Ghost in the Shell

There already is a live-action re-make of 'Ghost in the Shell': 'The Matrix'. I jest, of course, though you can see where the Wachowski brothers got some of their points of inspiration. There are many other versions of the 'Ghost in the Shell' franchise: the Masamune Shirow manga from the 1980s; the Mamoru Oshii anime films; the 'Stand Alone Complex' series; and the 'Arise' series of prequels.

Rupert Sanders' 'live-action' version, therefore, is placing itself into an already crowded market place for guises of the characters developed in the late Eighties. In his interesting piece upon its release, Andrew Osmond discusses how the trailer was designed to tug on our nostalgia strings for the 1995 anime, seemingly recreating some of its most iconic scenes in a 'live-action' form. Though to say this incarnation is 'live-action' is something of a myth, with Scarlett Johansson's face and voice added to an endless stream of CGI effects.

Spending a large budget in recreating a Japanese anime for a Western audience, however, is fraught with danger: Those that are not particularly fans of anime or the franchise will not be drawn to this against the endless stream of comic book franchise extensions already on offer; while fans of the franchise will no doubt find fault in an idea that has now perhaps had its day.

So, what of this new version? Well, to start, it is obviously visually quite impressive. Oshii's 1995 version was stunning to look at, and so this was a necessity. The use of huge holographic advertising across the cityscape create a similar image of a futuristic 'Hong Kong' as before, and the use of bird's eye view scene setting also works throughout. Though, perhaps, there is a little too much going on on screen, making it somewhat difficult to keep up with at times.

The plot is where the greatest differences lie. 'The Major', known to start as Mira, is a refugee from a sunk ship, where most people died. Her brain, saved, is placed in the body of a state-of-the-art cybernetic body, though the memory of her past is vague; mere flashes here and there. As part of cyber-terrorism squad, Section 9, her and her team follow the actions of Kuze, hacking individuals to take out members of the Hanka Robotics staff; staff that created The Major's body. With this connection, she takes a personal interest in the case, drawn to Kuze's accusations of the organisation that created her.  

This is a little more of a direct plot than the anime version, with its ending that draws few full conclusions; only asking more questions. Cutter, the head of Hanka, is a more conventional villain, less seen in the other incarnations, with the bad guys more misunderstood terrorists posing philosophical questions of the Major, which she is always willing to debate. Here, philosophical questions are posed, but in a somewhat different form, just as existential, but somewhat more simplistic - natural for a film aiming for a more universal appeal.  

As with the 1995 version, the focus is on a select few of Section 9: The Major, ever-faithful Batou and chief Aramaki. Johansson is perhaps a natural for the lead role (whitewash arguments aside), with Pilou Asbaek as you would expect of Batou and God himself, 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, as Aramaki, in what appears good casting. Togusa, being wholly human, always an interesting element of the team, is given less showing here. A shame, as Chin Han is likeable in the role. The rest of the team are afterthoughts, casting from all over the globe, giving the team a more global feel. Aramaki's dialogue in Japanese compared to everyone else's English, feels like an attempt to keep things a little Asian based on its roots, though is perhaps as much due to Kitano's language skills and may only fuel the fire of those questioning the casting.

The Major's past and her trying to uncover more from her flashbacks drives her character, with the source of Batou's eyes revealed. We are definitely being introduced to the characters here, Section 9 seeming a more fledgling squad finding its feet. This feels like a prequel, therefore, whereas the 1995 anime throws you in at the deep end.

The 1995 film had its flaws: its short running time missed out much character development, with somewhat budget saving dialogue scenes fairly static to accommodate the more impressive visual moments. The setting is less defined also, based on Hong Kong, though not particularly eluding to the exact location, as with the original manga. Ideas developed more in the Stand ALone Complex series. There is more in the way of narrative and character development here, natural with actors instead of animated characters, giving a more human feel.

The main question, however, is: does this offer anything over the original manga, two Oshii films, two 'Stand Alone Complex' series and 'Arise' prequels? This is a (I was) twenty-eight years old franchise, drawing on inspiration from previous sources, namely Arthur Koestler's 'Ghost in the Machine' and 'Blade Runner'; as well as inspiring subsequent works itself. A fifth awakening, after the weaker 'Arise' stories had probably put a couple of nails in the coffin makes it poorly timed for those in the know.

This review is perhaps a little preoccupied with Mamoru Oshii's 1995 version, though Sander's films haunted by the ghost of its past. Not enough elements from the manga and 'Stand Alone Complex', omitted by Oshii are added, taking three of the most famous scenes from Oshii and trying to shoehorn them into a new storyline. The Major's attempts to recall her past, finding only partial memories, serve as a metaphor for the self-aware referencing of the earlier work.

While visually impressive and not a bad film in isolation, the lack of enough new elements will fail to win plaudits among established anime fans - those putting production points aside that have made the effort to watch it; and the appeal of an anime remake will unlikely draw enough universal appeal over the numerous superhero franchises on offer, with initial box office results perhaps proof of this.

