Takeshi Kitano

[Penfold]

I first saw Brother years ago and loved it, I still have no idea how I saw it but it turned out to be a good entry point for me.

I then eventually worked my way through his yakuza films and also enjoyed them, especially Sonatine.

My current favourite is Kikujiro.

I wish I could express/remember what I like about his films so much, it may be the comedy away from the story like the beach scenes in Sonatine or the countryside with the bikers in Kikujiro.

Anyway, are there any other fans here?

[Funcrusher]

Yeah, although he seems to have lost  the plot in recent years. My fave of the ones I've seen is Hani bi.

[Lee Van Cleef]

Yeah, I like a lot of his stuff and love some of it. His mix of drama, relationships, violence and comedy really moves me. I'd say my favourite is Hana-bi, I love the serenity of the film, very little dialogue with the lingering headshots of almost blank faces. The way he winds the film along, focusing on the relationship between himself and his wife, whilst he protects her from the criminals he brought on himself to make that last trip with her.  Even the bursts of violence are done in such a way that it doesn't shatter the mood of the film. 

In particular the shootings in the car, resulting in the bloodspattered window, are still offset by the purity of the snow around.  It's such a visually moving film, and that last shot on the beach gets me every time.

Brother is a strange one, the reception to it seems to have been very lukewarm because of Kitano's westernising of his style, even though that was largely the point.  I think it's probably his most easily watched film, probably because of the way he did it, but it still maintains a lot of his charm.

[Penfold]

Yeah, although he seems to have lost  the plot in recent years.

I watched Takeshis' recently and it was confusing but there are still bits that draw me in.

justincasespoiler

Spoiler alert

the shootout next to the train tracks turning into constellations

[close]

not seen the next two films in that trilogy but I think i'll go watch Hana-bi now as i've only watched it once.

[Funcrusher]

The problem i had with 'Brother' is that it seemed very repetitive. Lots of scenes where some gangsters are sat round a table, some hitmen burst in and shoot them all, then there's a reprisal where the same thing happens to the other gang.

[lipsink]

I loved Violent Cop. The pacing and violent set pieces just feel absolutely unique. Brother, I agree is quite dull and repetitive. Sonatine is great too as is Hana Bi. But he's an acquired taste.

[Penfold]

when i watch Brother now the plot does kind of go blahblah rag tag bunch of hoodlums blahblah experienced mentor blahblah works way up crime ladder blahblah does well blahblah does better blahblah mafia blahblah dead but i love the relationships between the characters that build, that's the key for me.

"i'm michael jordan"

[copylight]

Well, he's on TV most weeks here and just plays dead pan all the time in sharp contrast to the wacky shit he's been wheeled in to passively endorse. With his stroke-stricken face usually poking through a duck costume or giant bell pepper - Beat Takeshi appears to camp up the tragic something terrible. 

[deadly lampshade]

It was a motorbike accident, though. Unless...Dammit, please don't tell me that he actually has had a stroke recently. :(

I've always wondered what those TV shows were like -  awful, probably. I'm kind of jealous anyway.
"Glory to the Filmmaker" is...um...not a coherent film. It doesn't really pretend to be though - it's all "here are some ideas I had, and I'm putting them on screen because I can". I actually have a lot of time for this kind of self indulgence, and there are a lot of funny moments, but it's definitely not for everyone. Is "Achilles and the Tortoise" the third part of the trilogy? Cos that's a reasonably straightforward struggling artist story, and, depending on how you feel about his paintings (which get a lot of screen time), it's pretty good.

The real reason I'm posting here: "Boiling Point". It's almost a dry run for "Sonatine" - they even wind up on a beach in Okinawa - sometimes it gets so grim it's almost funny (I had this reaction to "Brother" as well, mind you) (actually, now I think about it, he might be doing that on purpose), and it's very slow in places (for the first 15 minutes or so, I assumed it was a cute film about baseball), but it's a fantastic film and anyone who likes his gangster stuff should check it out pronto.

Has the new one been on over here yet? I've been waiting for it to hit Glasgow, but I get a sinking feeling that it might not...

[Slaaaaabs]

I highly recommend "Getting Any?" although in doing so I realise I've lost my copy of it.

