In Fireworks one of the characters takes up the hobby of drawing after he's been paralyzed and we see his skills develop as an artist as the film progresses. That artwork (Takeshi's own real art) is featured heavily throughout the film. Kitano's artwork is also featured in his romantic drama; Dolls. In Sonatine, the main character has constant visions of committing suicide. In real life Kitano was involved in a motorcycle accident that left half of his face paralyzed. He was quoted as saying the motorcycle accident was an "unconscious suicide attempt" as he was suffering from depression in the mid 90's. Both of these personal events (painting & the unconscious suicide attempt) go hand in hand; Kitano took up painting during the recovery from his motorcycle accident...
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| Sonatine |
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| Fireworks |
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| Fireworks |
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| Fireworks |
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| Dolls |
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| Glory Of A Filmmaker |
STARING DEATH IN THE FACE
I use to think the motivation behind Takeshi Kitano's performances in his Yakuza-related films was just apathy. To a certain degree that is the case but it goes a little deeper. Films like; Sonatine, Violent Cop, Boiling Point and recent stuff like; Outrage & Outrage Beyond feature emotionless main characters roaming through life with the occasional violent outburst. The only time they show emotion in these selected films is during an act of violence. Sure there may be occasional laughter but it’s usually at the expense of someone else as they're being beaten or killed. After watching Fireworks for the first time I realize that Kitano's characters are severely depressed which would explain their solemn/emotionless faces and violent outbursts. That apathy I mentioned earlier is brought on by depression. The characters Kitano plays are indifferent towards life. They really don’t care if they live or die. In just about every one of Kitano's prominent Yakuza/gangster/cop drama films is a scene of him with a gun pointed at his head and he either doesn't care or is daring the person pointing the gun to pull the trigger...
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| Violent Cop |
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| Boiling Point |
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| Fireworks |
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| Outrage Beyond |
Notice all the shootout scenes in Sonatine. Kitano stands completely uncovered among all the bullets whizzing by with no emotion on his face shooting back almost like he wants to get shot...
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| Sonatine |
or notice the lack of emotion on his face whenever one of his characters is getting ready to kill someone...
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| Violent Cop |
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| Violent Cop |
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| Outrage |
THERE WILL BE BLOOD...
Based on the previous category its a given that Kitano's films feature brutal deaths and plenty of blood. Just the titles of some of his films alone should give off that impression; Violent Cop, Boiling Point, Outrage, etc...
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| Zatoichi |
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| Outrage |
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| Violent Cop |
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| Violent Cop |
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| Sonatine |
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| Sonatine |
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| Fireworks |
MAKING UNLIKEABLE CHARACTERS LIKEABLE
In the film world Takeshi Kitano is mostly known for playing one of two roles; He's either a corrupt & jaded police officer sick of chasing down criminals or he's a jaded Yakuza underling sick of killing people and taking orders. Both prototypes are in their late 40's through their early 60's and have come to the realization that there's nothing beyond the life they are use to so they accept it and mope through life occasionally killing or beating the hell out of someone to make themselves feel better when all it does is bring on more depression & sadness that I mentioned earlier. Kitano's films during the late 80's through the 90's shares a connection with Michael Haneke's Austrian films like The Seventh Continent & 71 Fragments... in showing how robotic & formulaic our lives can be and how we don’t question anything and just accept it. Both Kitano & Haneke essentially showed the pointlessness in some of the everyday things we do in life. What’s also interesting is that whether a cop or a yakuza - the characters Kitano plays are shitty, dislikeable people yet I still find myself caring about and emotionally invested in them. Not since Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant and Ray Liotta in Narc have I actually cared about a crooked, shady and/or volatile police officer character. But Kitano's quirky humor and deadpan delivery makes them either likable or at least intriguing and worth investing your time in.
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| Outrage |
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| Brother |
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| Sonatine |
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| Fireworks |
BRUSHES WITH AMERICAN MOVIE AUDIENCES & MY STRANGE FASCINATION WITH TAKESHI KITANO...
Part of my fascination with Takeshi Kitano as a person comes from the lack of complex Asian American characters with some kind of emotional depth in modern American films (or just the lack of Asian American characters in film all together). He just seems like a unique individual. Among American audiences Takeshi Kitano is mostly know for starring in the crossover cult film; Battle Royale and, if you'll all allow me to dust this one off, Johnny Mnemonic. He also collaborated with American actor Omar Epps in the gangster drama Brother. Given Battle Royale's crossover success (at least in the cult movie world) and Quentin Tarantino's hard-on for Kitano's films, I'm surprised his other work didn’t draw much attention in America. Not that he needs the validation of American movie audiences at all (he's practically a legend in Japan). It’s just that his work shows a more complex & unique type of Asian character that we (Americans) aren't really exposed too that often. Even as just an actor - Kitano's ability to play an antihero or a likeable villain could be utilized in American films today...
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| Johnny Mneumonic |
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| Brother |
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| Battle Royale |
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| Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence |
TAKESHI KITANO'S LIGHTER SIDE
There's more to Takeshi Kitano than shootouts, murder, corrupt police & yakuza. In Japan he's actually more known as a comedian (he hosts a weekly variety show). Although I may not be a fan of some of these films (Dolls & Getting Any to be specific) I still can't ignore his lighter side. Although problematic, a film like Dolls shows his melodramatic side whereas Getting Any & Takeshis' shows him tackling a different style of comedy (slapstick). Personally I don't think wacky slapstick humor works for him but he made an attempt at stepping outside of his comfort zone, while stuff like A scene at the sea & Kikujiro show his ability to work with children...
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| Getting Any? |
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| Kikujiro |
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| A Scene At The Sea |
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| Takeshi's |
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| Dolls |
THE BEACH
Another thing Takeshi Kitano gets away with is the cliché use of the beach. Anyone who knows anything about art house cinema should know that the beach and/or the ocean has always played a major role (The Seventh Seal, Beau Travail, Tree Of Life, To The Wonder, etc). No matter how violent or intense some of Kitano's films may be, at some point we're gonna find ourselves on a beach usually coupled with a death or a suicide (Both Fireworks & Sonatine end with a suicide on a beach and Outrage ends with one of the main villains getting killed near the beach). Given all the violence in his films, a scene at the beach feels like a breath of fresh air after all the chaos we've witnessed...
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| Kikujiro |
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| A Scene At The Sea |
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| Fireworks |
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| Takeshi's |
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| Sonatine |
The cinema of Takeshi Kitano is an acquired taste. His films are sometimes described as boring and I really can’t argue with that (with the exception of all the isolated moments of violence). There are moments in his work where the camera doesn’t cut when it typically should and things just get hypnotic for a brief moment (emulated today by filmmakers like Nicholas Winding Refn in Drive & Bronson). His type of dry, monotone, random humor isn’t for everyone and not all audiences have the patience to see the complexity of some of his characters that could easily be described as unintruiging. But for me his films (er...MOST of his films) work. If you're a fan of Bresson, old Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch and very dark humor then I highly suggest you explore the world of Takeshi Kitano.