SABUTube Part III - Postman Blues

SABU's second film perhaps doesn't learn from some of the naivety of his debut. 'Dangan Ranna' starts off with an interesting premise, though as the film gets towards its conclusion, it starts to fall off. Like 'Monday' coming after it, the idea is a satire of modern life, though by 'Monday', SABU had matured into a more rounded filmmaker, whereas with this 1997 effort, there were still some areas that required some work.

Sawaki is a postman, hence the title, bored of his life and his role as society's servant. Working late, he unwittingly stumbles across his former classmate, now yakuza, Noguchi as he performs that age-old yakuza ritual to atone for his errors. Noguchi tells Sawaki of how his yakuza lifestyle gives him daily excitement, which Sawaki has long since lost. Taking heed of Noguchi's words, Sawaki then drinks himself into a drunken stupor, tearing up undelivered letters, stealing any money he finds and reading people's most personal letters. Though unbeknownst to him, Noguchi snuck a brick of naughty powder into his postman bag, causing the police to follow him, believing him to be a drug runner. It's from this point that Sawaki's life gets a little daily excitement back in it.

The first half an hour is relatively dark with brief moments of laughter, creating the negative portrait of Sawaki's life and the role of the postman in society. It's all very bleak. Though when the police become involved, with their over-the-top and unfounded suspicions regarding his dull life, the film has a more mainstream feel, part-love story, part foolish comedy. It's here, much like 'Dangan Ranna', with the introduction of further characters that the film starts to become a little confused and, at times, a little silly.

I always find that the funniest films are those that are largely serious, though throw in light moments here and there to show that they're not taking themselves too seriously. 'Dangan Ranna' and 'Monday' are successful in being humorous in this way. Though in 'Postman Blues' there are more deliberate attempts to be funny, and as a result, the film is less funny overall, in the way that Kitano's 'Hana-bi' is more humorous than his comedy 'Getting Any?'

'Postman Blues', therefore, isn't quite as charming as SABU's other early efforts, though it clearly tries to be. His love interest in cancer patient, Sayoko, has moments, but also feels a bit clichéd with musical montages. The bumbling police and their over-imagination as to Sawaki's life, are a satire of modern society's jumping to conclusions without any evidence, though perhaps become a little too much, as criminologists are brought in to suggest sexual perversions and a possible history of murder. Their actions then start to become inexplicable towards the end.

Perhaps I'm being a little down on 'Postman Blues' though. Again, this is a film based on good ideas to explore, with moments of sadness about how the modern world works, as well as the odd funny moment and references to 'Leon' and 'Chungking Express'. 'Postman Blues' shows a filmmaker with ideas galore, though maybe needing a little more tightening in certain areas. From what I've seen of his subsequent works, lucky SABU is a director that can deliver.

Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen (BFI 59th London Film Festival Part I)

I'm going all out over the next week or so. This year, I've selected eight, count them, films to see at this: the 59th BFI London Film Festival. Mixing in a lot of influences on my life, I shall be taking in films from Japan, Korea, Hungary, the Philippians (?) and a couple of hip hop documentaries from the US of States.  

I've gone from some surprising selections, not so much based on what I selected, but in what I didn't choose to see - with only so much time in such a short period, I can't see everything. So, the new works by some of my favourites, such as Kore-eda Hirokazu, Johnnie To and Jia Zhang-ke, as well as a documentary about the latter.

This year's festival features some returns from those that made popularised contemporary Japanese cinema in the West, with new films from Takeshi Kitano, Takashi Miike and the latest offering from 'Ringu' director Hideo Nakata. But, are these returns to form? Let's find out, ahhhhhh...

You couldn't put much wrong with Kitano's works in the Nineties: Some yakuza/police classics, with 'Sonatine' and 'Hana-bi' widely regarded as among some of the best Japanese films of the last three decades. There was the slightly out-of-place 'Scene at the Sea' and the delightfully awful 'Getting Any?', but generally, you knew you were getting some quality.

The last fifteen years, however, have been a less enjoyable ride. They started reasonably well with 'Brother', 'Dolls' and 'Zatoichi', but since then, there has been little to shout about. Over a decade has brought the ambitious, but confused 'Takeshis'; the enjoyable, but relatively ordinary 'Outrage' films; the okay 'Achilles and the Tortoise'; and the at times bizarre and boring 'Glory to the Filmmaker'. While fans in the West may have over-estimated their brilliance, blinded by love of his earlier works, these a hardly works by a master.

Kitano is a man that can wear many hats (not literally usually), and his films can take many forms. With his latest work, 'Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen', Kitano is in comedy mode, telling the story of retired yakuza, Ryuzo, who reunites his old gang to start a new, ageing 'family' to claim back their old turf from the younger, more corporate group who are currently in control.

Naturally, a comedy about ageing yakuza is going to be of the slapstick variety - there is nothing serious to be considered here. What we have are eight bizarre characters, each with his own idiosyncrasies. Though this is not so much the case, with only around half of them actually getting much individual screen-time for character development, serving as little more than comic cameos. This isn't exactly 'Seven Samurai'.

