A – Z Challenge | Directors Series | T

Takeshi Kitano is a multi faceted Japanese filmmaker. He is primarily known for the movies with Japanese Yakuza gangsters stories. His movies are filled with deadpan expressions, won’t contains the conventional melancholic music and emotional outrage but rather everything in a subtle way. His movies are stylish, idiosyncratic and contain a sudden outburst of violence. I would go to an extent to say his movies are a perfect reference for Black comedy. The Takeshis series is one of the unique surrealist Autobiography movie ever made. This movie cannot be compared to any other movie as it is one of kind in this genre. He has immensely worked in order defragment himself and explore the art. It’s tough to make serious movies after the whole country sees you as a comedian. He even parodies it in his movies. It’s tough to explain the brilliance of this auteur in a paragraph.

The movie to be spotlighted is Hana-Bi, this movie follows the story of Nishi a violent cop who retires from the police service due to a tragic accident. His wife is dying of Leukemia and what happens in their struggling life forms the movie. Hana-Bi is one of my all-time favorite movies and one can say it as the best of Kitano. If you have never watched any movie of Kitano it’s better to start with Outrage series but apart from that this is a must watch the movie to understand his art.

Other significant movies to check are Sonatine, Takeshis series, Outrage series and Kikujoro.