Award-winning movie director Takeshi Kitano said Friday that the very mention of the word Italy brings to mind the kind of culture that puts present-day Japan to shame.
"It seems like a bit of a joke me being here," Kitano said at a news conference to launch the Festival del Cinema Italiano 2001, which opened Saturday in Tokyo as part of the ongoing "Italy in Japan 2001" festival.
"Just mention Italy and the image that immediately comes into my head is one of culture and art. It's a bit different than Kawasaki, which merely evokes an image of soaplands. It gives me a complex and makes me feel embarrassed," joked the comedian-cum-director, whose Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1997 for his movie "Hana-bi" earned him an invite as guest speaker at the conference.