JJKC 1 (2) pp. 167–184 © Intellect Ltd 2009 167 Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema Volume 1 Number 2 © 2009 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jjkc.1.2.167/1 Keywords Miike Takashi Kim Ki-Duk transnational cinemas gender postcolonialism Asia Extreme From The Black Society to The Isle: Miike Takashi and Kim Ki-Duk at the intersection of Asia Extreme Steven Rawle York St John University Abstract Miike Takashi and Kim Ki-Duk are established figures at the forefront of the Asia Extreme movement. Despite the superficial associations between the two film- makers and the pan-Asian faux-genre of extreme cinema, there are a number of connections that link Miike and Kim as artists beyond the violent or potentially misogynist content of some of their films. While critical reactions to both film- makers make a case for the location of both squarely in the realms of the Asian Extreme mainstream, textual features see both subscribing to characteristics that can be located within key South-East Asian concerns of national identity and gen- der (despite Miike and Kim’s specific positioning within their respective national characteristics). Paying close attention to the national positioning of both film- makers, as well as to their transnational, western reception, this article argues that, within the boundaries of separate and distinct national identities, Miike and Kim both explore similar themes of fractured identity, cultural dislocation, gen- der and the failures of language. Through close analysis of Miike’s Black Society (kuroshakai) trilogy (1995, 1997, 1999) and Kim’s The Isle/Seom (2000) and Bad Guy/Nabbeun namja (2001), the article explores the transnational meaning and stylization that link these two significant film-makers beyond the limits of the Asia Extreme discourse. The current western fascination with Asian cinema is predicated upon the positioning of films within a faux-generic discourse of homogeneity that tends to diminish national difference. In recent years, Miike Takashi (1960–) and Kim Ki-Duk (1960–) have found themselves, along with Nakata Hideo and Park Chan-wook, at the forefront of this economically constructed category of marketable movies. The Asia Extreme label 1 sug- gests that the products of such film-makers display a predilection for excess content, usually along the lines of violence, often sexual in nature, gore, perverse sexuality, and narratives of nihilism and abjection. Nevertheless, the collapse of national boundaries between films from different countries tends to obscure specific national meaning in those texts. The Asia Extreme discourses surrounding Miike and Kim, however, initially suggest that these two film-makers are essentially the same, or more similar than they appear on further investigation, in that they plough the depths of bad taste, misogyny and the limits of representational content. Despite this critically imposed structure of faux-generic meaning, Miike and Kim do 1. The Asia Extreme label was a line of films and DVDs marketed by Tartan films in the UK and US from around 1999 to the collapse of the company in 2008. For a short time the brand became defunct, until Palisades Media Asset Fund acquired rights to Tartan’s catalogue, resur- recting the brand in 2009 under the banner of Palisades Tartan in the US and UK. Despite this commercial history,