Tag - takeshi-kitano

 
 

TAKESHI KITANO

In addition to directing “Kubi,” Takeshi Kitano (second from left) plays Oda Nobunaga’s successor, Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, in the blood-soaked period film.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 23, 2023
Takeshi Kitano still has a head for provocation
The “Kubi” director doesn’t shy away from causing a commotion, whether it’s in public or in his latest film about a pivotal moment in Japan’s history.
Ryo Kase (top center) gives an audacious performance as warlord Oda Nobunaga in “Kubi.”
CULTURE
Nov 23, 2023
Takeshi Kitano’s ‘Kubi’ cuts great men of history down to size
The blood-drenched period epic offers a queer retelling of the 1582 Honnoji Incident with a ruthless and sadistic Oda Nobunaga at its center.
Filmmaker Takeshi Kitano speaks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 16, 2023
'Bad treatment happens' in Japan's showbiz world: Takeshi Kitano
The country's entertainment industry has always tended to treat performers as commodities, the iconic Japanese filmmaker and comedian said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 19, 2023
Takeshi Kitano returns to Cannes with an 'indifferent' outlook
The director's first feature-length film in six years will premiere at the festival, but Kitano says he does things his own way, regardless of success.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 14, 2023
Cannes lineup features films by Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takeshi Kitano
Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Monster' is a nominee for the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, while Takeshi Kitano's 'Kubi' will be screened under the Cannes Premiere category.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 28, 2020
Composer Joe Hisaishi opens up to streaming
Film composer Joe Hisaishi says he is writing more as a result of COVID-19, but is determined not to write about the pandemic itself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 8, 2019
Marking 30 years since Takeshi Kitano's debut feature, 'Violent Cop'
On Aug. 12, 1989, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's debut as a director, "Violent Cop," was released in Japan. Kitano was already famous here as a TV comic and emcee, and was known abroad for his role as a brutal POW camp guard in Nagisa Oshima's 1983 World War II drama "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Heisei Icons,Heisei Icons
Mar 1, 2019
Takeshi Kitano: From manzai comic to giant of Japanese film
Many Japanese filmmakers try to promote their films and talents abroad but stumble more than they succeed: Either Cannes rejects their latest masterpiece or Hollywood turns down their J-horror script.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2018
Is the feudal era over for Japan's talent agencies?
Japanese show business definitely has a feudal side. Talent agencies control their tarento (talent) much in the way the daimyō (feudal lords) controlled the samurai in their clans, supporting their livelihoods in return for absolute fealty. And just as samurai were expected to stay with one clan their entire lives, talents typically find it hard — if not impossible — to leave their agencies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 31, 2018
Takeshi Kitano to abandon his 'army' of talent
There's a tired adage that goes, "Behind every great man is a great woman." In Japan, you could amend it to: "Behind every great older man is a great woman making sure he stays relevant, especially if he's in show business." The tabloid press have had a grand time exploring how the late beloved movie stars Ken Takakura and Hiroki Matsukata were able to enjoy their twilight years thanks to younger women who took care of their personal and professional affairs, including their finances.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2017
'Outrage Coda': Takeshi Kitano's kill count climbs high for trilogy's finale
In his nearly three decades as a director, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano has won many critical plaudits and prizes abroad. But in Japan he is best known as a TV personality and comedian. These two strands of his artistic personality — master director and mass entertainer — have come together in his "Outrage" trilogy about present-day gang wars, with Kitano himself starring as an old-school yakuza, Otomo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 26, 2016
Film director Takeshi Kitano is awarded France's Legion of Honor
Japanese film director Takeshi Kitano received the Legion of Honor, France's most prestigious award, on Tuesday for his impact on contemporary arts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2016
France bestows Legion of Honor on film director Takeshi Kitano
The French government has named Japanese film director Takeshi Kitano as a recipient of the Legion of Honor for his impact on contemporary arts, his office said Tuesday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 29, 2016
'Kidnap Tour'; 'Takeshi's How to Look at Japan'; Y! Mobile
Now that school is out summer is officially here, and NHK celebrates with a dramatization of Mitsuyo Tsunoda's novel, "Kidnap Tour" (NHK-G, Tues., 7:30 p.m.).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 11, 2016
Japan's empty-home epidemic; 'Beat' Takeshi makes sense of art; CM of the week: Kirin Beverage
The problem of akiya (empty homes) has become more prominent in recent years as the population continues to dwindle. A 2013 survey found there were around 8.2 million vacant residences, detached houses and apartments in Japan, and many are worth next to nothing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2016
Takeshi Kitano and the men who watch women sleeping
An older man, a much younger woman and a mystery that surrounds their relationship — for the Japanese, it's a familiar story. The woman doesn't say much, letting her youthful allure and beauty do most of the talking. The man doesn't say much either; he's more interested in looking at and pampering her, as if she were an exotic orchid rather than a human being. And the story of their mysterious relationship unfolds against the backdrop of a seaside hotel and its pool, a symbol of desire and obsession.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2016
Languorous women and amorous men in Wayne Wang's first Japanese film
An extended stay at a resort hotel, seaside villa or a similar escape hatch is only a dream for most of Japan's working adults. But local filmmakers — who are in the dream business — have made enough ensemble dramas about romantic/erotic entanglements in such places to launch a small subgenre. Wayne Wang's moody drama "While The Women Are Sleeping" ("Onna ga Nemuru Toki") is the latest addition to that subgenre, with an all-Japanese cast and an international staff headed by the Hong Kong-born director. Based on a short story by Spanish novelist Javier Marias, the film is set in an upscale resort hotel on the Izu Peninsula — a popular destination for generations of Tokyo holidaymakers — and unfolds over the course of five days, which is at least three more than the average punter here could spare.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 21, 2015
Yukio Mishima's enduring, unexpected influence
Forty-five years ago this week — at just after 10 a.m. on the bright, cold morning of Nov. 25, 1970 — a telephone rang at the Tokyo home of popular enka singer Hideo Murata. On the line was author Yukio Mishima, a man who in the short space of his 45 years had lived life more fully than perhaps seemed possible for one human being.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Nov 19, 2015
Asakusa's resilience rubs off on France-za theater, cradle of postwar pop culture
Takeshi Kitano, an internationally known director and actor, recently revisited the place where he began his career as a comedian around 40 years ago, a strip theater called Asakusa France-za, in downtown Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 29, 2015
Takeshi Kitano's gang of nursing-home yakuza
Takeshi Kitano has had some of his biggest critical and commercial successes with gangster films, beginning with his 1993 international breakthrough "Sonatine" and continuing through to his 2012 hit "Outrage Beyond" ("Beyond Outrage"), which screened in competition at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.

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