Takeshi Kitano. Renegade director actor and funny man. He's my filmic hero.
From the first time I saw him in his first major role in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence in the early 80s, to my last big screen viewing where he's dancing the Japanese equivalent of a clog dance in Zatoichi, I look at his unemotional visage and I see mystery. How does this guy do it? He's yakuza enough to scare Western interviewers, yet we see him as Count Takeshi amongst his Emerald Guards sniggering in Takeshis Castle∞

His stage performances were honed as a comedian with Kiyoshi Kaneko - they appeared in stand-up as the Two Beats, which is where he got his nickname Beat Takeshi*. Their humour was something different in Japan at the time, taking the piss out of anyone and anything. He was already very successful in Japan as a conedian, writer and journalist before he started in films.

His directorial debut was Violent Cop, which he took over after the original director Kinji Fukasaku was taken ill. Violent Cop lives up to its title, more especially its Japanese title which translates as Warning! This Man is Wild! The violence is not frantic, it's calmly meted out, and appears shocking to Western eyes particularly for the late 1980s.
There's no glorification in the violence of Kitano's films, it's visual rather than dialogue full. Often silent for long stretches of time, the characters are presented for the audience to interprete rather than for their words to lead. His films are enigmatic and iconic, violent, but often with a strong streak of humour. He's said he wants to show violence that looks like it hurts, like having a chopstick shoved through your eye would, probably (Hana-Bi).

The sea features often in his films - A Scene at the Sea is the story of a deaf mute boy who with his girlfriend discovers a love of surfing and thus brings him happiness. In Sonatine, which he directs and stars in, Kitano's yakuza boss takes his team to a beach hideout where there's some hilariously surreal games scenes on the sand.

tbc


Addendum by Gareth: Mr Kitano is also known as "Beat" Takeshi*. He is also a total badass.

http://www.cinema.com/image_lib/4504_5471_thumb.jpg∞

---

CategoryFilm