Philosofy of a Knife

[opterasis]

(yes I'm aware I spelled philosophy wrong in the title)

I've heard Unearthed films is releasing this soon, and heard its 4 hours of fucked up shit. Has anyone seen it. I'm wondering if the dvd will be worth blind-buying. I'm sure Cataclysm can give me some feedback.

[Cataclysm]

Can't tell you what it's like since I haven't seen it myself but I can tell you right off the bat that this will be worth blind buying. For one thing there is a 2 disc limited edition (limited to 3000) so if you're a collector, you've got that. So far from the people who have seen this and reviewed the movie it's become a unanimous decision that this is the sickest movie available right now. Having seen Andrey Iskanov's previous two films, I can comfortably say you have never seen anything like it. Andrey brings a very unique style to his movies in both terms of look and sound.

Frostbite History Scene from POTK:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=5713537

Letter Scene from POTK:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=5713440

POTK MySpace page that has more pics, trailers, and info about the movie:
http://www.myspace.com/philosophyofaknife

Reviews:

WARNING! REVIEWS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

The Coroner's Report: (Very trust worthy reviewer, he knows his stuff.)
http://www.thecoronersreport.com/poak.php

Carnival of the Grotesque: (Never read their reviews, but I figured I'd post another opinion on the flick.)
http://www.carnivalofthegrotesque.co.uk/philosophyofaknife.html

Review by Tim Wambolt:

It has finally happened. It took nearly 16 years for it to happen but it has now officially happened. An impressively long cinematic record held by Braindead since 1992 has at last been broken. Andrey Iskanov has created the most violent movie ever made. This is not an opinion, the film is over 4 hours of pure torture, consisting of the sickest and most explicit violence imaginable. So until somebody makes a 5 hour long gore-fest, Philosophy of a Knife shall remain the most violent movie of all time. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect about all of this is that the scenes in this film are reenactments of atrocities that actually happened.

Before the credits even roll the film opens with a prisoner being decapitated in the snow by a member of the Japanese Army, this will be the quickest and most humane death you will witness in the entire film. After this a very stylized title screen appears quickly followed by a scene of graphic dismemberment, as corpses are hacked to pieces with axes and limbs are sawed off and burned in furnaces. With this Andrey Iskanov welcomes you to Camp 731, the facility that was conducted by the philosophy of a knife.

During World War 2 a research laboratory was created by military police of the Imperial Japanese Army for researching epidemic prevention and developing weapons of mass destruction. Within these facilities a unit of chemical and biological warfare research team called Unit 731 committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by conducting torturous and fatal experiments on Soviet and Chinese prisoners with estimations resulting in around 200,000 casualties.

The chief medical officer of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii was the commander of Unit 731 and lead the various weapons testing and warfare experiments being conducted in the laboratories, many of which are depicted in the film Philosophy of a Knife. The first of which involves the vivisection, the experimental surgery of a living pregnant woman without anesthesia. The doctors impregnate her then infect her with diseases and remove her organs and fetus while she is still alive, simply to study the results of these diseases before her decomposition. After this Andrey brings us to the infamous teeth yanking scene that you may have caught part of in the trailer for the film. If not, you should know this, the victim's teeth are not just pulled out, they are painfully twisted and bent and hammered out of her gums one by one, as she screams and bleeds until every last tooth is removed from her mouth.

Throughout the film survivors of the incident such as Anatoly Protosov, a former military translator for the USSR, are interviewed and reveal insider information, such as the incident of authority figures being convinced that Ishii's testing facility was actually a lumber mill, causing Unit 731 to often jokingly refer to their test subjects as "logs". After several scenes of vile experiments are depicted, such as the one involving a kid's face boiling from exposure to x-ray radiation, or the scene where a woman is experimentally raped by a man with syphilis for research before the man is slowly gassed to death, or the scene where the researchers strap a woman to a chair, cut her forearm wide open and then shoot her in the neck, it is then that we see their "joke" being taken one step further as these "logs" are chopped apart with axes and thrown into the fire.