Forming their new family, they set about taking on corporate organisations and Keihin United, led by the supposedly slick Nishi. But soon things go wrong, resulting in the sort of farcical ending you expect from a - I'm going to say it - knockabout comedy. Kitano himself makes a cameo as a similarly ageing policeman as 'Beat' Takeshi, and his brief appearance serves as a metaphor (a meta for what?!) or how much thought has gone into this one.

Now, taking my Radio 4 hat off and putting my 'movie-goer' one on, was I entertained? Kitano's last few films has suggested he isn't going to be making the artistic films of his Nineties peak. Is it silly, yes; is it stupid, yes. Is it funny, in parts; was I entertained, yes.

Like Ryuzo, Kitano is not a young man anymore, and his films will not have the edge and violence of his earlier works; this is a gentler age. There are some moments of nice film-making, with the scene where the old yakuza calculate their criminal points, sat around with a revolving camera capturing the moment in one take. But there is less of the artistry these days, with this a movie to be enjoyed rather than a film to be critiqued.

Maybe I am one of those Westerners that search for too much meaning in the films of the 'enigmatic Kitano': the Japanese TV personality or global auteur. 'Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen' is entertaining enough, but I always found his most funny films to be those that aren't comedies.

Still, someone who hides in toilets to stick a knife up his enemies' bums is always good for a laugh...

Tokyo Tribe (58th BFI London Film Festival Part II)

I've been to Tokyo, and it is just like this...if 'this' is 'Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo'. The first Japanese film I've seen at the LFF since 2012 (withdrawal), Shion Sono's latest film is certainly an experience.

I first came across 'Tokyo Tribe', that is to say the strangely titled 'Tokyo Tribe 2', while in, erm, Tokyo. Bored, and looking for a new anime series to entertain, I searched my local 'Book Off' and came across something that looks like it might combine both anime and hip hop in a way that only 'Samurai Champloo' could do before it. On the cheap (for Japan), I purchased volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the DVD collection, being that 3 and 6 were unavailable on that day. Being that I was in Japan, there was no need for English translations on these bad boys, so I could merely watch the interesting images and listen to the fat beats which were contained within.

Loosely, the plot centres around the Mushashino Saru gang, a group of fun-loving kids that hang out at a diner. But, being just one of twenty-three gangs in Tokyo, all representing their 'hood in their own unique way, they soon find their peaceful lives caught up in gang wars. It's 'The Warriors' in Japanese.

The anime of Santa Inoue's manga comes with GTA-style breakdowns of the characters, the gangs, the locations, the eateries involved in this semi-fictional Tokyo world. I like the anime (not that I understand it, wakarimashita?!), with the music and style; seriousness and comedy, but mainly the ending credits, which always need to deliver in an anime series. So, now comes the live-action version from bum-crampingly-long film director Sono: a man that might have one said that both Miike Takashi and Kitano Takeshi are both 'dead', but also might have not.

When turning a cartoon into a live-action, it's always interesting to the approach that will be taken. Sono certainly takes some interesting ones here. The first notable one is that this being a hip hop anime, 90% of what is said is 'rapped', with a combination of actors trying their best and some Japanese wordsmiths making up the cast. What starts off as interesting, soon starts to feel like a potentially irritating gimmick, before you settle into it and it becomes natural. After two hours of this, you will only want to speak in rap-form...in Japanese.

The second noticeable element is that of bling. Hip hop is always something that I feel is very anti-Japanese. Despite my love of both Japanese culture and hip hop, the loud, brash, bragging rights world of hip hop simply doesn't fit with that image of polite and respectful Japanese. But, being a man that regularly listens to Japanese ragga on vinyl, this cross-culture exists, and my Japanese hip hop collections is ever on the increase. But the US gangsta ethic feels a little strange in Japanese, with many of the gangs coming straight out of a comic book. But this is straight out of a comic book, and so some poetic license needs to be allowed here.

When watching characters in animated form, it is acceptable for them to be larger than life and somewhat unbelievable, but you're always unsure how to take them when they're actual humans. The sick and twisted characters certainly are that in Sono's 'Tokyo Tribe', and the gang colours come across as much hilarious as threatening.

Reality is not the name of the game here, with 'Tokyo Tribe' feeling very much like a game of 'GTA': not feeling in anyway based on real-life, but a dream world men wish they lived in, but would run from as soon as it was in their face. This is, therefore, pure silliness in a can...of film, the film's farcical conclusion in-line with the rest of the two hours.

There are good and bad elements in this film: The good include the rapping, which is interesting and gives the film a rhythm, though maybe not a linear plot. while the rappers in the cast can obviously hold their own, novices, like actor Shota Sometani take on a lot of rapping and while not blessed with talent can pull it off for the duration. There is certainly a lot of invention here as well, with creative set designs in-line with the manga and anime.

But with all that rapping and less-than-coherent plot, this is at times a little long and at times disjointed. But, much like Miike Takashi - a man he will inevitably be compared to - before him, Sono is a creative director that will keep churning them out, not dwelling too much on how films are received, working on what new and crazy things to do next...

Tokyo Tribe, never ever die...

Every 14 Days...(20)

Boy (Kitano Takeshi)

I often read about Kitano being a modern-day renaissance man, adding painting, writing and everything else possible to his more famous film and comedy work. But apart from some of his artwork appearing in his films, I had never actually consumed any of it.

