Looking back, Kitano Takeshi can’t be regarded as a productive director. "It took 16 years to make 12 films until last year's "Double-faced Takeshi Kitano". Compared with Kim Ki-duk, who completed 12 works in just 10 years, Takeshi Kitano has dragged on for too long. Of course, he has no time to worry about his multi-dimensional development. From the new work, you can see one or two. Kim Ki-duk can't compare.
At the 62nd Venice Film Festival, Takeshi Kitano made a mysterious debut with a new work, becoming the only Japanese entry that year. Compared with "Hanawa" and "Doll", which once amazed the world, "Double-faced Takeshi Kitano" seems to have failed to impress the audience in Venice again, and finally ended up with a fruitless ending. Even Kitano himself said that, after all, the plot of this film is a bit confusing, and it is normal for the audience to not understand. Three years ago, "Zatoichi" ushered in a win-win situation for him, but it seems that he did not like such scenes, and soon returned to his own track, and intensified.
In Samsara
's earlier visit, Takeshi Kitano said that this is a summary film, a summary of his previous directing style, and he is bound to seek changes after that. This reminds me of the speculation I made when I wrote "The Bow" a few months ago. Kim Ki-duk, known as "Korean Kitano Wu", also made an end in his twelfth work. Important symbols from the works over the years, such as Coastline, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring, and Empty Room, are all mixed into Bow, from which we can see his early deconstruction of desire and his later understanding of Zen, and In the end, the two are reconciled to perfection. It took him ten years to complete the comprehension of a certain level of life, and 12 works to complete the reincarnation of human desire.
In contrast to Kitano Takeshi's works, his philosophy or context seems to be more tortuous than Kim Ki-deok. Although the debut work of "Catch the Knife" has shown the trend of its future style, it is still rough and lacks polishing. Later, his debut work "3-4×10" in the true sense brought his style to the fore. Many elements such as gangsters, black humor, dreams, and death were established here, and all of them were carried over to future works. "That Summer, the Most Tranquil Sea" erased the incongruity of the previous work and made the narrative smoother and more comfortable. Kitano Blue and the method of sudden death were carried forward. At the same time, it was established as the tender side of Kitano Takeshi's work, which will serve as the basis for future hard and harmonious A soft combination lays the foundation. Therefore, the "Little Sonata" born after a year can be regarded as a fusion of the first three styles. Kitano highlights the hard side, and the soft part is more hidden inside, whether brotherhood, love between men and women or all kinds of nostalgia. Emotions are actually shrouded in the image of death. Death has never been more prominent as an image symbol. The difference between it and "That Summer, The Quietest Sea" is that the latter emphasizes the unexpected arrival of death, while the former focuses more on the approaching sense of fate. The overall style of "Little Sonata" has been inherited in the same vein, which directly influenced "Hua Huo", "Big Brother" and "Doll". . From these films, we can find that, as a young and middle-aged director after the New Wave, no matter how unconventional the shots of Takeshi Kitano's works are, he still inherits the traditional Japanese culture in his heart. The message conveyed in his works coincides with the inherent Japanese cherry blossom complex, death is often accompanied by beauty, chrysanthemums and swords are perfectly integrated in works such as "Fireworks" and "Dolls".
Under this main line, several works that are quite different from it are linked at the same time. Please forgive me for separating "Bad Boy's Sky", it is more like a continuation of "3-4 × October", and at the same time it combines the youthful elements in "That Summer, the Most Tranquil Sea". As Kitano Takeshi's semi-autobiographical work, the emotions revealed during it are actually quite different from "Sonata" and other films. It has both a helpless response to reality and an active struggle driven by the instinct of survival. Ma did not succumb to fate after the fall, and Xiao Ma's sentence "Bastard, we have just started" has a rare sense of forging ahead in Takeshi Kitano's works. This is probably related to his reflection on life after the car accident, and "Big Brother", which was also conceived on the hospital bed, can be regarded as the other side of "Bad Boy's Sky". The two contradictory views of fate are actually entangled in his in most works.
"Sex Rhapsody" has always been regarded as Kitano's most failed work for many years, because it originated from the origin of the so-called vulgar joke. However, if the director himself is not considered, if the film is only taken out, "Rhapsody" can really be regarded as a successful comedy , Although many years later, many jokes now seem less ridiculous. This is a work by Takeshi Kitano's reckless carnival. He incorporates years of experience in cross talk performances and TV programs into it, creating an absurd and crazy world without boundaries and boundaries. Many cult elements are better than the subsequent Miike Takashi. and. In most of his works, the black humour that ends up is infinitely magnified, so from another point of view, "Sex Rhapsody" is not often the most effective way to understand Kitano's humor. It is a pity that it is considered to be a film that does not match the identity of the master. Such a wild work has been turned over for many years. Until today, this "Double-sided Takeshi Kitano" has a tendency to return to the soul, but it has converged a lot.
It's weird that I find Takeshi Kitano and Kim Ki-duk have a lot of similarities. Kim Ki-deok completed the transformation from "nature to Buddha" through "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Another Spring", and Takeshi Kitano also used "Kiujiro's Summer" to let himself put down his butcher knife and return to his innocence. In fact, most of Kitano Takeshi's films have a strong nostalgic atmosphere, which is very similar to Takashi Miike written by Tom Mes. "Kiujiro's Summer" is a film that epitomizes nostalgia. This obsession with the past is hard to see in Kitano's other works. It is a special case, or it's the most peaceful sea since "That Summer, the most peaceful sea." "The perfect presentation of a tributary that developed. In addition, "dream", as an important element of Kitano Takeshi's films, has more performances here, and we will try to expand this later.
Strictly speaking, I don't think "Zatoichi" can be counted as Kitano's work, even if he still does the main job of directing, scripting and starring. In addition to paying homage to Katsu Shintaro, this first period drama of Takeshi Kitano also made him his first fame and fortune, and this success was at the expense of the most laudable parts of his previous works. I think to a certain extent, "Zatoichi" has vaguely revealed the signs of Kitano Takeshi's transformation, which paved the way for the birth of "Double-sided Kitano Takeshi".
Judging from the first 11 works, although Kitano's films are of different types, there is a main line running through them. Behind the seemingly casual and rambling shots, Kitano Takeshi is full of profound thoughts on life. Under his lens, life is impermanent and precarious, and there is no escape from the established fate, which sets off the insignificance and powerlessness of human beings. It is precisely because of fate that his portrayal of life is tragic and beautiful. "Death is the greatest violence against life". When facing death, he replaces fear with calmness, as if those people are self-controlling their lives. In the end, he had no choice but to follow the guidance of fate. Therefore, no matter the unexpected disaster or the firm and fearless self-determination, in the final analysis, they are all strung on the same thread of destiny. On the other hand, it is precisely because of the fragility and fragility of life that he is especially sensitive to those cautious happiness. In the eyes of the Japanese, all beauty is fleeting, and death is eternal. Takeshi Kitano has inherited the cherry blossom complex of his own nation, and he entangles beauty and death together rather than viewing them in opposition. The happiness of Xi and his wife is better because of death, and their death is ended because of the silent love of husband and wife. Beautiful long. Takeshi Kitano is well versed in the opposition and connection between life and death, so his violent aesthetic is also inimitable.
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