500% Kitano - Nothing to Add!

What a great tagline for a film... '500% Kitano - Nothing to Add!' - Taken from Takeshi Kitano's 'Takeshis'

It gets me wondering when the next Kitano film will be released. I recently bought his latest, 'Kantoku Banzai!' (Glory To The Filmmaker) and absolutely loved it. I first saw it as part of the BFI's Film Festival in London in October. The film really pokes fun at Kitano's varied career, to comic effect.

This of course, followed his superb 'Takeshis' (blog title from this) in which he played two versions of himself, also to superb effect.

So from the man who pioneered the Japanese ganster/yakuza film, what do we expect next? We've had the violence, the bloodshed and the guns. And we've had a sensitive, touching story from 'Dolls'. Obvious humour from 'Getting Any', and subtle humour in most of his other films. 'Zatoichi' gave us a periodical film... so what else is there left for Kitano to try?

This is from the man who is also a comedian, author, presenter and general personality (us Brits know Takeshi's Castle... that was his). In addition to film-writer, director and actor.

All that seems to be left for Kitano is a musical career and a horror film... Or news-reading. Now that might be interesting...

If you haven't seen a Kitano film, check out the following...
Violent Cop - His first director role. Lead actor also. Superb cop/yakuza film.
Getting Any? - Great comedy. Often slapstick, but still above base level humour.
Battle Royale - Purely an acting role, but played superbly.
Kantoku Banzai - The golden touch to his career... this is fantastic. But you might need to watch the others first...

Then check out all the others! Dolls, Zatoichi, Takeshis, Sonatine, Kikujiro, Kids Return, Boiling Point, A Scene At The Sea... there's not a bad one among!