ryuganji: film news from japan

This morning’s Sanspo has the poster and release date for Kitano Takeshi’s 13th film, “Kantoku - Banzai!” (previously covered here), as well as a short interview.

June 2nd marks the unveiling of this satirical comedy, in which a hapless director in need of a commercial hit suffers a series of setbacks as he tries his hand at seven different genres. Kitano describes it as a cinematic extension of his manzai comedy routines that continues in much the same vein as his last feature, the similarly eclectic “Takeshis’”. It’s also a skewering of some of today’s more prevalent genres: violence, Ozu Yasujiro-style human drama, mid-1950s Showa era drama, horror, ‘pure love’ (shooting for which took place in Paris), period drama and science fiction, as well as his international reputation as an art film auteur.

“Each film was shot and edited like a regular production, and at the stage where we were adding narration afterwards, I came up with the tsukkomi. It’s a very manzai way of doing things.”

All this would suggest that this is less of a “Kitano Takeshi’ film than a ‘Beat Takeshi” one, in other words something more akin to his broadly comedic persona which has been a fixture on domestic television for decades. “I am worried about being misunderstood. I don’t prefer [my art films that have been praised overseas]. This kind of movie is miles better. Ones as silly as this should definitely be recognised. It’s odd for them to be given a lower ranking. What’s the difference between this and Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru’? It’s the same thing, right?”

“Kantoku - Banzai!” boasts a fairly star-studded cast, and the first to come on board was veteran Emori Toru (probably best known overseas for voicing characters in Kon Satoshi’s “Tokyo Godfathers” and “Paprika”) in the role of a political and financial bigwig. Emori is currently convalescing at home after suffering a mild stroke earlier this month, and Kitano offered his own version of why it happened. “It’s probably because he’s always drinking and hardly ever goes home. He makes you stay out until morning, so nobody wants to go with him. When I was making the film, it was all I could do to avoid him. He kept asking me ‘Take, mate, fancy a drink?’ so I just said ‘No thanks’.”

Kitano also touched on “Dainipponjin“, the mystery-shrouded directorial debut of fellow manzai Matsumoto Hitoshi, which also opens this June. Matsumoto is half of the hugely popular “Downtown” duo who enjoy a similarly ubiquitous degree of small-screen exposure as their comedy sempai. “I think it’s something that lots of different people should do, for the sake of Japanese film. My comedic sense is a bit different, as he’s more into eccentric humour. His movie will probably be a comedy too, but I hope he can get to the stage where he can make several in a row.” On the other hand, he says that with no intention of encouraging his rival. “I hope my film’s the only hit, and the rest bomb.”

As part of the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, Kitano has been chosen as the sole Japanese participant in a special event titled “To Each His Own Cinema”, for which 35 directors from around the world have been tasked with creating a three-minute short film. It’s already in the can, following a shoot in mid-September last year. Asked about the possibility of “Kantoku - Banzai!” being submitted to the festival, Kitano scratched his head sheepishly and admitted “Well, bits of it are a little embarrassing…” (source: Sanspo)