Kantoku · Banzai!

So.. Kitano has a sense of humor after all! Just kidding. The movie has some points for the general audience but most of it requires some background in history of Japanese cinema, kitano's career, kitano way of life, etc..

So if you really want to see everything from Kitano's factory it's OK to watch, if you are really knowledgeable about all that stuff you probably got to watch it, but if you are neither one of them then you'll do fine without even knowing that it exists, although if you watch it (and have the presence of mind of not expecting much of it) then you can have a reasonably good time with it.

Kitano is having a hard time accepting he is meant to make movies of a special kind which is not the case of this movie.. He even mentions it in the movie: "I said I wont do another movie with violence and I got to stick to it" Well.. I'm afraid our dear Mr Kitano will have to swallow those words sooner or later, preferably long before he runs out of money.

Takeshi's gang hit again. And its a good one. But I am a fan, so don't consider much my opinion. Just keep in mind about this film that if not anything else, it will expand your mind about what is cinema today. That doesn't mean that everything is fresh or striking in those two hours, nor that there is a serious possibility that you will like it, if you ain't a "Kitano-fan"!

Then again, Mr. Kitano has stopped making films for the audience or the critics (whatever that means). And the results only his fans can appreciate it. All the rest, better go back and revisit his previous films. Then, you too, will want to shout,

"Kantoku...Banzai!!!",

indeed!!!!!

Beat Takeshi's Glory to the Filmmaker, in the first instance, is difficult to rate. Its merits are clear, but its failures are even more striking. It is second in his supposed trilogy of self-critical, self-reflective, self-mocking metamovies. Having given up on his increasingly mainstream audiences (the accolade he received after Zatoichi), Beat Takeshi is trying to bring the "Beat" back into the mix. It remains an open question whether his methods are to be applauded or lamented. Here, in this film, Kitano widens the schism between himself, the auteur, and the movie-going audiences, by techniques of alienation that are borderline sado-masochistic. The salvaging fact is the comedy of the film, which shows Kitano's long-standing background as a comic. He has shown this side of his psyche only very rarely in his films. So, I am torn between appreciating the light-hearted spirit of the film and castigating, as I should, its heavy-handed pacing and direction.

But let's look back for a moment... The film that started off this self-reflective trilogy two years ago, Takeshis', I really enjoyed (especially after repeated viewings), because it culminated his career up to that point. This current film does not achieve, or even try to achieve, anything of the sort. It does not reflect back as much as make fun of any sense of history and continuity. It is a meta-movie, a non-movie, a post-movie... and, underneath it all, a series of quirky scenes, gags and fragmentary ideas. The humour of the film is its driving force, making it closer to his comedy Getting Any (1995) than anything he's done before or since. But one has to wade through a pool of dragging nonsense to get to those tasty bits, for which reason I cannot recommend this film as a comedy.

At parts, I found the film pretentious, self-righteous and uninvolving. In a word, it's too self-conscious to be a comedy.

During some other scenes I was completely at loss of words (whether because of the film's absurdity, incoherence or its complete disregard for the audience), to the degree that I simply decided I would postpone my judgment for some other day... Well, that "other day" is today, but I still can't make up my mind... The movie disarms the viewer, but it does not live up to much, either. It's like an extended foreplay.

All in all, one has to appreciate Kitano's vision and uniqueness, but this film works best as a meta-statement of the art of movie making and not so well as a comedy, a drama or anything else. Most viewers will probably find it to be, rightly or wrongly, an irredeemable piece of trash.

I kinda liked it. It's not good enough to classify as Dada, but it's just a notch above kitsch.

"Kantoku banzai!" is a very strange movie to see. Much like the "Adaptation", it is - in a way - a movie about itself being made.

Takeshi Kitano plays himself as a director who's trying to shoot movies in all possible genres but never really manages to do so. But much more than about the lack of success in those movies, "Kantoku banzai" seems to be about Kitano's being tired of all those genres with this movie eventually turning into a quite chaotic meddle of all previously presented genres. But contrary to the "Adaptation", "Kantoku banzai" doesn't try to put it all together into a coherent story so we're left with a bunch of very loosely connected clips ranging from regular slapstick comedy sketches (the karate scene is hilarious!!!) through slightly crazy scenes to some utterly insane and absurd brainstorming. That may be confusing when you try to make sense of the movie but I think it basically is what the movie is about - the director doing whatever he wants to.

This all would make for a really great movie, the only shame is that it sometimes tends to be long and gets a little boring, especially near the end.

How many truly unique films have come out since the year 2000? Not too many. In an age of remakes, rehashes, and parodies, where every film by every director looks exactly the same, it's hard to find an innovative film, especially in the "comedy" genre. Yet once again Kitano delivers in this surreal comedy gem that is unique, deeply personal, affecting on a spiritual level, and is absolutely HILARIOUS.

Takeshi's previous film, "Takeshis'" was a surreal compilation of every film Kitano had made prior to it. This film is something of a compilation of all the kinds of films he hasn't made yet. The first half of this film explores that to a hilarious degree, but the second half is when this film really shines. Some of the most off-the-wall, UNREAL humor I've ever seen in a film, specifically a brief animated part near the end that is probably the greatest scene I've ever seen in a film, period.

Though for nostalgic reasons, my PERSONAL favorite Kitano films will always be "Hana-Bi" and "Sonatine", I have noticed that Takeshi has actually been getting better and better in recent years (excluding "Zatoichi") as he is starting to explore the more surreal, beautiful, and bizarre moments only hinted at in his first few films. Indeed, like many people, I find Takeshi to be the best director currently working in the world today, and his films are always gems... he's completely tearing apart the very essence of cinema, yet still not jumping into a black hole of impenetrable artiness. "Art for art's sake", maybe, but this is still some brilliant, hilarious stuff, and I'm very happy Takeshi is taking all the money he earns from his acting and personal appearances and pouring them into these brilliant films. The "critics" and Japanese audiences may not care for them, but I'm sure in 10-20 years from now, these films be looked upon as classics of cinema.