‘Boy’ is my first dip into one of his many other sides, but is fairly typical of some of the themes present in his films, if you take ‘his films’ to mean ‘Kids Return’. But I’m being facetious. ‘Boy’ is three, very simple short stories about 3 boys growing up in Japan. There is nothing particularly ground-breaking here, but simple tales about how young men find themselves in the world. The simplicity seems to mirror his script writing: starting with a  basic story and watching it evolve as the film is made. 

But they are nice enough stories, showing the Kitano is a man with many talents, though maybe creating something visual is where his real skill lies.

Days to read: 5

Days per book: 15.7

Lush Life (Richard Price)

I read the Richard Price novel 'Clockers' and found it to be brilliant - definitely one of the best books I have read in recent times. But, while good, the two subsequent books of his I have read have gradually decreased in quality. 'Samaritan' was the next read, followed now by 'Lush Life'.

'Lush Life' is very much a variation on a theme from 'Clockers' and 'Samaritan': Once again an innocent man is hounded by the police who believe his story to be false. It starts well, drawing the reader in, as Price is skilled at doing. However, where 'Clockers' and 'Samaritan' switch mainly between the stories of two lead characters, 'Lush Life' seems to continually switch between various different characters in bite-size chunks. Like a Dan Brown novel, this makes it easy to read, but does become difficult to keep you interested, constantly switching between characters with every other page.

While another overall satisfying read, it just doesn't draw me in as much as 'Clockers', and with lots of side stories for the various characters starts to drag going passed the half-way point. But, that said, you always get your money's worth with Price.

Days to read: 20

Days per book: 15.7

Each of Us (Ben Moor)

After reading ‘More Trees to Climb’, all I wanted to do was see Ben Moor live. That isn’t all I wanted to do, of course; some toilet breaks were necessary. So, on hearing that his latest show was coming to a Tube station near me, I jumped at the chance to do something more interesting on a Sunday evening.

After the performance, I got a copy of ‘Each of Us’ signed by the rather shy and flustered Mr Moor. Reading it within a week or so of seeing the show, I was of course reading the script of what I had just seen performed. I, therefore, read it in the manner of the performance (in my head! That would just look peculiar on the Tube), picking up some of the clever wordplay that I missed live.

Seeing the story performed live and reading the book are two separate things that can both be equally enjoyed. Whether watching the performance or reading the never-ending puns, both are pretty damned splendiferous.

Days to read: 4

Days per book: 15.6

Flowering Blood: The Cinema of Takeshi Kitano (Sean Redmond)

On seeing ‘Flowering Blood’ come up online as a ‘suggestion’ of something I might like to purchase, I thought ‘what the flip, give it a go.’ But should have realised that there is little to really add to the analysis of the films of Kitano Takeshi beyond what has already been written. And lo, this proved the case.

Coventry-born Redmond’s analysis starts off fine enough, seeing the world through the eyes of a starry-eyed film fan, making a pilgrimage to Japan in search of the film locations he so loves. But, being an academic text, it soon becomes lost in its own sense of over-explanation. At times, it feels more a collection of different theories thrown together than a real look at his work, and struggles to grab the attention enough.

While there are a couple of additional bits of light shed on the films, it relies a little too much on the works of previous authors, not justifying its overall length, focusing more at academic theory than the films themselves.

Days to read: 11

Days per book: 15.5

Iron Man: The Cinema of Shin'ya Tsukamoto (Tom Mes)

For some reason - probably the recent re-release of both 'Tokyo Fist' and 'Bullet Ballet' in the UK by the excellent Third Window Films - I have been watching a lot of the films of Shin'ya Tsukamoto recently. In turn, this has prompted me to read Tom Mes' book charting his films up-to-and-including 'Vital'.

My previous reading of the works of Mes came with his two analyses of the works of Miike Takashi: one good, one less so. Luckily this falls under the former, charting his youth as an amateur filmmaker, experimenting with his brother, through his theatre days and working as an advertising director right through to his internationally recognised 'A Snake of June' and 'Vital'.

'Iron Man', the name of the film that first brought him fame, is an appropriate name for this analysis. His films always tend to be on the more extreme side, favouring fast camera work and graphic violence throughout, never letting up for a moment. And this is exactly how he works, not just as a director, but writer, actor, editor, cameraman and just about everything else that is required in the making of a film. Telling the story of how he works non-stop to produce and finance his films shows an all-round filmmaker doing whatever it takes to get a film completed.

Days to read: 10

Days per book: 15.5

Tokyo Fist vs. Kids Return

It's Tokyo, the mid-Nineties and you fancy punching the shit out of someone. That's how total cult directors Tsukamoto Shinya and Kitano Takeshi felt, at least. Coming a year apart - much like your mother's sex life - both made Tokyo-based films centred around boxing: 'Tokyo Fist' (1995) and 'Kids Return' (1996), both bringing their own unique flair to the art form.   