Even watching Men Behind The Sun 1 and 2 back to back probably will not prepare you enough to view Philosophy of a Knife. The film is presented without any restrictions or censorship issues towards it's depictions of excessive violence or graphic nudity and with this Andrey Iskanov enters into territories that neither Tun Fei Mou or Godfrey Ho dared to or were allowed to venture. For example, in one particular scene a woman is stripped naked and tied to a chair while a large cockroach is forced inside of her vagina in graphic detail. After several hours of the cockroach moving around inside of her, the doctors cut and peel off her entire face and the cockroach exits from her mouth. They then put her face back on her head and carry her off to the chopping room. As the experiments continue, a man's face is slowly burned off, a woman's forearm is cut open and sawed in half, and a screaming pregnant woman's unborn fetus is ripped out through her bleeding vagina with pliers, piece by piece, along with parts of her own organs and intestines.

Unit 731 had a great interest in researching the effects of frostbite and gangrene on test subjects exposed to extreme temperatures. In one scene of the movie a boy is stripped naked and left tied to a post outside in the snow for several hours while soldiers pour ice cold water on his feet, hands and genitals. He is then taken inside the laboratory where his affected body parts are sliced open with knives. He is then forced to walk, causing him to collapse and die as his legs and feet split apart. After this his face is sawed open and he is chopped to pieces and in the chamber with the rest of the rotted, dismembered corpses. And all of this is in the first half of the movie, it only gets worse from here.

By the time you insert the second dvd you might at this point, be slightly more prepared for the violent radiation exposure scene to follow, which causes a naked man to graphically shit and vomit blood until he dies. Hopefully you handled that well because the next scene gets pretty rough! It features a woman being hung by her arms and electrocuted with cables shoved in her mouth, as the doctors cut open deep, wide gashes into her biceps and face. After this, they pull out her tongue and cut it in half with a knife. Following this scene is a very long and graphic autopsy. Then another woman experiences a similar treatment but this time her back is cut open until her vertebrae is exposed and the electrical cables are forced into her open wounds. Which leads us now to that compression chamber that made Men Behind the Sun so infamous. This time we get an up-close-and-personal glimpse of a boy being exposed to so much pressure that his limbs cave in and his head bursts apart in an explosion of blood.

Many more deaths follow, 3 boys are hung by their arms and gassed to death, a woman who tries to escape is shot through the chest and head and another woman looking for an easier way out slits her own throat with a katana. The death scenes in this film are given a creepier ambience through the use of haunting industrial music and various film filters giving each death scene a dark, bleak and morbid atmosphere similar to a David Lynch movie or a Nine Inch Nails video. Gorehounds and historians are guaranteed to be both fascinated and disgusted by all the newly discovered evidence, interviews, photos and video footage of the actual atrocities that took place, presented for the first time in this film! Andrey Iskanov was actually investigated by the KGB regarding his research for the film. They searched his property and confiscated his computers, along with all of his evidence and film footage. He was arrested and taken to a Military base for interrogation and locked in a concrete cell without a toilet. He was given very little food and was made to sign consent forms for search and seizure of all of his property.

The incidents at Unit 731 were hidden from the public for so long and even to this day, as you can see from Andrey's imprisonment, extreme measures are still being taken towards covering up the truth. It makes you wonder what else is going on today that we may never know about for years to come when someone else finally decides to risk everything just to make the truth known to us. In a way this makes Philosophy of a Knife one of the most powerful films ever made, it simply can not be ignored any longer. Andrey did his part and more, please do yours by helping to support his efforts and order Philosophy of a Knife now, this film must be seen. Please contact Producer Stephen Biro of Unearthed Films for ordering information.

[Cataclysm]

Also a great travesty happened to Andrey Iskanov, he was actually arrested by his government (specifically by the KSB) and was detained for 5 days all because of this movie.


http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=38215734&blogID=408806086
Russian Horror Director Andrey Iskanov Detained for 5 Days by FSB (formally known as the KGB)

On June 10th in Khabarovsk, Andrey Iskanov, director of the soon to be released film Philosophy of a Knife, was visited by the Russian Federal Security Service. According to Mr. Iskanov, he was questioned about the research he had conducted into the historical chemical and biological experiments that form the basis for the film, and the whereabouts of the documents and materials he had uncovered on the subject. Iskanov explained that many of the materials had been sent to the USA with the exception of those being utilized in his new film The Tourist. At the request of the security services, he surrendered what materials he had and the FSB left.

