Takeshis'

TAKESHIS' I have been thinking about what exactly the apostrophe in the title is doing.

An apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of numbers, letters, and abbreviations. To have a plural of "Takeshi", you just add an "s". To show that Takeshi owns something, you would simply write "Takeshi's thing". Therefore, the title "Takeshis'" would be the possessive of the plural "Takeshis".

Perhaps the title isn't (incorrectly) denoting a plural, but actually means that this film belongs to "more than one Takeshi"? It belongs to all of Takeshi's personas, and characters. It COULD just be another example of misuse of the poor apostrophe, but maybe Takeshi studied hard at school, and has dedicated this self-parody to himself, and his own multiplicity.

That being said, he reportably not all of the Takeshis are happy, as one was reportably quoted as saying: "Today I saw the film again and it's terrible. 'Who the hell made this?' I thought to myself. I set out to make a strange, groundbreaking film, and I think it succeeds, but it feels like I made a car that was so fast I couldn't drive it and fell out. If I win the Grand Prix, it must mean I'm nearing death, so I don't need it. This period is over. Next time I'm going to make an orthodox film in the style of the masters and then maybe I'll win." I think he was being too hard on himself (himselves?), but perhaps it never ends for an artists such as him (them?).

OK, enough with the plural jokes, and they probably only amuse me anyway. I just finished watching the film. It had been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I needed to relax after a frustrating mêlée in Half-Life 2 (Nova Prospekt!). I had intentionally read as little as I could about this film beforehand, and I had almost no idea what to expect when the film began. However, I instantly knew that I was watching a Takeshi Kitano film - the unmistakable style of the director completely permeates this film. Besides, there was a big blue "K" at the start.

This film is like some kind of flushing out of Kitano's creative musings. It is surreal and dreamlike, free form, and has some fantastic images and compositions. The film is almost totally devoid of complex narrative, and is instead experimental and perhaps introspective for the director. Perhaps this is what his dreams are like, and if he means what he said above, maybe this film is the end of an era - the final digestive process before moving on to the next creative banquet.

I truly respect Kitano for his bold creativity in film. He seems to attack it as he does his painting. He creates for himself, and I am sure whatever his next project is, it will be unmistakably his own.

I wasn't too keen on this film. While the overall plot is intriguing, with the 'real' Takeshi Kitano contrasting a 'look-alike' Takeshi Kitano with some interesting plot points, sequences and a story that is actually well-acted and entertaining, the style of this film took me for a loop.

Some sequences became fantasy sequences, but this wasn't realized until after the fact. Hence, this left me second guessing the truthfullness of the narrative as I was watching. The second guessing feeling, I think, held me back from fully engrossing myself in this as I started to question the story-teller and what I was seeing on the screen. When the movie ended, while the majority of these jumps in time or possibility were explained, I still had some uncertainty about what had actually happened. This feeling of not really knowing what I saw left me feeling very uncertain, and slightly confused. Somehow, I prefer movies that are relatively straightforward -- at least by the end of the story.

On the plus side, strong acting overall which viewers will find enjoyable. Seeing one actor play two strongly contrasting characters so well is indeed rewarding in itself. For that alone, I would recommend checking this out.

The story's simple enough. Two men, both called Takeshi, live in Tokyo. One is a well-known actor and one is an actor-wannabe who works in a convenience store. The two Takeshis are being played by the director of the movie Takeshi Kitano. It may sound a bit like "Being John Malcovich" but goes far beyond that.

Sure, the movie isn't for everyone but it's definitely interesting and at parts very visual and imaginative. It's without any doubt the most extreme Meta-movie I ever seen.

When a movie has many layers you usually describe it as a "deep" movie. Takeshis has an enormous amount of layers but most of them are paper thin, if not shallow. In the beginning you try to keep track of whether you're watching a dream or one of the two Takeshis reality. It turns out to be a futile task, especially after one caterpillar-scene too many (You'll know it when you see it).