To start, the films are very similar: 'Tokyo Fist' starts with salaryman Tsuda bumping into an old school friend, Kojima, a part-time boxer. Likewise, 'Kids Return' begins with former best friends from school, Masaru and Shinji, happily bumping into each other on a Tokyo street, both recognising that their lives have taken a downward spiral since they last saw each other. However, due to the nature of both directors, the similarity largely ends there.

'Tokyo Fist' is very much along the lines of Tsukamoto's most famous work: 'Tetsuo: Ironman'. Focusing on ideas of revenge and aggression, Tsuda soon becomes paranoid that his old classmate might be knocking up his missus, Hizuru. His paranoia gradually drives Hizuru away, as their quiet life becomes loud, aggressive and full of blood-splattering scenes, with her ending up in the arms, and bed, of Kojima, played by Tsukamoto's brother, Koji. The anger and rage building inside him, exemplified by the ever-present loud music, Tsuda joins Koji's boxing gym, determined to beat him in the ring, much like Koji is doing to Hizuru.

The film then becomes a loud, brash experience, with fast camera movements, editing and thrashing music, leaving the viewer out of breath just watching it. And, as ever, a confusion is created as to what exactly is going on, throwing in extreme moments to push things just that little further.

Rage, obsession, and fetish are themes running throughout Tsukamoto's works, and 'Tokyo Fist' is no exception, working as a more polished version of 'Tetsuo: Ironman'. The special effects are still a little budget, but creative in the excessive blood pouring and Hizuru's new fetish for piercing any part of her body possible. Punch, punch, punch is the style for the boxing scenes, with Tsukamoto creating a work to seep into your mind and punch your brain into dazed confusion.

But where Tsukamoto chooses to show graphic violence and gore, this is the very thing that Kitano often avoids. Since starting with 'Violent Cop', the violence is Kitano's films is more in the mind than on screen. The use of still cameras and editing means that actual acts of violence fall out of shot or are skipped for comic timing. The majority of punches thrown in 'Kids Return' are at punching bags or in sparring practise.

'Kids Return' is seen as Kitano's most autobiographical work, set in the part of Tokyo where he grew up and featuring events and job roles that he himself experienced while growing up. The two friends, Masaru and Shinji drift through school, seen as the ultimate prodigal sons by their teachers. Neither has much direction; simply wreaking havoc on the lives of their classmates. Meeting his match, Masaru decides to take up boxing, but soon realises he hasn't the discipline for the sport. His perennial sidekick, Shinji, however, does, and his talent is quickly spotted by the gym's coaches. Masaru then drifts away, becoming a low level yakuza.

For Shinji, boxing is a sense of direction after days drifting, rather than an act of aggression. 'Kids Return' is all about direction when entering adulthood, mirroring roles taken by Kitano himself. Meek Hiroshi tries his hand at selling scales and driving a taxi on finishing school - two jobs Kitano had - but soon finds that neither provide him with what he wants out of life. Two students forming a school double act perform stand-up comedy to their classmates with a manzai act similar to that brought Kitano his initial fame.

If anything, 'Kids Return' is quite a depressing film. On leaving school, hopes and ambitions are quickly lost for all characters, with all left feeling lost and abandoned by their seniors. Hiroshi is repeatedly criticised by the bosses of his various jobs; Masaru is expelled from his yakuza family for speaking out of turn; and Shinji's coaches give up on him once he is led astray by an older boxer who takes him drinking.

The boxing in 'Kids Return' is exactly that: there is more emphasis on the sport, with more realistic bouts and styles. 'Tokyo Fist' goes down the Stallone-form of boxing with non-stop punch fests that would lead to permanent brain damage in seconds, but with blood spurting out of eye sockets, this is the only way Tsukamoto of the Nineties would work.

Both made in the mid-Nineties, set in Tokyo and with boxing as a key element, the films are very different. Tsukamoto favours high-octane fight scenes and special effects to create a visually spectacular gore fest, while Kitano chooses a more mellow-paced drama. At a time when two former boxing film legends return for the undoubtedly terrible 'Grudge Match', 'Tokyo Fist' and 'Kids Return' are both blasts from the past that fall under the same weight class, but see a clash of styles. 

Violent Director

Imagine Noel Edmonds was one of the most respected film directors in the country, his films travelling well across the world, winning awards along the way…Now, wipe up your vomit and imagine that the Japanese equivalent does actually exist. Kitano Takeshi, he of ‘Takeshi’s Castle’ fame, switches his life and career between stand-up comedy, prime time light entertainment television – in which people get their rings penetrated – and acting and directing in cinema.

These multiple personalities have created Kitano Takeshi, the auteur, and ‘Beat’ Takeshi, the celebrity. Widely explored, most notably in Abe Casio’s ‘‘Beat’ Takeshi vs. Kitano Takeshi’, he has been able to effectively live both lives for over two decades. With his TV personality earning mainly national fame in his native Japan, he is most known globally for his film career, despite what endless repeats on ‘Challenge TV’ may suggest.

Like all great things that were created by accident: penicillin, plastic, vulcanised rubber (that won’t perish), post-it notes, Kitano’s introduction to directing was more out of circumstance than choice. Having spent many years acting in films, most notably ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ alongside David ‘I’m Australian’ Bowie, he was cast as the lead in the delightfully English-titled ‘Violent Cop’.

