Naresuan Naresuan
Sep
04
2005

Takeshis’ Roundup!  Kitano to Stop Being Kitano?

Posted by Todd Brown at 6:17pm.

Posted in Film News , Comedy, Drama, Asia, Toronto Film Festival 2005, Random Festival News.

takeshis.jpg

Soon to appear at the Toronto International Film Festival the latest from Takeshi Kitano - the self referential Takeshis’ - was unspooled as a surprise film at the Venice Film Festival and it has stirred up a fascinating little storm of commentary.  Not the least bit of news is that Kitano has been quoted a couple of times now saying that Takeshis’ will be the last typical Kitano film he will ever make, preferring to move on to ‘classic’ film making approaches.

Here’s what’s out there so far ...

First, and most widely available, is this article from Reuters which quotes the cult auteur as saying “"It is a funeral for the genres that I explored over the past dozen movies. In a sense, it is the last of a series ... In Japanese, the title sounds like ‘Takeshi’s funeral’.”

Next out of the gate is Henrik Sylow over at KitanoTakeshi.com who has published some detailed thoughts on the film as well as this brief interview with the director.  Sylow sums the film up this way:  “As a Kitano film, it is a masterpiece, but as a film by Kitano, it will most likely confuse a mass audience.”

And finally there is an article that appeared in Japan’s Sankei Sports that Jason Gray was good enough to translate and send out way.  That follows in its entirety but here’s a telling quote from a clearly deflated Kitano:  “"I set out to make a strange, groundbreaking film, and I think it succeeds, but it feels like I made a car that’s so fast I couldn’t drive it and fell out,” Kitano said with a bitter smile and sagging shoulders.”

This article appeared on Yahoo!  Japan News (syndicated from Sankei Sports):

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20050904-00000032-sanspo-ent

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Reader Comments

  1. jasong 09/04/2005 @ 9:32pm

    A follow-up article today (http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20050905-00000035-sanspo-ent) mentions reporters were at Narita Airport to meet Kitano upon his return from Venice (with a slightly embarassed smile on his face.)

    “The fact that [the film] created a stir is good...But nobody could understand the subject matter and became silent. Well, it is a confusing movie.”

    About the film’s almost simultaneous public screening and surprise secret press screening, Kitano says “It was like being kidnapped...It was unbearable.”

    The end of the article is telling of Japan’s view of the man:

    “The man known as ‘Kitano’ around the world goes back to being ‘Beat Takeshi’ and cracks up the contigency of reporters.”

  2. DMack 09/05/2005 @ 1:11am

    I’m sorry to hear that about Takeshis’, but I’ll still have to check it out for myself.

  3. Jasper Sharp 09/05/2005 @ 3:36am

    Well I am sure it will be interesting. Most critics don’t really understand Kitano anyway. Take a look at Sight and Sound’s reviews of his old films - trying to defend films like BROTHER or DOLLS as art films with hidden depths when they are in fact plain misfires aimed at mainstream crossover audiences. Kitano’s films get reinterpreted in so many ways by so many different viewers its really difficult to know how to take the critical reaction. I am sure I personally will find it fascinating, just as any other work in Kitano’s oeuvre. Whether I will find it entertaining is a different matter entirely.

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