Do remember that this is not "Memento". It's not really meant to make sense. OK, I've always been allergic to the popular urge to over-explain everything in movies but Takeshis might be a bit too far in the other extreme. A heady cocktail of randomness and logical short circuits but not more than most people experience under a good nights sleep, which is what this movie is all about. Dreams and dreams within dreams.

Please, watch Takeshis with an open mind. You either regard it as an aged directors milestone after a long and creative odyssey of ups and downs, much like Fellinis "8 ½", or you can look at it as an overstressed actors brain fart after too many crazy TV-shows and gangster movies.

It's a bumpy ride, it may be a bit too long, weird and garish but you might have a few laughs and at least you have something to talk about afterward. A bit like a theme-park then, isn't it?

The film has a lot of potential, with tons of funny and impressive scenes and situations, characters who are made complete and alive with only a few brush strokes. It starts off as a wry satirical depiction of Japan's TV land and "Jollywood," and becomes increasingly surrealistic as it moves along (I'm using the word moves very loosely, as I couldn't see much plot development). It's Takeshi's 8 1/2, referencing a lot of the director/performer/producer's earlier work and showing his agony as artist and celebrity... There were also references to several classics (Scorcese's Taxi Driver comes to mind, for one) I'm only giving it a 4, as the last third of the film falls apart in a jumble of disjointed scenes, some of which remain too static too long.

I felt that Takeshi's contained enough stuff for several enjoyable movies, but a lot of it went to waste and was repeated ad nauseam. I think viewers could have a better experience with this movie if they were prepared to sit back and relax, enjoying eye candy and little bits thrown on the screen. To expect a follow-able plot would be a big mistake!

Before I get into anything, I'll admit the film was pretty funny. I laughed more than a few times, and I wasn't alone. There were definitely some funny moments.

Now to my impressions, and I'll include some high level feedback I got from others as well. I'm a mid-tier Kitano fan. I've seen a handful of his directorial films, and many of the films he's acted in. I went with two other people (bear with me, this has a purpose), one of which has seen all of his films, another who hasn't seen a single film by Kitano. Why do I mention this? Because I think it might be one of the keys to enjoying this film As mentioned in the synopsis, the film is about his life. It starts with Beat Kitano the superstar, and follows him around "off set" to give the viewer an idea of what he's face in his daily life. At some point he comes across a "Mr. Kitano" (also played by Beat) in which the story starts to explore the fantasy world of this "Mr. Kitano" who idolizes Beat. While fantasizing, he touches on aspects of his others films, and this is where the experience will differ depending on your prior "Kitano" experience. There were a few scenes I laughed at, where as my friend who had not seen a single Kitano film look puzzled. On the other hand, there were some scenes in which I didn't really react, yet my friend who is a "Kitano Fan" smiled from ear to ear. I guess what I'm trying to say is while I think anyone can enjoy this film, it really seems to truly experience what Kitano was trying to do you have to know a little about his other films. If you don't have prior knowledge, I'd be willing to bet by the end you'll question if 25-30 minutes of the film couldn't have been removed with little impact on the end result.

One of the question I thought about while watching the film was why the movie moved so far way from Beat? I actually found the Beat segments to be more enjoyable than the later part of the film, but unfortunately Beat doesn't remain in the film for long before he runs into "Mr Kitano". I also wonder if he didn't spend too much time exploring this fantasy world, and the end resulted in too much for the viewer. It was fun at first, but I'll admit as much as I love art film, this started to get a bit redundant after a while.

I'd also like to mention that the film (at least in my eyes) is by far his most "artsy" film to date. It almost seemed Ki-Duk like at times, as the last 40 minutes or so of the film had very, very little dialog. Somewhat like HWAL.

Anyhow, I'd probably give the film something between a 7 and 8. I'm pretty sure it's going to get some outstanding reviews, as critics who've had more experience with Kitano should get more out of the film. When the DVD drops I might give it another spin.