Takeshis'

For those of you that may not be familiar with the Japanese Artist Takeshi Kitano, let me first introduce this multi talent. This really is necessary, as most Western People only know him from his Japanese Television Show Takeshis Castle, which has very little to do with the rest of his work and my confuse some of you. Kitano became famous as Beat Takeshi, and still most people in Japan refer to him with that name. You may think that this name comes from his often violent movies, but actually, he got this name while doing slapstick comedy in a duo with another comedian. Nowadays, in Japan, he is most know because of his daily television shows and radio emissions, that range from political/satirical to pure comedy and non-sense. In his own country, not that many people know that he also is an ingenious movie writer, director and actor, very often doing all of them during his movies. He owns his own studios and makes films that very often don't receive the recognition and appreciation they should, although he has in recent years been nominated or won on several occasions for Golden Lions (Hana-bi, Zatoichi, Dolls, Takeshis), Golden Palms etc. But part from these media appearances, he's also a great painter, photographer, cartoonist, writer and poet.

He made his directorial debut in 89 for the movie Violent Cop. He was only supposed to play the main character, but as the director dropped out, he overtook that role too and revised the whole movie. In case you've heard otherwise, his movies are not only about violence and Yakuzas, although in some cases they play a significant role. But they never stand for themselves, they always stand for something deeper most people may not realize.

Now let's come to his latest addition, Takeshis'. It is a master piece in every sense, but if you actually not into his movies, I strongly recommend not starting by this one, as you won't understand a thing (even if you speak Japanese:-). I'd recommend any newbie starting by Hana-bi, continuing with Kukijiros Summer, then Dolls and then Sonatine. This may sound like a lot of work, but it's definitely worth it. Please consider at least watching Hana-Bi, it's a fantastic movie from every point of view. Along those movies, you'll get used to the Japanese way of thinking, Kitanos visual and poetical styles, it will be very difficult to understand the very abstract but still hilarious movie Takesihis'.

I would describe the movie itself as David Lynch meets Haruki Murakami, Kitano style. I think if you know and appreciate each of them, you'll get my point. I don't want to and wouldn't be able to spoil any surprises, still I'm not going to tell you anything further as it would be impossible to reach the subtle brilliancy of this work of art.

I saw this film at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.

Takeshis' is the latest film from writer/director Takeshi Kitano. He apparently got the idea for this film shortly after finishing Sonatine (1993). Kitano was previously at the festival in 2003 with Zatoichi, which won the People's Choice Award that year.

Takeshis' finds him playing two roles: one is a version of his real-life actor persona, Beat Takeshi; the other is a mild-mannered convenience store clerk/amateur actor named Kitano. The lives and the dreams of the two men intersect and parallel each other continuously throughout the film.

Actors, scenes, and elements from Kitano's other films (Sonatine, Kikujiro, Brother, and Zatoichi to name a few) show up frequently as the two men have waking dreams involving each other's lives.

The Beat Takeshi of the film is almost a stylized version of his real self, as the public might perceive him. This feeds into the fantasies of the clerk Kitano, who dreams of being Beat Takeshi, taking out his frustrations with the world in a hail of gunfire, just like in the movies.

The film is constantly jumping between reality and fantasy, from one character to another, rooted in the present but with flashes into the future. It can make it difficult to follow at times, leaving you to wonder whose perspective is being shown on screen and whether it exists in the dream world or the real world or something in between.

The film was enjoyable and not overly impenetrable, with its share of humorous moments and trademark flashes of sudden violence. Still, the movie is not quite as accessible as his other films, with the exception of Dolls, and while not strictly necessary, familiarity with Kitano's previous work heightens the viewing experience.

Two years after dusting down Shintaro Katsu's blind Zatoichi persona for his quirky period-drama re-jig, Takeshi Kitano is back in his own original territory - with a somewhat intriguing inclination towards double-vision.

Takeshis', which debuted at this year's Venice International Film Festival and subsequently screened at the celluloid festas in Vancouver, Toronto and London, has thus far traversed a bumpy course, with critical maulings riding shotgun up there alongside the more expected superlatives.

On one level a homage to the yakuza gangster flicks Kitano helped to define (since taken to the violent extreme by Takeshi Miike in Ichi The Killer), this movie also doubles as a parody of the style and might just be Kitano's farewell kiss to same. The 58-year-old writer/director has quipped that this is a funeral for the genres he explored over the last dozen movies, in particular the gangster premise, and die he apparently does - several times over - as do more than half the cast and extras in a series of grandiose shoot-outs. The yakuza die. The samurai and the sumo die. Heck, even the deejay in the club scene dies.

In the process Takeshis' throws together a smattering of melancholia, a whacked- out sense of humor, tap-dancing musical interludes, a Bonnie & Clyde twist, and touts more guns than a John Woo slug-fest. The narrative structure is as peppered as a spray of bullets from an Uzi.

The gist of the story is a shake-down of two characters played by 'Beat' Takeshi (Kitano) himself: one the "real life" movie star/director, and the other a shy, deadbeat convenience store clerk who aspires to an actor. But there's a third overwhelming id here, and that's Kitano's own on-screen alter ego from those earlier yakuza romps. The question - which one of these three is the real McCoy? - disintegrates as proceedings reach out on a surreal, metaphysical limb in which dreams interplay with reality, nightmares become farce - and then all swings violently back into an unsure version of the here and now. This makes for a sublime visual feast that's as baffling as it is refreshing.

Kitano's trilogy of parts aside, there's a bevy of other doppelgangers, mirror images and dead-ringers rife throughout this movie. Kotomi Kyono, while a tad dull as the movie star Takeshi's girlfriend, bears more than just costume jewelery sparkle in her ulterior role as a glitzy, ditsy yakuza girlfriend who happens to be the deadbeat Takeshi's tormenting neighbor.

As the creative synod here, Kitano certainly isn't afraid to poke fun at himself or the genres he's looked at more seriously in the past. But, after teasing with some mischievous insights, he then skirts the issue. And the weak moments in Kitano's earlier film Dolls (2002) - self-conscious "artistic" references - are stitched into Takeshis' with abandon. A recurring clown motif, bullets-as-star- constellations riff, and heavy-handed symbolism (in this case of a caterpillar) almost bludgeon the viewer, as if Monty Python had taken a blunt instrument to David Lynch - rendering it all a bit like Eraserhead on a bad hair day.

Not that this is such a bad thing; at times, it's brilliant. In some bizarre way - don't bother asking how - Kitano pulls off the slap-stick Mothra-sized larva pantomime that appears at various stages throughout proceedings.

But on the whole it's these asides that make the movie lurch, and off-shoots like the World War II scenes that book-end the film come off as just plain obscure. Takeshis' could have been that much stronger a movie. As it stands, in spite of (or because of) the pointed vignettes, the tap-dancing, and the associated meanderings-within-daydreams, it's a minor masterpiece. Just.

ANDREZ BERGEN

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.

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.