Han Songluo said that Takeshi Kitano is two-sided, violent and gentle. Takeshi Kitano also simply made a film "Two Sided Takeshi Kitano" to prove his double-sidedness. I am more willing to understand Takeshi Kitano from the other two sides. In my opinion, his two sides are "pure" and "overthinking".
If a person's actions are governed by his heart, then he will be simple and direct, and what he thinks will become a finger, clearly pointing him to the goal, and he only needs to move forward with one heart and one mind; and when a person is When his behavior is influenced by, or even dependent on, others, he becomes anxious, hesitates, walks on thin ice, and keeps looking around.
Takeshi Kitano's works can't be classified. He is best at gangster films, and he has also made tender films, romance films, period dramas, and comedy films, from the tough and violent boss to the invincible blind man Zatoushi. I accidentally saw Takeshi Kitano's anxious side. From establishment to subversion, Takeshi Kitano has changed roles and images, always wandering between pure and overthinking.
1. The boy does not know the sadness
"Do you think we are finished?"
"Fool! We haven't started yet!"
This is the end of "Bad Boy's Sky", the dialogue between Xiaoma and Xinzhi. The two bad boys in fiery red shirts and student uniforms have grown up, and the dreams they held on to when they were young have all been discarded. They went back to school, a new batch of bad boys took their place, and everything seemed to have changed, and nothing seemed to have changed. In the past, they formed gangs and fought and caused trouble. Bewildered, I want to be a comedian, a boxer, and a gangster. They seem to find their place easily, and they always seem to lose sight of who they are.
In fact, these storylines have what Kitano Takeshi has personally experienced and thought throughout. "Asakusa Kid" written by Takeshi Kitano can be regarded as his personal "prequel", which was when he was at his purest and most direct. At that time, he was just an "Asakusa boy", working as an elevator operator in the French Building in Tokyo's Asakusa district, eager to one day be a comedian under his apprenticeship.
His dream came with no effort at all. In a jazz bar with nothing to do, a group of fellows who also had nothing to do suddenly had an idea that struck young Takeshi Kitano: "Go to Asakusa and become an entertainer!" He It's completely unclear how this idea came up, but once he had this idea, he couldn't dissuade himself, and he had to do it wholeheartedly. The thought called to him and guided him.
Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut, "Ferocious Man," was entirely by chance, similar to when he first came out on stage by accident.
"Ferocious Man" has the spirit of a newborn calf, although it is a little jerky, but the work already has a strong personal style.
Traditional gangster films always have a happy ending. After the audience unpacks the boxes of suspense layer by layer, they will see a final answer: "The bad guys are all killed, and the heroes embrace the beauty." However, In "Ferocious Man," violence and tragedy run through, Kitano doesn't believe in a happy ending, and the violent man kills his sister and ends himself.
From his debut novel to "Hanawa", Takeshi Kitano has established his own unique personal style step by step. "Little Sonata", "That Summer, Tranquil Sea", "Bad Boy's Sky", there is a sense of destiny in Takeshi Kitano's films, "to live to death"; the faces of the characters under his camera are a bit enlightened expression.
This characteristic is most vividly shown in "Hana", in which the taciturn and indifferent police officer is paranoidly attached to violence and death. And these qualities are obviously the self-projection of Takeshi Kitano, who was paralyzed by a car accident, criticized current affairs with a vicious tongue, looked down on the works of other directors, and at the same time painted gentle and wonderful paintings.
As a director, Kitano is assertive, confident, and pure.
Until "Hanawa", Takeshi Kitano has gradually found and established himself. The next step is not to look back, but to face the future and find a clearer self. His next work is the warm and emotional "Summer of Kijiro". There is no violence, no despair, no death in this work, giving the impression of a 180-degree turn. In the film, Kikujiro is an adult like a child, and Masao is a child like an adult. This dislocation created by Takeshi Kitano seems to remind us that a few years ago, I was you; a few years later, you were me.
"Kiujiro's Summer" is a warm version of "Two-sided Takeshi Kitano". The shadow of director Takeshi Kitano is projected on both Masao and Kijiro.
2. There is not
a single allusion to thrush when it comes to the depths of the eyebrows. After taking the scientific examination, Zhu Qingyu, a candidate in the Tang Dynasty, wanted to inquire about the results of the examination, so he wrote a poem to the competent official Zhang Ji. The new daughter-in-law is from Bi, and he wrote: "The oil room stopped the red candles last night, and waited before Xiaotang to worship my aunt and aunt. After putting on makeup, I asked my husband in a low voice. The depth of the thrush is not too deep." Ask whether it is in line with the wishes of the rulers. And I think the same applies today to replacing "rulers" with "audience".
Directors, or creators, will inevitably consciously or unintentionally cater to the audience's interests and create creations in line with trends.
