Movie contains the stories of three people: Suzuki (Toma Ikuta), Kujira (Tadanobu Asano) and Semi (Ryosuke Yamada). Suzuki is a former middle school teacher. His girlfriend was killed, which led him to quit his job and attempt to take revenge on her murderer. To do so, Suzuki has to infiltrate the underground world of criminals. Kujira is a contract killer for hire. He makes his targets fall into confusion and eventually commit suicide. Semi is a contract killer who uses the knife to take out his targets.
Acting
Tadanobu Asano's unsettling whale of a performance
Cinematography
Tokyo's underbelly shot like a drowned fever dream
Direction
Takimoto's patient build before the blade drops
Director
Tomoyuki Takimoto
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Kōtarō Isaka's novel; the 'grasshopper' refers to how these killers swarm and devour each other in the criminal ecosystem.
The film bombed domestically but found its audience among Asano completists who understood his Kujira as another variation on his Ichi the Killer-era exploration of male damage.
JP