On the following day, the FSB returned to Mr. Iskanov's residence and proceeded to conduct a search of his property. They confiscated all film, video and computer materials, and Iskanov was arrested and taken to the local military base for questioning. While in detention, he was interrogated about the information he had acquired from Anatoly Protosov, a former military translator for the USSR, and his research into the Russian chemical and biological experiments that had been conducted in the area, as well as the American experiments that had taken place based on information culled from Unit 731 after the trials in Khabarrovsk. Iskanov explained that his research had led him only up to 1956 and no further, especially in regards to the Russian experiments.

He was detained for 5 days in the military base in a concrete cell without a bathroom and with very little to eat. After the FSB had examined all of his media and other materials, they had Iskanov sign a consent form for the search and seizure of his materials. He was given back some of his property after being released.

It is not unusual for independent filmmakers to be subjected to a certain amount of harassment, but this certainly seems to be an extreme case. Philosophy of a Knife is more than just a glance at a moment in history that most would rather forget; it is a graphic and detailed account of atrocities committed by government scientists and doctors on innocent civilians. It is because of the work of artists like Andrey Iskanov that such acts are not forgotten, however awful the truth may be.

So please swing by Andrey's personal MySpace page and leave a message showing your support for him and his work.
http://www.myspace.com/andreyiskanov

Brian Paulin (director of Bone Sickness and Fetus) mentioned that he had talked to Andrey before Philosphy was underway and that he expressed concern that something like this might happen, and it actually did. Shame that this day and age people can still be arrested for making art.

[dead breed]

Im getting this one for sure.

[opterasis]

Thanks Cataclysm for all of the information. That was enough for me. I grabbed the limited edition on amazon.com for 26$.

[bedlam23]

I'm pumped for this film. I've heard it's all kinds of fucked up.

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

I saw this advertised heavily on HKflix and it seemed to entice me. I was also considering a blind-buy. With all the good things I've been hearing about it, I'm leaning more to make a blind purchase.

*EDIT*

Just made a blind purchase, hope I get my money's worth.

[opterasis]

http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/philosophy-a-knife-2008

Ouch.

[Cataclysm]

What a bullshit review.

I don't expect everyone to praise the film but that seriously was one asinine review. It's perfectly all right that we paint Nazi's as "monsters" with everything were taught in school and show in documentaries but when we are shown what a Japanese group did, that was the equivalent of the Third Reich then that is just a waste of time because it happened so long ago we should just forget about it and move on.

Would have been nice to if that reviewer had some integrity and not attack Andrey, if he doesn't like "art house" movies (which he clearly doesn't) that's fine but you don't openly attack a film maker because you don't like the style especially if you are going to call yourself a critic.

Dread Central should just stick to reviewing mainstream movies and trying to whore their name out like BD. :dsp:

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

There reviews are decent, but it's kind interesting they give this flick a 0/5. I thought they would have enjoy at least parts of it. Oh well, I guess you can't please them all.

[Belcebu]

That was an amazing crap review from someone that obviously does not understand these kind of films. I for one cannot wait to see it for myself, hopefully it will arrive on Monday, and I cannot say much since I have not seen it but to give any movie, any movie what so ever a 0/5 it would have to have no redeeming qualities, I have only seen little scenes here and there and I can already tell that the dentist scene alone will earn it at least a positive score. What a disgrace of a review.:dsp:

[KING]

eh fuck em..i've read enough.

[hackerslacker]

anyone have a torrent?

[dead breed]

What a crap review..0/5 come on man!

[hackerslacker]

Dread Central is as bad as BD.

[steelba]

Give me a link for a torrent and i'll review it. It'll get the steelba treatment...

