There are two shots in Big Brother that caught my attention.
One is when Takeshi Kitano kills the waiter who was trying to kill the team leader in the restaurant, and the camera cuts to the people in shock. This shot is unusual because it takes away the action and reaction process of the characters and directly freezes the character's state at a certain moment. Why did the director do this, I have been thinking deeply. I suspect that this may have something to do with the aesthetics of death in Japanese culture. Earthquakes and typhoons ravaged the small territory so frequently that death seemed so common to the Japanese. Death is no longer a big thing, it's a part of life. Gradually, people began to accept and face death calmly. This realization is also reflected in the film. In this shot, people greet death in silence because death has become common to them. This is a Japanese-specific way of cognition.
The second is when Kitano's suicide squad shoots at the Mafia's home, and the camera cuts to gang members who have committed suicide in fear of death. At this time, the fire of the guns in the battle reflected on him, forming an indescribable beauty of death. Again, this is a shot saturated with Japanese aesthetics. The director has no interest in the process of the shootout, but is simply fascinated by the instant death. Death is the most beautiful moment. This is like the Japanese indulging in the sakura blossoms that are in full bloom but wither in an instant.
These shots are saturated with Japanese aesthetics, and only Japanese can capture them. And Takeshi Kitano may be the director with the most traditional Japanese culture since Yasujiro Ozu.
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