[vrailaine]

Hana Bi and Dolls were both great films, he made the two of them didn't he?
Haven't seen anything else but have Kikijuro or whatever its called on my laptop.

[Vitalstatistix]

No love for Zatoichi? The only film of his I've really enjoyed. It's a strange and splendid film.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Hana Bi was one of the first DVDs I bought - I think I'd seen a South Bank Show about him shortly before buying my PS2 and it was going cheap (for the time) in the January sales. For some reason though, it wouldn't play, so it was a couple of years until I could get another DVD drive to watch it with. Anyway, I was not disappointed, so I went back to HMV and bought Brother and a boxset containing Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine. I figured, in a wanky film student sort of way, that he could be my auteur of choice. Unfortunately, Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Brother all turned out to be let downs: Violent Cop seemed as perfunctory as its title (am I right in thinking that he only stepped in to direct it at the last minute?) Boiling Point seemed aimless, and Brother suffered from the problems other people have mentioned. Sonatine was very good, though kind of like a dry run for Hana Bi, which kind of made me feel like I should have just stuck with the later film.

I bought Zatoichi some time later, which was fun, and it's a long while since I watched any of them so I should probably revisit them at some point.

[Penfold]

I highly recommend "Getting Any?" although in doing so I realise I've lost my copy of it.

I rented it a couple of months ago and enjoyed it but i've forgotten most of it now, except for the poo, so much poo.

Anyway, I was not disappointed, so I went back to HMV and bought Brother and a boxset containing Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine. I figured, in a wanky film student sort of way, that he could be my auteur of choice. Unfortunately, Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Brother all turned out to be let downs: Violent Cop seemed as perfunctory as its title (am I right in thinking that he only stepped in to direct it at the last minute?)

that boxset was one of the first things I bought after seeing Brother and liked them all but I probably won't go back to re-watch them apart from Sonatine.

He took over Violent Cop and rewrote the script after the original director Kinji Fukasaku fell ill (according to Wikipedia) although I thought they had a falling out. Anyway he then went to appear in Battle Royale which Fukasaku directed.

I'm tempted to find a NES emulator so I can try Takeshi's Challenge after reading this about it

Completion

Completion of the game requires several unorthodox uses of the Famicom system, such as using the second controller microphone to speak while playing pachinko, or not touching the controls for 60 minutes. The player must also maneuver a hang-glider to complete a side-scrolling shooting game, made extremely difficult because the controls do not allow the player to move upwards on the screen. Minor details such as not quitting the salaryman job, not getting a divorce, or not beating up the old man who provides the treasure map, can prevent the player from reaching the ending.

One event requires the player to use the second controller's microphone to sing a verse of karaoke. The player must receive a good rating in order to continue, but the microphone feature was removed in updated versions of the Famicom. Other games substitute the use of the microphone by pressing down the Select button on the controller, but in Takeshi no Chōsenjō, microphone use is substituted by pressing the A button while holding down on the keypad of the second controller. Though the microphone is used to determine the presence of sound, the game does not have the technology to process sound pitches, making it possible to "sing" just by blowing air on the microphone with proper timing.

The game ends once the player discovers the treasure hidden in an island cave. A black ending screen appears, along with the words kan (完?, The End), erai (えらいっ?, good job), and a picture of Kitano's face. The game has no ending credits, and if the player leaves the ending screen on for 5 minutes, the words change to konna gēmu ni maji ni nacchatte dōsuruno (こんなげーむにまじになっちゃってどうするの?, Why're you taking this game so seriously?). Throwing 20,000 punches on the opening game screen will also take the player directly to the game's ending

also love Zatoichi

[deadly lampshade]

I rented it a couple of months ago and enjoyed it but i've forgotten most of it now, except for the poo, so much poo.

I keep forgetting about "Getting Any", it's the only one I haven't got around to seeing yet. Between the premise and what you just said, I'm kind of apprehensive...

Has anyone else here seen Ikinai/Suicide Bus? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165828/ It used to air a lot on a short-lived world movie channel a few years back, but they called it "Can't Live" for some reason. Kitano's not involved himself, and it's a bit less nihilistic than his own stuff, which sounds like an odd thing to say about what is essentially a clinically depressed take on "Coach Trip" but just go with me here. It's a gorgeous film. It's responsible for getting me into all this in the first place.

omg that game...