Best Brutal But Brilliant Cinema

To celebrate the 15th March DVD release of Johnny Mad Dog we take a look at the Top 10 Brutal But Brilliant World Cinema!

La Haine - France
1995

A French black and white film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. When the film was released in France, it caused something of a stir, becoming one of the most controversial and talked about films.

Labelled 'French cinema’s answer to Boyz N The Hood', it portrays a searing account of alienated youth stalking the mean streets of Paris. La Haine is a powerful, hard-hitting, thought-provoking drama with moments of humour too.

Gomorrah - Italy
2008

Award winning Italian film, directed by Matteo Garrone and based on the book by Roberto Saviano, the film deals with the Neapolitan crime syndicate known as the Camorra, which is based in Naples and Caserta.

Gripping and thought-provoking, Gomorrah is a bleak observation on the way the mafia corrupts and poisons.

City of God - Brazil
2002

Celebrated with worldwide acclaim, this powerful true story of crime and redemption has won numerous prestigious awards around the globe.The film revolves around the 'City of God', a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a horrifying area where drug dealers run the community.

City of God is an impressive portrayal of the cycle of violence among the poor, young criminals in the slums, depicted with astonishingly visceral impact.

Jonny Mad Dog - France
2008

Brutally impactful, Jonny Mad Dog portrays the atrocities of an ongoing civil war in an unnamed African nation and offers an astonishing insight into the horrific world of child soldiers.

The film is an eye-opening and devastatingly realist drama, which employs a cast of unknown performers who themselves once were child soldiers.

Battle Royale - Japan
2000

Battle Royale, a film by the veteran Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, tells the story of a dystopic future in which each year a randomly selected 9th grade class is kidnapped and sent to a deserted island, where they are equipped with weapons and are forced to kill each other until one survivor is left.

The movie, which premiered in Japan on December 16, 2000 amidst much controversy, is based on a bestselling novel by Koushun Takami.

Once Were Warriors - New Zealand
1994

Centred upon the touchy yet timely topic of domestic violence, this brutal but powerful film tells the story of an urban Maori family, the Hekes, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence, mostly perpetuated by the family patriarch Jake Heke.

Ferocious and visceral, Once Were Warriors is directed by Lee Tamahori and stars Rena Owen and Temuera Morrison.

Old Boy - South Korea
2003

Highly praised by Quentin Tarantino, Old Boy is a powerful film with its jaw-dropping violence and its portrayal of the human heart, which it strips bare. The film tells the story of a business man who is inexplicably kidnapped, imprisoned for 15 years and whose wife is brutally murdered.

Once he is released he goes on a hunt to track down the man who held him prisoner for so many years. Intense, gruelling and cruel, Old Boy is a nightmarish revenge tale.

Irreversible - France
2002

A rape and revenge tale, Irreversible was declared one of the most disturbing and controversial films of 2002. Emotionally devastating and horrifically violent, it is a difficult watch with many reports of walkouts when the film was first screened at festivals for its brutal scenes (rape and horrifying head bashing episode).

Zatoichi - Japan
2003

In Japan, Zatoichi is a cult character who was the subject of 26 feature films in Japan. Zaitoichi is a blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and masseur, however, behind this humble facade, he is a master swordsman, gifted with a lightning-fast draw and breathtaking precision. This Japanese samurai drama combines graphic violence, intense drama and off-beat comedy.

Audition - Japan
1999

Widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife.

But the one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all. Unsettling and visceral account of the unfolding nightmare of one man’s search to find a new wife, Audition is a psychological thriller and grisly shocker.