With the original director, ‘Battle Royal’ helmsman Kinji Fukusaku, having creative differences with its star, Kitano took over the role of director as well as lead. Unlike his subsequent films which he wrote himself, the film has a much clearer plot and structure than most of his work. A quite formulaic storyline about an unconventional, old-school detective that seeks revenge after being dismissed from his duties for being too reckless, Kitano stamps his style all over this, with still camerawork and lengthy shots of actors face-on.

Much of the violence takes place just off-screen, making the imagination more devastating than anything a film can create, with some quite intense moments throughout. Here we see a man eager to unleash all the ideas he has been waiting for the chance to create, with much more to follow.

His next film signalled very much the start of the ‘Beat’ Takeshi period of his career. From here, all films he directed were written himself, as well as edited, with Kitano as the lead in many. ‘Boiling Point’, a Japanese baseball reference to the ‘crunch’ point in a game, was the start of a playful period in his work. His next few films largely involved beaches, boozing, sexual exploits and general dicking about for dicking about’s sake.

‘Boiling Point’ is a film that has two clear parts. The first half is quite slow, with some moments of subtle humour around an amateur baseball team and their overzealous, ex-yakuza coach. With the yakuza muscling in, two teammates decide to go to Okinawa in order to buy a gun to exact revenge for the beating of their coach. This mainly seems like an excuse to go to Okinawa to have a laugh more than anything.

The second half of the film soon livens as ‘Beat’ Takeshi comes in with an absolute bastard of a character that provides the weaponry for them. Drinking, cavorting and raping secretaries soon follows, before we soon discover that the whole thing is the mere fantasy of a bored baseball player taking a dump.

‘Boiling Point’ is complete gibberish. There is little in the way of structure of plot here, with random acts of violence and comedy coming in here, there and everywhere. But this is thoroughly entertaining gibberish with good comic timing and it is not to be taken seriously. It’s just a friendly game of baseball.

Perhaps the most significant thing about ‘Scene at the Sea’, his next film, is that it marked the first collaboration between Kitano and Joe Hisaishi on the soundtrack. While not the best work Hisaishi has produced – nor Kitano for that matter – future collaborations would see his work for Kitano’s films  up alongside those of Miyazaki Hayao as some of his best works.

Deaf couple, blah blah; one wants to surf, blah blah; enters competitions and earns respect of his peers, blah and following blah. Actually, I’m being harsh; there are some interesting moments here, though nowhere near as interesting as his other work.

One of only a small number of his films in which he didn’t feature, this is one often missed when discussing his films. Well, no guns are fired!

‘Boiling Point for the Mature’, or ‘Sonatine’ as it’s known, followed next and is a maturing in Kitano’s abilities as a film-maker. A successful yakuza gang are sent to Okinawa from Tokyo by their organisation in order to help an affiliate involved in a local squabble. However, it soon becomes apparent that it is a set-up, and the gang have to hide out on a remote beach while waiting the inevitable.

This leads to a similar scenario to ‘Boiling Point’ of dicking about in the sun. Though techniques deployed here are much more creative and interesting, and more purposeful. The soundtrack also features some great work from Joe Hisaishi and is a vast improvement from ‘A Scene at the Sea’. More and more of the unique traits that would appear in his later films start to develop here also, expertly combining violence, comedy, play and retribution in the art of cinema.

‘Blip’ could be an easy way to sum-up ‘Getting Any?’: Kitano’s first attempt at a comedy film. But being that this is so bad, it almost feels worthy of comment, more so than any two-star rated movie. The ironic thing here is that Kitano’s first comedy – one of two he has so far made – is his funny film.

All of his films have a sense of humour, obvious being his career started in stand-up, though much of his humour has been subtle and often relief to a serious point. The TV character of ‘Beat’ Takeshi has taken over here, with many of the gags more suited to TV sketch shows or sit-coms than cinema.

Kitano is naturally funny and so doesn’t need to try too hard to be. So when he does try, the results are over-egged, confused and leave the viewer not getting any.

‘Getting Any?’ probably marked the end of ‘Beat’ Takeshi’s role in Kitano’s films, with his next few works taking a much more personal approach. This is furthered by a scooter accident that left him hospitalised after the film was made, killing the suicidal tendencies that had been apparent in his previous works. ‘Kids Return’ is semi-autobiographical about two former school friends that meet in later life, having learnt that the adult world isn’t so great after all; one now a failed amateur boxer, the other a failed yakuza.

Set in a similar district of Tokyo to that of where Kitano grew up, while the leads are not a direct reference to his own life, there are numerous side characters that are followed alongside them, such as a stand-up duo trying to make it big, with obvious reference to the early stages of his career. All learn that life after school is not so great, finding a corrupt, unfriendly and harsh environment before them. It could be taken very much as an inspiration for many Miike Takashi works, looking at the lost innocence of youth.

There is still plenty of dicking about to be had in this film, probably one of his more comedic, though there is more of a tragedy about the characters here, rather than the death-coveting protagonists of previous films. It feels more mature than his first films, as his career moved into adulthood.

