Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Takashi Miike (written by) &
Masa Nakamura (written by)

Release Date:

15 September 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

An epic tale of blood, lust and greed.

Plot:

A revolver-wielding stranger crosses paths with two warring clans who are both on the hunt for a hidden treasure in a remote western town. Knowing his services are valuable to either side, he offers himself to the clan who will offer up the largest share of the wealth. |

Plot Keywords:

Clan | Treasure | Dragged By Horse | Crossbow | Spaghetti Western

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12

10:35 PM

SHOW

Cast

Hideaki Ito	...	Gunman
Masanobu Ando	...	Yoichi
Kôichi Satô	...	Taira no Kiyomori
Kaori Momoi	...	Ruriko
Yusuke Iseya	...	Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Renji Ishibashi	...	Benkei
Yoshino Kimura	...	Shizuka
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takaaki Ishibashi
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Sheriff
Taigi Kobayashi
Toshiyuki Nishida
Shun Oguri	...	Akira
Masato Sakai	...	Taira no Shigemori
Hideaki Sato
Christian Storms
Yôji Tanaka
Quentin Tarantino	...	Ringo

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, including a rape.

Runtime:

121 min | (None):98 min (international cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Canada:18A | USA:R | Australia:R | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Tsuruoka City, Yamagata, Japan

Company:

Dentsu Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Based on characters created by Sergio Corbucci.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the scene where The Gunman (Hideaki Ito) and Shizuka are intimate, you can see that The Gunman has had some kind of booster shot on his right upper arm that has left a scar. You see this as he takes off his shirt and then jumps into the bed. Don't think is a booster shot but more of a bullet shot scar.

Quotes:

Ringo: The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that to florish is to fall. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a night in spring; the mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Per un pugno di dollari (1964)

Eastern Western is plenty of odd fun

"Sukiyaki Western Django" is pretty much what you would expect from a Western by Takashi Miike...it's violent, it's funny, and it's just plain weird at times.

It looks kind of like the old west, except the buildings are distinctly Japanese. It feels kind of like the old west, except some characters are in cowboy garb while others are in what appears to be feudal Japanese American Indian gang war duds. And the dialog? "Don't you know your Shakespeare?" There are two feuding families, the White & the Red, and caught in between is our hero, whoever he is, and an old woman, her daughter, and a little boy. The daughter, having married outside of her clan, and the boy, of mixed background. The story itself is a bit hard to follow, but the action makes up for it.

There's a lot of gun play, a lot of crossbow play, and a lot of fancy shooting from both weapons, along with things like hitting one's target through a hole just blown in one victim. And grandma, well, she's apparently a highly trained martial arts & gunslinger kind of gal, and she learned from the best, Ringo (Quentin Tarrentino) who also taught her how to make sukiyaki that wasn't so sweet.

If you've seen all the old Spaghetti Westerns, this is a new twist on them that's well worth seeing. There's an astounding amount of wild and weird action, and there's also some ridiculous comedic bits, like a bunch of men using the sheriff of the town as a shield, and looking exactly like a conga line.

Great action, interesting humor, and a decidedly different take on the western theme. Plus, the Japanese have a sense of poetry too, and there's even a bit of room in here for that, before the action kicks in again. If you like Miike & you like westerns that are QUITE a bit out of the ordinary, check this out. 8 out of 10.