Minnâ-yatteruka!

Takeshi Kitano is worldwide known because of his violent movies such as Brother, Hana-bi, Violent Cop, etc. However in Japan is the other way around, he is mostly known by his comedy tv shows or duo-comedy shows (the two beats), where he got the name "Beat".

Minna Yatteruka! could be Kitano's masterpiece in comedy, but still very difficult to import. At least, Image has released in Hong Kong and USA the DVD of Minna Yatteruka (getting any?) with English subtitles, and we've been able to see the unknown Kitano in a hilarious movie.

First of all, I have to say that I've seen all Kitano movies, even Dolls, and this movie has nothing to do with them, it's a completely different story, has more to do with tv shows he directed like Takeshi's Castle.

So, the movie is just astonishing, it comes from the most stupid situation and developes through gag to gag. One hour and a half of cinema parody fullfiled with Japanese Manga stupidity. The rhythm of the movie is slow, very slow at some points for a comedy, but it's still a good movie. I found parodies from his other yakuza movies, Ultraman, even the gohstbusters! and I'm sure I missed a lot.

Overall Review: A very funny movie, a fresh product, but might be too weird for the general audience. So, if you are interested in the Japanese culture, in Kitano, or if you are openminded for new experiences in comedy, check for it, unless , discard it and look for American Pie.

Not my favourite Takeshi movie but then he did make so many good ones so it's hard to pick. This one has a more scattershot approach and it also goes on a bit too long; the yakuza material around the middle part feels stretched and repetitive as a result. What starts out as a wacky sex comedy becomes more and more wacky as it goes on, leading to spoofs of various film genres as well as the Japanese film industry in and of itself. Quite unlike anything I've seen, even other Takeshi films.

This is a truly funny film that crosses all boundaries... despite not having English subtitles I was totally gripped by the insanity of the images on display, and Takeshi Kitano's brilliant deadpan performance. It's incredible how such a simplistic tale of a man stumbling from one bizarre situation to another, with little or no rhyme or reason, can be so laugh-out-loud funny.

It sometimes comes as a surprise to people when they learn that Takeshi Kitano is best known in Japan as a comedian. The man with the most deadpan expression ever is mainly known for his gangster movies, and for the sometimes shocking portrayal of violence they contain. I'm surprised that people are surprised though, because even his most hardboiled gangster movies contain a strain of deadpan absurdist humour that is at least as characteristic of his films as the violence. Maybe a lot of people simply miss the humour - Americans aren't best known for their appreciation of subtle comedy after all

Watching GETTING ANY? it's hard to imagine anybody missing the fact it is a comedy though, as it is anything but subtle. Actually maybe that's not true - the humour is still often times subtle, but the movie as a whole is unmissably surreal and absurd.

The premise is simple. A not too bright loser has but one thing on his mind - getting laid. He really hasn't got much of a clue how one goes about this, though, and the movie largely concerns his increasingly stupid schemes to get some. First on the list... get a car. Should be simple enough, right? Not for this guy His plans get more and more ludicrous as the movie progresses, and lead him into some ridiculous and sometimes hilarious situations.

This is without a doubt the strangest movie Kitano has done, and it's as wild and inventive as any movie that springs to mind except maybe the odd Jeff Lau or Stephen Chiau film. The movie plays like a strung together sequence of sketches parodying numerous movies and cultural elements, rather like a Japanese Monty Python film. Like Monty Python, it's clear that there's a keen intelligence behind all the stupidity.

The movie is not without flaws, unfortunately - chief of which is that it loses focus for a long time around the half way mark. Our hero gets himself into a couple of dire situations and for some time the whole purpose of his adventure (getting some) is forgotten. It's still funny and ridiculous, but dilutes the experience somewhat and drags on a little too long. It perhaps becomes a little too absurd for its own good in the second half, coming too close to simply being random.

GETTING ANY? is a fairly lightweight contribution to Kitano's resume, but one so totally opposed to his unique style of film-making shown in films like SONATINE and HANA-BI that it simply had to be made. Kitano is far more than a one trick pony, even though it's mainly for one trick that he's known in the west. Unfortunately, GETTING ANY is probably altogether too strange to have widespread appeal in the US, and won't do much to broaden peoples' perception of him.

I love Takeshi Kitano's movies, not every movie he does is perfect but I appreciate the amount of style and effort he puts on each film to do something very singular to his vision. And it just so happens his take on complete satire and slapstick comedy is absolutely fun, but as I said- not perfect.

Getting Any? As the title suggests is about the quest of getting laid at all costs. We follow incel-like pervert Asao (who has his room plastered filled with porn posters) who gets out on the quest to get a car in order to get a gorgeous lady to have sex with him, cause if you have the car then ladies will swarm you to have sex right? Not really. We then follow this completely despicable guy get in all sorts of trouble and mishaps on the way to his quest which is just pure fun- everything from failed bank robberies, yakuza-involvement and scientific experiments- this movie won't end in the way you think it's gonna end and that's amazing! I love that the movie has some sort of criticism on the state of entertainment as a whole, Japanese pervert culture and more- it's never obvious but sometimes it can be on-your-face which is not annoying in this case. It even spoofs a lot of western cultural stuff like movies and music which is interesting to see in itself how the western culture gets translated in a whole new cultural setting in Japan.

The comedy is top notch- one gag after the other, the comedy sometimes can hang on different Japanese cultural references that I'm not familiar with but it's fun nevertheless. The movie despite it's subject matter is filmed in a very very gorgeous way, with crisp and beautiful footage (just look at the opening scene which is just fantastic). It has some "cheaper" looking shots but it's totally appropriate considering which movie this is. The music is also fun, altering between gorgeous tracks to some fun pop music of the era to folk and enka tracks.

This all sounds very fun and it totally is the first hour or so is very engaging and offers many moments to laugh. It is in its second half when it looses a bit of its track and steam, the yakuza segment can feel a bit way too long and the last plot could've been made much more snappier! Don't get me wrong, there are still some very funny moments in the second half I just felt personally that I kind of lost the plot for a bit, until the absurd final takes place which makes up for it absolutely. The portrayal of women in this film can feel a bit weird but considering the film's subject matter and such it's a bit understandable.

Either way I think this movie is totally worth a watch, it's funny, weird, silly and so much more. You will not be disappointed by this movie- I think it's on par with Takeshi's other satire movie "Kantoku Banzai" perhaps even better? Check it out!