His scooter accident had left his already-twitching face part paralysed. While recovering, he took to one of his other passions, painting, and painted a series of interesting pieces that would form a large part of his next film, ‘Hana-bi’.

Quite simply, ‘Hana-bi’ is the greatest work in cinema, for me, anyway. A very introspective piece, here Kitano blends violence, comedy and drama to perfection. The unusual artwork adds beautifully to the story, along with the brilliant soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi, showing a new blossoming of life. Translating as ‘Fireworks’, the hyphenating of the Japanese title in Roman characters reads as ‘flower-fire’, adding to the endless ways of interpreting the film. When first watching at 18, I didn’t quite understand the film on first viewing, but the more times I watch it, the more I see in it each time.

His best written, best edited, perhaps most humorous and by far best acted – particularly by Kitano himself, whose performance seems to have an air of reality within it – this is film-making of the highest order, with every single aspect seemingly thoughtfully considered and carried out. After years of violence in his films, this is the flower that bloomed from the fire.

After the semi-autobiography of ‘Kids Return’ and the introspective natures of ‘Hana-bi’, ‘Kikujiro’ continued a trilogy of more personal films from the director. Here, a young boy, living with his grandmother, wants to go see him mother, whom he hasn’t seen for some years, in another town, after finding his friends have left the city for the summer. In need of a chaperon, the useless yakuza husband of his neighbour is enlisted to see him along the way.

A road movie that ends with the obvious premise of ‘a boy that goes in search of his mother and finds a father’, the two gradually bond as the journey progresses. Using elements of play seen in ‘Sonatine’, there are a lot of scenes of nothingness here, shooting mini-stage performances within the film. Comedy is the key element within the film, with the hapless yakuza trying to cheer up his heartbroken young companion. Kitano again gives a strong performance, playing the fool throughout.

Playing the titular character, throughout the film he is referred to as ‘Mister’ by the boy, though introduces himself as Kikujiro at the film’s climax: the name of Kitano’s father. Documented that he perhaps did not always have the best relationship with his father, ‘Kikujiro’ serves as Kitano’s tribute to him, childlike in much of its content, celebrating what a parent-child relationship should be, if massively unconventional at times.

You’ve been a successful director in Asia, so now you have to go to Hollywood and make a crap film. However, unlike others (Jon Woo, Wong Kar-wai, etc.), Kitano’s move to America was still very much a Japanese production. ‘Brother’, an English title that can work on a few levels (yakuza hierarchy, African-American affection, being someone’s actual brother), is a film about a soon to be exiled yakuza, who chooses to visit his younger brother in America rather than join a rival organisation. On arriving in LA, he finds that the brother he sent to be a student is a small-time drug dealer. Unable to learn new tricks, the yakuza soon muscles in on his younger brother’s business, uniting the black and Japanese gangs in LA to destroy the Mexicans.

Working with some fish-out-of-water jokes to start, the film soon becomes an all-out gun-toting film, with violence taking over. It’s hardly a film that serves to effectively comment on cultural differences between Japan and black America (though does do a better job of crossing Asian and African-American cultures than the stereotypes of ‘Romeo Must Die’), with some awkwardly-played pieces at the start. Kitano and Miike regulars are combined with some black cinema ‘favourites’, such as Omar Epps and Tatyana M. Ali, showing that this is a film geared more to a Japanese audience than American.

After the more sombre films that preceded it, ‘Brother’ is a bit of a filler piece, perhaps designed to expand to an American market for the director. This is definitely a younger brother to his earlier yakuza works that were more original and creative, though there is definitely a greater structure and progression here. Much like a Hollywood film, easy to watch, but nowhere near as rewarding, this is towards the bottom end of Kitano’s film hierarchy.

‘Dolls’, Kitano’s next film, is probably his most unusual, in both that its style is unique from most films out there, as well as within his own body of work. To start, there is no comedy in the film whatsoever and violence is kept to a minimum, and it is one of the few films in which he doesn’t star.

Starting with a haunting bunraku performance by some master puppeteers, the film goes on the tell three stories of hopeless love. Feeling like a film made for television screens, there is an unusual feel throughout the entire film, feeling more fairy tale than stories of modern love.

The main story of the ‘bound beggars’ allows for some beautiful shots, combined with Joe Hisaishi’s excellent soundtrack adding to the melancholy. ‘Dolls’ was the final film in a consistent run of Kitano works that look at different relationships, coming after the more violent and carefree films of the start of his directing career: ‘Kids Return’, school friends; ‘Hana-bi’, work colleagues; ‘Kikujiro’, father-son; ‘Brother’, brothers; and ‘Dolls’, lovers. His next five films would see a more self-aware approach to his film-making.

‘Zatoichi’ is the only Kitano film that I have seen in a cinema and is perhaps his most mainstream offering. Released in the UK at a similar time to the ‘Kill Bill’ films, obvious comparisons were made, and audiences were probably increased as a result. There is more of a story to the film and a more mainstream style to the film-making. The use of dance sequences gives a light-hearted feel and the comedy more accessible than his usual subtle brand in his films.

