Kids Return (1996)

Kids Return (1996)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Told mostly in flashback, it's the story of two high school friends, Shinji and Masaru (Masanobu Andô and Ken Kaneko, respectively), who occasionally go to school but spend very little time in actual class.

The tutors have given up on them, seeing them as either directionless morons or little more than petty thieves in training. In time, the duo would probably agree... but a single event gives perspective that leads to insight.

Often in Kitano films the secondary characters are just as interesting as the primaries, but in Kids Return some of the lesser characters actually stole the show, being arguably even more interesting than the two main ones and I'd love to have seen their sub-stories expanded and further explored.

Oddly, even though it's but a tiny portion of the film insofar as the total running time goes, I was affected more by the scenes set in the present than in flashback.

Getting Any? (1995)

Getting Any? (1995)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Comedy doesn't always travel well, especially when many of the gags are reliant on cultural knowledge that a foreign audience may lack.

I'm in that bracket, so keep that in mind when I say the comedy is well-timed but just isn't funny. Its structure is little more than a series of absurd sketches loosely documenting a hopeless man's desire to have sex in a car, but first he needs a car. His leaps of logic in service of his lascivious goal make no sense, but perhaps that's part of the joke(?).

Along the way it parodies various other films, including Lone Wolf and Cub, Zatoichi, kaijū (specifically Mothra), The Fly (1986), and, bizarrely, Ghostbusters (1984), all of which are more enjoyable than Getting Any?.

Sonatine (1993)

Sonatine (1993)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Another great Takeshi Kitano film, again written, directed, edited by, and starring the Japanese auteur. He plays a mid-level Yakuza member named Murakawa who isn't afraid to speak out against his peers, when he speaks at all, that is. He communicates only when he feels it necessary, distanced from the bravado and bluster associated with the role.

Under orders from his superior, he dutifully but begrudgingly joins a small group that's sent to Okinawa to aid a dispute between clan allies. Whilst there, they end up with some free time on their hands. What do city Yakuza do at a beach town when they get bored?  Not what you'd expect, perhaps.

Violence and absurd hilarity trade places in some typically Kitano moments and the emotional heart of the film surfaces and hits hard. It's not a comedy, don't misunderstand, but there are some subjectively piss-inducing funny events. Music is again by Joe Hisaishi and does an equally fine job at characterising.

A Scene at the Sea (1991)

A Scene at the Sea (1991)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Garbage collector Shigeru finds a damaged surfboard by the side of the road. He takes it home and thereafter a story develops slowly over a short but magical summer in which simplicity is beauty and the mundane is remodelled as something deadpan hilarious.

Both Shigeru (Claude Maki) and his girlfriend Takako (Hiroko Ôshima) are deaf, so there's not much spoken dialogue in the film, but the silence in no way diminishes the relationship or our understanding of it because the 'voice' of the piece is very much Kitano's and he orchestrates it masterfully; the bond between the couple has a rhythm that can be heard over the sound of wind and waves.

It was the first of many times that the director had composer Joe Hisaishi provide the score. The music and image are so seamlessly matched emotionally that it's as if the pair had been working together for decades.

Boiling Point (1990)

Boiling Point (1990)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

Baseball is a popular sport in Japan. Masaki (Yūrei Yanagi) is a batter, but he isn't any good and his level of enthusiasm for the role appears to match his level in almost all things, which is visibly nil. A chance encounter at his place of employment leads to him drifting into Yakuza company, specifically an impulsive man named Uehara (Takeshi Kitano) and his two companions.

Dir. Kitano's second film saw his style evolve: a method of humour that's deadpan funny without seeming to have any actual jokes - although the loose construction can feel a little like tactically placed skits, so may be off-putting to some folks. It's not an ideal first Kitano film, but if you've seen and enjoyed any of his later (middle period) works, it can be a rewarding experience. 

NOTE: the poster art used above has the film's original Japanese title, San tai Yon ekkusu Jugatsu (3-4x10月), which translates to 3 to 4x October (according to Wikipedia).

Violent Cop (1989)

Violent Cop (1989)

Dir. Takeshi Kitano

In Takeshi Kitano's début feature film as director he stars as Azuma, a pissed-off detective with some unorthodox methods. Azuma uses violence often because he knows it gets results. It's administered methodically but can sometimes appear casual. He'll bitch-slap and humiliate anyone he feels deserves it, but when events turn personal, when his role as protector is compromised, the level increases and is sustained for longer.

Hisashi Nozawa is credited as sole writer but Kitano made such significant script revisions that in the end his persona dominates all parts of it. The transposition of honed comedy timing into filmmaking style make the changes in tone swift and unexpected, like a good joke or a cutting remark.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Dir. Rupert Sanders

If I was in a charitable mood I'd maybe feel a little sorry for Hollywood. Why? Because it had been ripping-off Mamoru Oshii's anime adaptation of the original Ghost in the Shell manga for about two decades by the time their version of the story came out.

As a result, instead of looking original and excitingly new to modern film audiences, it looked simply like it was ripping-off all the movies that had ripped-off Oshii's film.

Some days you just can't win. Not that I'm suggesting it in any way deserves to win, it really is a bad film, for many, many reasons, but it's fair to say that it was kind of boned before it even began. And then the terrible casting nailed the heavy coffin lid even tighter.

But I'm going to back up a little. As stated, I'm not feeling charitable, but I am feeling fair. With that in mind, I'll wholeheartedly try to judge it on its own merits, touching a little on how successfully it adapts ideas from its source text.

Chacun son Cinéma (2007)

Chacun son Cinéma (2007)

English Translation: To Each His Own Cinema

An anthology that contains over thirty short films by as many different directors, commissioned to celebrate six decades of the Cannes Film Festival. Each work is approximately three minutes in length and was supposed to represent the director's "state of mind [...] as inspired by the motion picture theatre." I'll put the full list of contributors below the cut for anyone that wants to view them all.

My 'Admit One' was for Takeshi Kitano and David Cronenberg, neither of which turned out to be essential. The ones that moved me most were Alejandro Iñárritu's 'Anna' and Abbas Kiarostami's 'Where is my Romeo?', both of which had more emotion than the others combined. Also, I really liked Chen Kaige's 'Zhanxiou Village'.

A lot of them take place inside a theatre with crucial scenes from actual films being projected onscreen, so be prepared for some spoilers.