970s heyday (see his "Jingi Naki Tatakai [Battles Without Honor & Humanity]" series for examples) looks mild in ours.
The new meaning of extreme is being defined by Sion Sono in films such as 2010's "Tsumetai Nettaigyo (Cold Fish)," with its abattoir of a finale; last year's "Koi no Tsumi (Guilty of Romance)," with its bloody mix of Eros and Thanatos; and his new "Himizu," whose teenage protagonist's entire life, beginning with its most intimate relationships, is soaked in violence.
Screened in competition at last year's Venice Film Festival, "Himizu" might, I hope, put a period to this phase of Sono's varied career. The bashings, knifings and screams of anguish feel less like the pushing of new boundaries and more like the recycling of past tropes.