I haven't seen enough dingy underground smut yet anyways :ahheh:

[Cataclysm]

Just came out llast week so it hasn't been upped any where yet.

[Get Some]

wow i should definitely pick this bad boy up

[steelba]

Cata says he's gonna review it, so i'm eager to read :nod:

[opterasis]

Just came out llast week so it hasn't been upped any where yet.

And it pisses me off that I'm still waiting for my copy from Amazon. It says out of stock, so I'm assuming that means I won't ever get it.

*edit* I decided to take my chances with hkflix who claims to have it in stock instead of risk waiting for amazon and never getting the LE.

[Cataclysm]

http://www.fangoria.com/graphics/articles/6262_article.jpg

The true history of Japanese Unit 731, from its beginnings in the 1930's to its demise in 1945, and the subsequent trials in Khabarovsk, USSR, of many of the Japanese doctors from Unit 731. The facts are told, and previously unknown evidence is revealed by an eyewitness to these events, former doctor and military translator, Anatoly Protasov.

Part documentary and part feature, the story is shown from the perspective of a young Japanese nurse who witnessed many of horrors, and a young Japanese officer who is torn between his sincere convictions that he is serving the greater purpose, and the deep sympathy he feels for an imprisoned Russian girl.

His life is a living hell as he's compelled to carry out atrocious experiments on the other prisoners, using them as guinea pigs in this shocking tale of mankind's barbarity. Philosophy of a Knife is truly one of the most violent, brutal and harrowing movies ever made.

----------------------------------------------------

Well now that I've watched it, I can comfortably say that the negative review posted by DC is completely full of shit.

First of all, this movie is not meant for casual viewing. It is long (little bit longer than 4 hours) movie so you need to be willing to dedicate the time to watch this. It is split up to two parts but it is much better if you watch it from beginning to end. This is also not a fast paced movie, it takes its time to tell the story and showing the events, so yes the scenes maybe overtly long (especially if you have not seen an Andrey Iskanov movie before) but it is done for a good reason and works effectively at making the audience feel uneasy. The reason of the length though is that this movie goes beyond Unit 731, it takes about everything that led up to the event of Japan invading China, why Unit 731 was created, the deals between the Japanese government and the USSR. Aswell as everything that happened after the US went into Japan and what happened to those involved with that section of the Japanese military.

I do however find it hard to classify this movie into a genre. Yes it is a documentary designed to show what happened with the Japanese military group Unit 731, (or more specifically, what has been declassified and approved to be shown as certain governments are still very hush-hush about releasing information) which intercuts scenes of recreations with interview footage of a man who was there from the start of the events till the very end, aswell as real war footage and pictures. Though it is very much an art-house movie too, while the movie and the scenes are based on factual events the reenactments are created using the artists' interpretation of those events(which is made clear in the introduction of the movie).

Such as the frostbite experiments. After they bring in the prisoner from outside after being left in the cold and having water poured on his arms and feet then dipped in hot water. The soldiers stand him up and make various incisions on the frostbitten parts of the body and forced the man to walk. Then we get to slowly watch his skin fall apart exposing only the bones until, naturally the bones in his legs snap and he collapses. Obviously it wasn't done this way and I can't imagen the prisoner being able to walk but this is what is meant by interpretation. There are various other examples such as seeing a disease infected roach traveling from a woman's vagina to out her mouth, etc.

With bringing those scenes up. Does this movie have the best and most realistic special effects? No. While the effects for the most part are very well done (such as the pressure chamber scene or the skin removal from a skull scene) it does have it's weak moments (the chopping up of the bodies for cremation, the woman having the skin removed from her back) but it doesn't ever take away from the movie or make what your seeing any less grotesque. Since the experiment that you are watching take place at one point did actually happen to a real person.

