Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Kitano Katana Kana?
Nick Rucka, and I'm sure a few others, will be happy to know that director Kitano Takeshi is considering a return to the jidaigeki genre with his next film, but that it will be completely different than Zatoichi, his biggest commercial hit thus far. He will aim to create an entirely new "Kitano-style period film."
He made the statement at Narita Airport on his way to the Venice film festival. It's Kitano's 7th appearance on the Lido, this time with Achilles and the Tortoise. Venice and other film competitions don't hold much excitement for the 61-year-old anymore, he stated.
Update: I haven't tried adding a poll before, but maybe nowadays there are enough visitors to make it worthwhile. If you look near the top of the sidebar on the right, you'll see a poll about Kitano Takeshi's career. KT is of course the name he directs under, but the poll choices can apply to how you feel about his career as a whole (acting, TV etc). It'll stay up there for a month, ending a week after Achilles opens here in Japan.
17 comments:
Great, as long as he stays behind the camera. With his self-examining trilogy out of the way, it'd be great to see him pour all his energies into writing and directing for other actors. I think "A Scene at the Sea" and "Kids Return" are two of his most affecting works exactly because of his on-screen absence, although I hear that "Achilles and the Tortoise" only comes into its own when he and Higuchi Kanako show up.
Interesting... Although I'd have to say that "Zatoichi" is one of my least favorite of his films.
Kids Return is probably my favourite of his films, too. And Kitano's favourite, I believe. Did you see his segment in To Each His Own Cinema?
"Venice and other film competitions don't hold much excitement for the 61-year-old anymore, he stated."
Woah. I can't wait until I'm that jaded. But I suppose, once you get an award named after you-- no matter if you're phoning your films in or not-- then there's not much excitement left in life, right?
As for me, I prefer Kitano's films before "Hanabi." I liked "Zatoichi" enough (cgi blood notwithstanding) but can't shake the feeling that he Kitano-izes something because he can't do it well as a straight project. It's like inflecting your work with irony in order to avoid the difficulty of actual craftsmanship.
Anyhoo, I guess I'll have to wait and see what the happens. I'm always hopeful for something new and decent from Beat-- I'm just not sure he's able to do it anymore.
Maybe I overestimated how much you liked Zatoichi -- gomen.
I agree about being jaded with major film competitions. Kitano's been "spoiled" quite a lot in France and Italy.
I think there's a book somewhere in there about how film festivals affect directing careers. Which filmmakers have prostrated themselves to fit in, which ones just keep doing what they'd be doing anyway?
I haven't seen To Each His Own Cinema yet. Any good?
I think Mr. Rucka's take is spot on. For me the most disappointing thing about Kitano's career is the things he hasn't done. He's one of the only directors in this country with the power to make films about almost any subject he wants (despite having little in the way of box office success), and yet instead of taking on something provocative and challenging, he's instead made three rather inward-looking films about himself. With his socially-aware TV persona and the widespread popular support he enjoys, he could have been another Itami Juzo, taking the piss out of the government or the yakuza or other career-endangering targets on behalf of the little guy.
I haven't seen To Each His Own Cinema yet. Any good?
Some of the shorts are some aren't, but Kids Return plays an important part in Kitano's. It's one of the better ones.
It played before the theatrical screening of Banzai and is on the R2 DVD.
$.50 says I'm the only person who votes for option 1!
I'd definitely agree that Kitano has passed his peak, but I've still been enjoying his more recent, nearly incomprehensible work thoroughly.
Sonatine is my favorite, with A Scene at the Sea a very close second (god, I love that movie).
I voted number two on the poll. I've enjoyed all of Kitano's efforts save Banzai -- which I just didn't think he had the film knowledge or genre experience to pull off.
Zatoichi was a good flick, but why even attempt to play a character that was mastered so well.
Hell, I actually think Takeshis' is underrated.
I look forward to his new
I might have mentioned seeing Sonatine at the Toronto fest in '93 before -- I believe it was the first time a North American audience had seen his work. The feeling of an audience witnessing genius was palpable.
Some saw Dolls as the beginning of, or further along, the downward trajectory. I liked it!
I voted number four.
A looong time ago, he was my favorite director and Sonatine is the film that made interested in modern japanese cinema in the 90s.
But i found Takeshis' and Glory! really terrible. Really hope that Achilles will be better.
There are people who didn't like Dolls?
Tsk.
Sure one can argue that Kitano's introspective recent works are less engaging than his earlier films, but I appreciate the effort. Takeshis' in particular has quite a bit to chew on if you give it a chance. I don't think any artist has an explicit obligation to follow a certain path creatively simply because he may be in a position to do so. I for one am glad he didn't go the Itami route because we would have been denied such beautifully idiosyncratic films. Faulting Kitano for not exploring grander causes would be like faulting Wong Kar-Wai for spending his time and talent on exploring relationships. An artist must create what speaks to them or else it is not art.
And I loved Dolls. :)
Some interesting opinions, all of them right.
Does the recent Kitano book offer its own opinion on the direction of the "canon"?
The best Kitano film?
Definitely "Boiling Point"!
Unfortunately Gerow doesn't go too deep into Kitano's evolution as an artist. The book focuses more on his duality as a media icon and auteur while contending there is a third persona in Takeshi the puppetmaster of the other two selves. It's a very academic piece of writing that unfortunately doesn't shine too much insight on the man for those who already know his background and have studies his films. Gerow's final essay on Takeshis' misses the mark in my opinion; a golden opportunity to tie things together that never materializes. He takes the obvious route to support his contention and leaves it at that. If you've read Casio Abe's Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano there's no need to read this.
Mmm, too bad. Now I remember why I ditched deep academics after film school.
I'm glad to see the poll almost evenly split between positive and negative. I thought it'd show more pessimism.
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