In 2005, Kitano Takeshi, who was nearly sixty years old, honestly presented this dilemma in "Long Live the Director". The "Director Kitano Takeshi" in the movie didn't want to repeat his gangster film route, so he thought of imitating Yasujiro Ozu, but he soon failed because "no one wants to spend two hours watching the people in the movie now. Drinking tea and chatting", he later tried the popular romance film, "The Love Story of a Driver and a Princess", and was shot again for "conventional" reasons.
Director Takeshi Kitano in the film always holds a puppet with a serious expression, tries, fails, tries again, and then fails. His figure gradually overlapped with the painter in "Achilles and the Turtle", and also gradually overlapped with the carefully made-up bride. They worked hard to hold the work, but they had no idea and only knew how to please the audience tremblingly. : "Does the thrush go deep or shallow?"
Kitano Takeshi felt anxious. Whenever his new work comes out, critics will mobilize and publish conclusive summaries, as if he has reached the pinnacle of personal creation. However, Takeshi Kitano always wants to be unexpected, and his next film is often different from the previous one.
I don't know if Takeshi Kitano will remember the mad boy who worked as a waiter in a bar in Shinjuku, and a voice suddenly said in his heart: "Go to Asakusa to fight. Asakusa is everything. Asakusa is calling me. "
I don't know if he remembered the juvenile spirit who was reckless about the consequences and didn't consider what others thought, and made his first active decision just because of his inner voice.
Takeshi Kitano, who became a director many years later, and Takeshi Kitano, who has the title of "Japan's Hall of Fame Film Master", has switched places with those fleeting thoughts. He is no longer inexplicably hit by thoughts. Do your best to find and dig. If the flash of inspiration when he was young is compared to the million-dollar jackpot, then Takeshi Kitano was like an anxious lottery player who bought lottery tickets again and again, hoping to scratch off the one that read "Go to Asakusa and become an entertainer!" "The lucky prize.
"Long Live the Director", "Two Sided Takeshi Kitano" and "Achilles and the Turtle" are Takeshi Kitano's "introspection" trilogy, and I feel embarrassed after reading it. Because Kitano Takeshi has made himself too embarrassed, just like a beautiful female star who exposed the whole process of her plastic surgery one day, many times our audience only wants to see your beautiful side, and do not want to directly attack the bitter process. . The three films of Takeshi Kitano make people feel embarrassed: aren't the film masters handy and helpful in making films? Aren't the film masters all cool and cool, how can film masters have the same confusion and troubles as ordinary people? .
In the process of watching the movie, I wanted to make a case several times and argued loudly with Takeshi Kitano: Master should go all the way in one way, just like Ozu or Mizoguchi! You can't just shoot romance movies just because there's been a romance movie recently! How can you rack your brains to please the audience! A good movie is not the same as a surprise win! You should first listen to your heart rather than consider whether the audience will accept it or not!
In "Asakusa Kid", Kitano Takeshi recalled the past of learning Mancai (comic dialogue) under the artist Fukajian Chisaburo when he was young. His first time on stage was as a shemale, so he looked in the mirror and put on an exaggerated and ridiculous make-up, but was reprimanded loudly by his master: "Xiao Wu, listen to me, if you want to make others laugh, you don't rely on appearance, Actions and other appearances to amuse. Artists have to rely on skills to amuse, rely on skills!" In the
same way, the reason why good works are attractive is not because of their fancy appearance, but because of their full inner and hard core.
"Long Live the Director", "Two Sided Takeshi Kitano" and "Achilles and the Turtle" are Takeshi Kitano's "introspection" trilogy. "Introspection Trilogy", I am suddenly enlightened, how good, I don't have to worry anymore, Kitano Takeshi has long realized his confusion and embarrassment, so he conducted a large-scale introspection.
At the end of "Long Live the Director", the doctor carried out a body check on the puppet that resembled Takeshi Kitano. The doctor's final diagnosis was: "The brain is broken." Typical Takeshi Kitano-style self-deprecating.
Fortunately, unlike the painter Machishou, Kitano kept calm and self-consciousness while being anxious. He reflected that the existential value of a work should not be determined by the audience or critics, but by himself. He reflected, with the humility of a bride, he asked in a low voice, "The thrush is deep and shallow?" - "Time" refers to the heart, does what he creates conform to the heart?
3. Postscript
The teacher asked me a question in class, what do I know about Takeshi Kitano. Unprepared, I blurted out: In my impression, he is an uncle with facial paralysis. At the moment, I sit and no one asks me face to face what I think about this director, I can calmly consider it. At this moment, what I think of most is his strange face. Stiff, with no expression.
"Pure" and "overthinking" as I understand them are both sides of Takeshi Kitano, but they are also the growth and change that a person must face.
Finally, I think of a poem that Takeshi Kitano wrote at that immature, youthful and arbitrary age: I met you in the whale meat shop
that only cooked vegetables in Nakamise We talked about dreaming sparkling wine bubbles the lost promise
Don't say we've abandoned our dreams
We're two people with no one else to rely on
Don't say we've abandoned our dreams
We're two people with no other way to go
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