I have been thinking about writing a post on this, and was finally prompted to by the "Enough samurai junk.." thread in the "Books"
section.
Some duplication, perhaps, from that thread. If yes, sorry.
Any opinions on his yakuza films? I think "Boiling Point" and "Violent Cop" were the first yakuza films I saw. I was initially very impressed, and bought a lot of his films, but now.......
At this point I think many of his films are a bit too "arty." Not that there is anything wrong with "art films" as a genre; some are good, others are, well, too arty for me. I still like "Violent Cop" and also like "Hana Bi" (although it's on the point of being too arty for me).
Parts of "Brother" are fun, but the "inscrutable" Japanese man and small-time black criminal buddy film aspect is a bit implausible. And there are too many stereotypes in this film. A lot of people have pointed this out elsewhere. I can't decide whether this was accidental on Kitano's part (did he buy into the whole stereotype aspect) or if he was deliberate about it, kind of tongue in cheek.
I also like "Zatoichi." I guess that's my favorite right now, in spite of some of the "weirdnesses" in the film. But I haven't watched any of his films after that. Anyone see "Blood and Bones"? It doesn't sound as if it's a yakuza film, but I could be wrong. Has he made any films since? I think the fact that I haven't bothered to check is an indication of how little I care about what is he doing right now.
Perhaps it's a question of trying to do too much, trying to be too much of a "Renaissance" man. Last I heard (awhile back), he was making movies, writing, painting, on a million TV shows every week, etc., etc........
Anyway, I would be interested to read what other members think. Thanks.
Some duplication, perhaps, from that thread. If yes, sorry.
Any opinions on his yakuza films? I think "Boiling Point" and "Violent Cop" were the first yakuza films I saw. I was initially very impressed, and bought a lot of his films, but now.......
At this point I think many of his films are a bit too "arty." Not that there is anything wrong with "art films" as a genre; some are good, others are, well, too arty for me. I still like "Violent Cop" and also like "Hana Bi" (although it's on the point of being too arty for me).
Parts of "Brother" are fun, but the "inscrutable" Japanese man and small-time black criminal buddy film aspect is a bit implausible. And there are too many stereotypes in this film. A lot of people have pointed this out elsewhere. I can't decide whether this was accidental on Kitano's part (did he buy into the whole stereotype aspect) or if he was deliberate about it, kind of tongue in cheek.
I also like "Zatoichi." I guess that's my favorite right now, in spite of some of the "weirdnesses" in the film. But I haven't watched any of his films after that. Anyone see "Blood and Bones"? It doesn't sound as if it's a yakuza film, but I could be wrong. Has he made any films since? I think the fact that I haven't bothered to check is an indication of how little I care about what is he doing right now.
Perhaps it's a question of trying to do too much, trying to be too much of a "Renaissance" man. Last I heard (awhile back), he was making movies, writing, painting, on a million TV shows every week, etc., etc........
Anyway, I would be interested to read what other members think. Thanks.