The acting is done well, not the best I've seen but very far from the worst. There is no dialogue in the movie, the only time anyone speaks is either from the male narrator, narration from the female nurse recalling the events (and her descriptions at times were just as nasty as the scenes themselves) or the man being interviewed. Everything else is done simply through actions and facial expressions, such as we see the infatuation one of the male soldiers has towards a female Russian prisoners or the nurse being unable to handle watching the people being tortured. Then to comment about the look of the prisoners, yes before they have experiments done on them they don't look anything like the malnourished, half-dead people we see photos of from concentration camps. As Andrey himself pointed out, these people were not just prisoners they were test subjects. It would have been impossible to conduct quality research on these people if they were unhealthy and on the verge of death. They needed these people to be as well taken care of as possible so they could understand the full effect of the diseases and understanding of the human bodies reaction to certain situations (cold, pressure, etc.).

A unique movie to say the least and an important one that I think should be seen, but everyone should understand what they are going to be getting into with the movie and not so much the hype of being one of the sickest movies. I know the fact that it's long and slow and being in an art-house style is going to turn off alot of people but its still a very well done and executed movie that's worth watching.

Inevitably a comparison is going to be made between this and Men Behind the Sun. Would I say this is better than MBTS? Yes, only because I don't like that movie but it is not a fair comparison. While both deal with the same subject matter, both are two very different movies and I think if you are going to watch one movie then you should watch the other aswell. Then of course the big question at hand. Is this movie one of the sickest ones around and as nasty as everyone claims it as? Don't know. How sick and how nasty this movie is really all depends on each persons viewing. Some may not find it as sick because of the artistic approach used, others might not even be able to watch it after the first experiment. In the end though, it is rather a disturbing movie just simply because real people had to endure these horrible and vile experiments.

The last line of the movie really best describes the purpose and reasoning behind Philosophy of a Knife and why we should remember and not just sweep it under the rug and forget about it because it happened "6 decades ago."

"To remember those who were sacrificed for the beliefs of others."

[KING]

Good review man, very educated.

[Cataclysm]

Thanks man I appreciate it. :beerchug2:

I went back and added a bit on the acting since I accidentally skipped on that. I really don't like rating movies, but for me if I were to rate this movie I'd probably give it between an 8 or a 9 out of 10. Not a perfect movie, but a solid one that is very fascinating.

[dead breed]

Nice review Cat..I read every word. You should review more movies.

[Slayer]

Nice review buddy :coolbeer:

[dead breed]

Hey Slayer..I see Steel in your sig, where am I? :D ... I can feel the love.

[steelba]

good review, i'll give the movie a d/l if i can find a torrent under 5 gigs :D

[Snuggle]

Nice review Cat..I read every word. You should review more movies.
Agreed, review more movies Cat. I plan on picking this up when I get some $$$ flow. Well written review.

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

Great review Cat! Sounds like I made a great investment! Now I'm really looking forward to this film when it arrives in the mail. :D

[DevilsReject Fan]

Just bought my copy on Amazon today!

[steelba]

Cat = moves DVDs off the shelves :nod:

[Luris Blear]

I have ordered once directly from Unearthed Films, but it was a pleasure. Got personal email service, and the people there love the movies as much as the fans.

I prefer to do most of my shopping at Amazon, but would absolutely order again through Unearthed in a heartbeat.

Um. Not so sure I want to actually watch this movie however.

[hackerslacker]

This is on cinemagedon for download. my friend got me a copy since its pretty slow to download. 2 gigs 4 hours!

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

I'm still waiting for Deep Discount to ship this movie to me. :(

[opterasis]

I got my copy fairly quickly from HKFlix.

[xxsic4slipknotxx]

When I ordered it, it was still technically in pre-order status. The only site I've know that ship pre-orders out early is Amazon. I guess I'm going to have to wait.

[bedlam23]

A masterwork in the Underground. Andrey simply out did himself and all this on a shoestring budget under 7 thousand dollars.

[j-vc]

I thought that 0/5 review was BS as well, no matter how much you might dislike the film - it is a film that has merit. Still, I was a little disappointed with Philosophy. I thought at four hours, there's a lot of stuff that could have been trimmed and still kept that feeling of claustrophobic, existential dread. I enjoy Iskanov's directorial vision however, and that made the sitting a little easier to tolerate. Definitely not for all audiences.

[woodenheart]

This film was beautiful...the hours flew by...didn't seem long at all.