"Even with my eyes open, I can't see a thing." Message number one. Very wise.
Takeshi Kitano is a funny man. When you look into his face, there is always a notion of a smile (or a suppressed grin) to make out. But as he has this undeliberate wink, you can not be sure whether he means to be joking because actually he does not laugh very often, or in fact means to be serious. That's a communication problem often connected with the Japanese in western countries.
Takeshi's films usually display this strange kind of humour. While the films are highly epic and visually astonishing, the funny scenes appear at moments where you wouldn't expect them and usually destroy some moment of fascination. That is something I really appreciate because it shows that the filmmaker does neither take himself nor the strict and irony-lacking Japanese traditions too seriously, and thus probably he tells us to act the same. Message number two. Very wise, too.
As for the rest, I cannot say much because I am not familiar with the Japanese legend this film seems to be based upon. I saw the film at the Viennale Film Festival and I enjoyed it (particularly when, to my surprise, it turned out to be partly a parody on musicals!) but I guess for my western brain the weird enough present-day Japan is more interesting to explore than that of two or three hundred years ago. So I clearly preferred the Festival's opening film, which also plays in Japan: Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.
Takeshi Kitano is a funny man. When you look into his face, there is always a notion of a smile (or a suppressed grin) to make out. But as he has this undeliberate wink, you can not be sure whether he means to be joking because actually he does not laugh very often, or in fact means to be serious. That's a communication problem often connected with the Japanese in western countries.
Takeshi's films usually display this strange kind of humour. While the films are highly epic and visually astonishing, the funny scenes appear at moments where you wouldn't expect them and usually destroy some moment of fascination. That is something I really appreciate because it shows that the filmmaker does neither take himself nor the strict and irony-lacking Japanese traditions too seriously, and thus probably he tells us to act the same. Message number two. Very wise, too.
As for the rest, I cannot say much because I am not familiar with the Japanese legend this film seems to be based upon. I saw the film at the Viennale Film Festival and I enjoyed it (particularly when, to my surprise, it turned out to be partly a parody on musicals!) but I guess for my western brain the weird enough present-day Japan is more interesting to explore than that of two or three hundred years ago. So I clearly preferred the Festival's opening film, which also plays in Japan: Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation.