[noisereductions]

This one was a Dreamcast game in the US, but was another Japan-only PS2 game... I'd love an English PS2 translation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_(video_game)

[atsonicpark]

Haha yeah I have that boxed up somewhere actually (the DC version). Only played it for a few minutes though... I guess I should re-play it some day.

[noisereductions]

Never had a DC. I had SegaCD and then gave up on Sega consoles after that. Went Sony route instead.

[acousticrock87]

I hate to sound biased, but whenever Takeshi is mentioned everything gets awesomer.

[atsonicpark]

true. true.

[atsonicpark]

This is just the official Takeshi Kitano thread now.

 

I own actual copies of every one of his films, finally! So happy. My post prized possessions!

[Toilet & Bowels]

have his last 3 movies been released in america? they haven't been released in the UK yet.

and speaking of weird video games, there's Doki Doki Majo Shinpan for the DS which involves fighting high schools girls and then sexually arousing them (using the stylus) to discover if they are witches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUlIaME2BWY

[atsonicpark]

Nope, his last 3 movies weren't, I had to order them, region-0 from Hong Kong. Lame.

And yeah I read about Doki Doki before, there's all kinds of weird DS games, where you "poke" people with your pen and stuff, haha.

[Toilet & Bowels]

how are the subtitles on the hong kong versions? and how much did they cost?

[atsonicpark]

I probably paid $12 for all 3, after shipping. I got Takeshis' for free, though.

And the subtitles are perfect, don't see any snags, not much dialogue in any of 'em anyway.

[atsonicpark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_2GotsfZnM

great tribute video

[atsonicpark]

yeah..

Takeshis' was sorta a gangster film, albeit parodistic and surreal.

[atsonicpark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aExB6aeBjss

trailer for outrage.

Looks like a step back after the brilliant Achilles but oh well.

[atsonicpark]

JUST ANNOUNCED 5 MINUTES AGO!!! Takeshi Kitano (my favorite director in the world) will release his newest film "The Outrage" on DVD in Japan December 3rd... with English subtitles! YES! I am preordering this asap. 3 1/2 more months away. I am more excited about this than, well, anything.

[atsonicpark]

I'm going to order this

 

TAKESHI KITANO COLLECTION

Released in England only. I already own all these films but I need this, since he's my favorite director. It contains an AMAZING print of Boiling Point and Violent Cop (wish I could find torrents of these; even the rips on karagarga and asiatorrents are of the shoddy Fox Lorber rips, which don't do these amazing films justice at all), as well as commentaries, and a 68 minute documentary on Kitano. It also contains 6 of his early films,
VIOLENT COP (9/10)
BOILING POINT (9/10)
A SCENE AT THE SEA (9/10)
SONATINE (9/10)
GETTING ANY? (8/10)
KIDS RETURN (8/10)
...,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

so good.

highly reccomended for anyone into Kitano, it's an excellent place to start as well. For those not in the know, Kitano is the greatest human being to ever live, an actor, painter, poet, singer, songwriter, one time video game designer, house builder, carpenter, piano player, director, award-winning tapdancer (!), producer, film company owner, writer, talk show host, juggler, stand up comic, novelist, and about a BILLION other things -- but let's just talk about, y'know, Kitano as "world's greatest director". He makes highly poetic, meditative, contemplative cinema, but started out making what could only be described as avant-garde yakuza films. He was inspired by Godard (with the elliptical editing, minimalist locations, natural lighting, characters staring directly into the camera, a strangely large characters who only exist to serve specific purposes -- say a line, get killed, etc... also, finally, a strange, dark sense of humor; also, both directors aren't really interested in "plots" and both directors are groundbreaking, and have completely reinvented cinema countless times, but you all know that); Sogo Ishii (Sogo Ishii, another groundbreaking director, often made confounding, humorous films that frustrated his fanbase, a direction Kitano has went in quite a few times; beyond that, both directors share the "long takes in interrupted with sudden bursts of violence" thing and a real eye for artistic and wild camera positionings and movements), and Seijin Suzuki (he of "Branded to Kill" and "Tokyo Drifter" fame; he completely reinvented the yakuza genre, something Kitano has done as well). He has inspired every single director under the sun that is worth a damn, though he has yet to fully get the attention he deserves amongst certain so-called "cinephiles" simply because here in America, his films haven't been released on Criterion. Hah. Sad but true! His films only show what they need to show. They don't waste time with "plot twists" and so on. His films are gritty as hell, too. One thing is that each one of his films seems to have more "heart" than the one before it. If you trace his films back to the beginning, VIOLENT COP was cold and heartless, and each film afterwards showed a bit more humanity and interest in the human spirit, and even love to an extent. Still, expressions are never shown, neither good nor bad. No matter what happens in a Kitano film, characters stare blankly ahead, which is hilarious and oddly depressing -- a comment on Kitano's opinion of some of Japan's citizens and their relative cold nature, showing just how uncaring and distant people have become in his world. As Kitano said, "My characters are oppressed, under pressure and irritated. And this impression probably affects the public, who walk out wondering, what next? Where do we go from here?" He doesn't make films that are easy for everyone to live -- indeed, most of his films have unhappy endings, but the happiness -- for me -- comes from just seeing this man's films.