A cast with bigger names than his usual work, such as Asano Tadanobu, adds to this feeling more of a crowd-pleaser in parts. Violence is much more visible here, rather than being out of shot or unseen, with the use of special effects for the sword fights to create a blood-bath.

The least art-house of his films, there is much more to entertain and it works for Kitano here, providing a film that I easy to watch and pleasing. However, this more mainstream success was short-lived, with his next film only getting a very limited release in the UK before going to DVD and the subsequent three films yet to be released in the UK.

Kitano himself describes three personas within him: ‘Beat’ Takeshi the media star; Kitano Takeshi the director; and a third personality controlling the both as a puppet master. In ‘Takeshis’’ he explores the concept of two personas existing within the same reality, with much of the cast performing two roles throughout to each of the co-existing Takeshis: One, a famous film star and director; the other a middle-class convenience store worker with dreams of being an actor. The two lives cross on a number of occasions, with parallels being drawn between the two.

Kitano had reportedly planned the film for many years, and so the film was years in the making. Pretty much all the cast had featured in a Kitano film at some stage, and so ‘Takeshis’’ serves as an overly-ambitious magnum opus to his career. However, with taking many years to conceive and looking at differing personalities within the man himself, a lot of the symbolism is hard to understand and it can often prove a confusing film to watch.

Teetering between genius and madness, this, along with ‘Getting Any?’ and ‘Banzai’, feels like a film made by the ‘Beat’ Takeshi persona, feeling like a series of randomly thrown together sketches and performances with a difficult to grasp grand narrative. However, it is a thoroughly watchable and intriguing film, though maybe one only for Kitano die-hards.

After a film looking at his own split-personality, he then made a film taking an ironic look at his career as a director. ‘Banzai: Glory to the Film-Maker’ is a mishmash of phantom Kitano films, looking at different styles and genres of film-making, as a director struggles to get over writer’s block, though it ends in a strange and confusing mess similar to that of ‘Getting Any?’

The film is rather self-indulgent, giving him the chance to play with lots of different roles and styles, mocking both himself and others. The mini-segments of his previous ‘films’ are short and often uninteresting, and though while sometimes intentional, it does not make for great viewing.

It can be said to be a critique of the Japanese cinema industry, looking at various points throughout, with the failed ending a metaphor for the future of Japanese cinema now the ideas have run dry. Whether you can stand to sit through close to two hours of messy film-making to get to that point is up to you?

‘Achilles and the Tortoise’, Kitano’s next film, again featured his own unique brand of artwork as a prominent feature. Here, the life of a struggling artist is portrayed as he continually strives to get his work noticed to no avail.

The artwork here is nowhere near as powerful and effective as in ‘Hana-bi’, though much of it is intended for humorous purposes in what is an enjoyable and entertaining film.

Though that may be the problem with Kitano’s later works: more decent efforts than the challenging masterpieces he created in the Nineties. Today’s Kitano has a lot to do to catch up with his former self.

His last completed film to date is ‘Outrage’, a return to the yakuza genre, a film in which he researched the yakuza thoroughly before writing, so a Japanese guy I met at Hong Kong Airport informs me. Like ‘Achilles and the Tortoise’ before it, it is a solid effort, and is perhaps his most cinematic work to date, feeling much more grand and Hollywood in parts.

The plot gets a little absurd, laughable even, in parts, but moves along at a steady pace and is not too taxing watch, following a similar theme to his previous films of a yakuza group being set-up by those on high, leading to their inevitable demise.

This doesn’t feel as creative or intriguing as his earlier works, though maybe this is a sign of the times as his career reaches two decades and trends and fame change. But, like it or not, this is really just a steady work, pushing few real boundaries and doing little to cause any outrage in the cinematic world.

In the same way that Kitano described three personalities that feature throughout his career, his career has taken on three clear stages over the two decades he has been writing and directing films.

His first five films were often a hangover from his ‘Beat’ Takeshi TV personality, often featuring manic and suicidal characters, chasing death to cure their own madness. His films were violent, lacking any real structure or plotline, but were raw and aggressive in a way to challenge the audience from their comfort zone. The death of this phase came with the awful ‘Getting Any?’ and his scooter accident, seemingly putting an end to the suicidal nature within himself, as well as his characters.

Next came a series of more introspective and personal works, analysing various relationships between different sets of people. Perhaps the strongest period in his career, these five films cemented him as an art-house director throughout the world, with numerous awards won. His films were complex and thought-provoking and celebrated life, rather than craved its end.

What came next was a period of self-indulgence in his films, with two works designed for himself as much as anyone. He seemed to look at his own personality complex, as well as his body of work, and put to bed both the ‘Beat’ Takeshi persona and Kitano Takeshi the auteur. What has followed is a more mainstream form of film-making, neither particularly challenging nor aggressive. This is compounded by the fact his next work is the sequel to ‘Outrage’, showing a less artistic approach in attempt to cash-in on a potentially successful genre.

It is likely that this is the route his career will now take, as he gets older and more settled, with the physical and mental violence ever decreasing from his film-making.