Takeshis’ — movie review
I must admit, Takeshi Kitano’s films are an acquired taste. For example, my first viewing of Sonatine I found to be quite tedious. However, upon my second viewing, a couple years and a few Kitano films later, I began to recognize the subtle nuances of Kitano’s performance and the dichotomy of the violent Yakuza city life and the tranquil beach antics. Kitano is not one for making a straightforward film, and it can be off-putting if you’re not ready for viewing a film you have to interpret. His pictures layer meaning on metaphor, slices of whim and fancy, and bouts of sudden, shocking violence in endlessly intricate compositions; transcending pulp cinema and becoming visual poetry. As such, he is one of the most important contemporary Japanese directors and one of my favorite filmmakers. With that in mind I must say his latest film, Takeshis’, may leave even the most die hard Kitano fan delighted and confused.
To discuss Takeshis’ one must first understand Doppelgangers. They say everyone has a Doppelganger, an identical “twin” whose interests and mannerisms couldn’t be farther from their other. In Takeshis’ the real life Kitano meets his in the form of a fan, similarly named Kitano (and played by Beat Takeshi sporting the blonde do from Izo and Zatoichi), on a quest for an autograph. Following star Kitano’s initial dismissal of fan Kitano, we shadow fan Kitano as he goes about his mundane existence as a store clerk and taxi driver, and collides with the doppelgangers of those who know the famous Takeshi. As the film progresses the fan slowly becomes more and more like the Kitano of film, transforming from meek store owner to aspiring actor to stone cold tough guy, and losing himself in a brilliantly hilarious succession of Fellini dreams incorporating more than a handful of parodies and homages to Kitano’s greats (Hana-Bi, Sonatine, and more).
At first glance one would be tempted to say this is just another masturbatory piece by a star grown infatuated with his fame. But upon looking further, one will discover a fairly deep meditation on identity and fame — how audiences can love and identify with the characters portrayed on screen more than the real flesh and blood actor, and how one can be idolized for a fictional exaggeration even by members of the very real circles from which those roles draw inspiration. Furthermore Kitano analyzes the nature of the violence which is often cited as his trademark. Again and again he skewers his uberman persona, the bleach blonde sunglassed warrior Yakuza, going out in a blaze of two fisted pistol glory. It’s as if he’s poking the audience and asking, “isn’t this absurd? This is what you love me for?” If left at that, the initial cursory conclusion would be valid, but Kitano follows up with, “Why?” Indeed. Why do we love our violent hero so much? Is it because it allows escape from our own mundane existence? Or does the infatuation have roots in the past? Is the attraction to violence inherent to societies, or learned, as through acts of war? Kitano addresses all these with his trademark style, offering whispered questions and silent answers, letting the striking visuals speak for themselves. And, as usual, the interpretation is left up to the viewer.
Kitano’s trademark tics and pitch perfect timing are present and accounted for. If you know Kitano, you know the performance you’re going to see. Rounding out the cast are Kitano regular, Susumu Terajima (Dead or Alive, Monday, Afterlife, Violent Cop), Kotomo Kyono (9 Souls), Ren Osugi (Ley Lines, Charisma), and cult favorite female impersonator, Akihiro Miwa (Black Lizard, Black Rose Mansion). Terajima in particular is quite funny as both himself and fan Takeshi’s backstabbing neighbor. Similarly, Kyono’s turns as Kitano’s girlfriend and the floozy turned Fan’s partner in crime evidence a promising range of talent.
Takeshis’ is a wonderfully entertaining and thought provoking film. As with literature, no interpretation of the film is wrong, and none is entirely correct. The film may leave non-Kitano fans feeling a little bit lost, but even then the darkly comedic goings on should certainly entertain. Takeshis’ is easily one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and will surely provoke plenty of discussion among fans of Japanese Cinema.
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