Anyway, after making a string of highly successful (you know, as in, winning awards and stuff, these films didn't exactly light the box office on fire) avant garde yakuza films (Boiling Point being his most underrated film up to that point -- NO MUSIC WHATSOEVER IS IN THIS FILM and the effect is very striking; Hana-Bi being his masterpiece, of course -- a touching, poignant film that contains every element that makes Kitano great), "The Master" (as his fans refer to him as) started stretching out, making a samurai epic (Zatoichi, to date his only commercial success -- and his worst film. Shock! Luckily, he made enough money off of that to finance his films for the rest of his life, so hurrah!), a comedic but depressing "family film" (Kikijuro, which has a simple story your parents would love, but is extremely dark and depressing, too, very bleak), and his only American film, the unsuccessful but interesting Brother -- a film which only works if you're already a fan of Kitano and understand what he was trying to do (in real life, he doesn't understand English. He doesn't understand America. This film works in that same way, it's him trying to cope with his surroundings, trying to make an "American Sonatine" in real life, and almost parodying American films in "the process" -- this is his most violent film, by far, and his least minimal... perhaps his most unintentional comedic as well. Still, an absolutely great film, with a powerful soundtrack, and the joke of an ending is frustrating, hilarious, unnecessary, ridiculous, and something a great many probably took way too seriously if they're not familiar with Kitano's films).

That's something else -- Kitano makes references to his past work, as almost all of his films seem connected. That's probably why most people didn't get Takeshis', which was compared to Mulholland Drive many times, not unfairly. It features extremely elliptical editing and Kitano playing multiple characters. It is the most surreal film of his career, and featured the tagline 500% Kitano: What More Do You Need To Know? and not much else has been said about it aside from "The film is ambiguous, an ambiguity that reflects on Japan today, and a world in which nothing is clear. ". It was a compilation of all the films he'd made, and his life up to that point. The next film he made, Glory to the Filmmaker, was a compilation of all the films he hadn't made at that point. Achilles and the Tortoise was a reflection on the failure of all of his films, and the failure of the previous two films, which broke a cardinal, unspoken rule of filmmaking: Thou Shalt Not Make Films "For Fans Only".

Indeed, Kitano gladly accepts his role as a cult filmmaker, and we applaud him for that. He takes ALL of his earnings from his TV shows and other acting jobs and puts them into his movies, which allows him absolute artist freedom in what amount to honest-to-God high-budget cult films. Imagine a Stephen Spielberg-type director who wanted to suddenly make highly personal films but couldn't (and, very likely, he couldn't, anyway, with America's studio system); instead of making low-budget shot-on-DV stuff or instead of borrowing money from producers he probably couldn't pay back, he hosted his own TV shows and acted in tons of lesser films just to get the money to put back into his baby. Then, through his own company, the powerful OFFICE KITANO, he put these arthouse films up against stiff Japanese star-studded competition. Indeed, despite Kitano's namebrand appeal, Japanese audiences usually stay away... surreal, "for fans only" big-budget avant-garde cult cinema versus the tried-and-true tested formula of endless remakes/sequels/films based on animes/films starring some J-Pop idol? Well, you know who's going to win, but at least Kitano -- an artist, though not exactly a "starving one" since that little Zatoichi film sure did make millions of dollars!! -- doesn't seem phased. He makes films for himself, and maybe a few of his fans, and that's about it. He doesn't care about critics. These are the same "Critics" who scratched their head at the otherworldly, groundbreaking Dolls, instead of embracing it and never letting go.

Indeed, Kitano continues to rip apart the fabric of cinema as we know it, creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Another similarity with Godard, of course: this guy has a ridiculous amount of great films. And each one is quite different, aside from most of them starring the man himself, Kitano.

Kitano works fast, works cheap. Kitano has no script. Kitano films in sequence. He edits everything himself. He said that if he doesn't like an actor, he'll kill them off in the movie. He is an absolutely brilliant director, one of the highest calibre, albeit highly unconventional -- but very, very poetic. He's won awards the world over and is a God to many. And he's my favorite director of all time, and has been for many years now.

[atsonicpark]

Which brings us to his new film THE OUTRAGE...

 

THE OUTRAGE will be out in 6 weeks. It is my most anticipated film of the year. Kitano has never let me down. Early reviews range from "yay, he's making yakuza films again" to "it's been 10 long years since his last yakuza film". Indeed, he's back doing what made him famous, I suppose -- still, considering his non-yakuza films were just as good, and often better than his yakuza films (and considering only 5 of his 15 films really could be considered "yakuza films" despite nearly all of them containg elements/references to the yakuzas and crime), I am kinda indifferent. What more could he really do with this genre after Hana-Bi? Isn't this kinda like Godard making another Breathless after already making Slow Motion, Notre Musique, Oh Woe Is Me... wouldn't that seem a bit silly and ridiculous to make a silly old crime/love story film after making all these beautiul, dreamy, art house works? Same thing with Kitano, here, though I am still interested, as you never know what to expect with this man... perhaps he is finally able to make the yakuza film he's always wanted to make with this film. Perhaps this does have elements of his artsier films? Whatever the case, THE OUTRAGE will be upon us December 6th, with English subtitles, so my copy should be here around Christmas.

 

So, yeah, hope everyone enjoyed my essay on Kitano (you know, in the distant future, when people actually read it, haha).. I'm going to order my copy and sell the shoddy American versions of these films, aside from the disc with Sonatine and the a little extra film called "Zatoichi" that came with my copy, for $5!

I'd like to end this with a great Kitano quote... " It took me ten years of playing serial killers and rapists to be perceived as a serious actor amongst the Japanese public." Hopefully, with Kitano's 25th anniversary as a director coming within a few more years, it won't take audiences another 10 years to fully appreciate his arthouse masterpieces.

I hope you enjoyed my essay on the Master. I have no idea why I wrote it.

[atsonicpark]

3 clips from the outrage
http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/201...tanos-outrage/

[Derek]

Great posts, Kitano is probably my favourite director as well. Can't wait for The Outrage!

[atsonicpark]

There's just this quiet, lonely atmosphere in his films that make them instantly recognizable and compelling... he just rules!

[atsonicpark]

The Outrage Is Out