2008 Woodie Awards
Harsh Realities: Beat Takeshi and Takeshi Kitano
J. Mark Samuels
Issue date: 12/10/01 Section: A&E
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Harsh Realities: Beat Takeshi and Takeshi Kitano
If you were to ask the typical American film buff about great Asian film directors, they may mention Chinese-born John Woo (Face/Off, Broken Arrow); a classical European may reference the late Akira Kurosawa (The Magnificent Seven). A more modern perspective, however, may reveal Japanese Takeshi Kitano (Kikujiro No Natsu) as just a revolutionary figure in Asian film.
Among current Asian actors, Chow Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers) and Maggie Cheung (Sausalito) often come to mind. Often overlooked are the stoic charms of comedian Beat Takeshi (Brother), a gifted character actor who deftly replaces extraneous dialog with animated facial ticks and hard-boiled grimaces.
The most remarkable similarity between Kitano and Takeshi is that both names belong to the same person. He is a college dropout, highly successful comedian and cinematic impresario. He possesses so much talent that he needs two names to encompass it all.
His pseudonym Beat Takeshi (derived from his comedy duo, “The Two Beat”) and his birth name Takeshi Kitano collaborate to write, direct and edit his films. After achieving notoriety on Japanese television in the late 1980’s, he made a series of Japanese yakuza mafia films and appeared in David Bowie’s WWII epic Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
His directorial debut came in 1990 after Violent Cop’s scheduled director fell ill and the film’s producers allowed Kitano to step in. In his first truly original film, A Scene by the Sea, Kitano relates a touching story about a deaf-mute garbage collector who takes a passion in surfing. His mute girlfriend accompanies him, and the couple does not exchange a single word through the entire film. The power of silence and love that transcends words are themes revisited in his 1997 tour de force Fireworks.
Kitano’s most recent film, Brother, marks his first attempt to penetrate the highly lucrative American market after a decade of critically acclaimed filmmaking. Aniki, a tough-as-nails disgraced gangster poignantly portrayed by Kitano, flees to America to find his estranged half-brother. Though the bother is presumably attending university in the States Aniki finds him selling drugs with local hooligans and promptly takes control of the operation. He brings together a disjointed gang of African American criminals, Mexican gangsters and Yakuza Mafiosos in a consolidated drug smuggling ring. Under his leadership, they assassinate their competition and achieve prominence on the American drug scene. Aniki behaves in the typical ‘Take No Prisoners’ yakuza manner and risks his life constantly. Kitano justifies this from a characteristically Japanese perspective; being a dishonored member of society, Aniki is already dead and can risk nothing further.
If you were to ask the typical American film buff about great Asian film directors, they may mention Chinese-born John Woo (Face/Off, Broken Arrow); a classical European may reference the late Akira Kurosawa (The Magnificent Seven). A more modern perspective, however, may reveal Japanese Takeshi Kitano (Kikujiro No Natsu) as just a revolutionary figure in Asian film.
Among current Asian actors, Chow Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers) and Maggie Cheung (Sausalito) often come to mind. Often overlooked are the stoic charms of comedian Beat Takeshi (Brother), a gifted character actor who deftly replaces extraneous dialog with animated facial ticks and hard-boiled grimaces.
The most remarkable similarity between Kitano and Takeshi is that both names belong to the same person. He is a college dropout, highly successful comedian and cinematic impresario. He possesses so much talent that he needs two names to encompass it all.
His pseudonym Beat Takeshi (derived from his comedy duo, “The Two Beat”) and his birth name Takeshi Kitano collaborate to write, direct and edit his films. After achieving notoriety on Japanese television in the late 1980’s, he made a series of Japanese yakuza mafia films and appeared in David Bowie’s WWII epic Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
His directorial debut came in 1990 after Violent Cop’s scheduled director fell ill and the film’s producers allowed Kitano to step in. In his first truly original film, A Scene by the Sea, Kitano relates a touching story about a deaf-mute garbage collector who takes a passion in surfing. His mute girlfriend accompanies him, and the couple does not exchange a single word through the entire film. The power of silence and love that transcends words are themes revisited in his 1997 tour de force Fireworks.
Kitano’s most recent film, Brother, marks his first attempt to penetrate the highly lucrative American market after a decade of critically acclaimed filmmaking. Aniki, a tough-as-nails disgraced gangster poignantly portrayed by Kitano, flees to America to find his estranged half-brother. Though the bother is presumably attending university in the States Aniki finds him selling drugs with local hooligans and promptly takes control of the operation. He brings together a disjointed gang of African American criminals, Mexican gangsters and Yakuza Mafiosos in a consolidated drug smuggling ring. Under his leadership, they assassinate their competition and achieve prominence on the American drug scene. Aniki behaves in the typical ‘Take No Prisoners’ yakuza manner and risks his life constantly. Kitano justifies this from a characteristically Japanese perspective; being a dishonored member of society, Aniki is already dead and can risk nothing further.