Beat Takeshi Vs. Takeshi Kitano (Paperback)

~ Casio Abe (Author), Daisuke Miyao (Author), Takeshi Kitano (Author), William Gardner (Contributor), Lawrence Chua (Contributor)

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Product Description

Called "the world’s most original action auteur" by the Village Voice, Takeshi Kitano is already legendary in Japan, where he is known both for his inventive films and for his legendarily caustic alter ego, comedian Beat Takeshi. In the United States, his stylishly noir aesthetic has both influenced and been admired by such directors as Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino. His emotionally intense yet lyrical films have won him worldwide acclaim and honors, including the Grand Prix for Hanabi [Fireworks] at the Venice Film Festival. Now, the long-awaited Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano offers a collection of essays on the internationally acclaimed film director by Casio Abe.

Despite his impact on contemporary cinema, very little critical work on Kitano's films exists in the United States. Abe’s book, originally published in Japan, combines a detailed look at Kitano’s filmography with an incisive critique of the consumerist culture which Kitano's films play against. It is also purportedly Kitano’s favorite book on his own work. This translation of Abe’s writings on Kitano has been updated with articles that discuss Kitano’s most recent releases, up to and including Dolls (2002), as well as extensive appendices and footnotes. Abe is one of Japan's preeminent cultural critics, and his book gives a rare and insightful look into the workings of one of the largest media cultures in the world. This will be the first book devoted exclusively to Kitano’s work to be published in the United States. Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano is the first volume in Kaya’s "Wicked Radiance" series, which examines the work of a new wave of Asian filmmakers who are reshaping contemporary cinema.

Essay by Casio Abe.

Foreword by Daisuke Miyao.

Introduction by Lawrence Chua.

Afterword by William Gardner.

Paperback, 5.5 x 7 in. / 272 pgs / 40 b&w.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Muae Publishing/Kaya Press (November 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885030401
• ISBN-13: 978-1885030405
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #518,984 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Good, October 1, 2005

By	Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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The first Kitano Takeshi film I watched was Kikujiro in one of my Japanese classes. Entranced by the delightful film, I decided that I wanted to watch other works by this comedic director. Hoping for a similar sense of enjoyment that I experienced while watching Kikujiro, I purchased A Scene at the Sea and Fireworks. Let me say that what I experienced watching these two films were quite different than the one I had watching Kikujiro. A Scene a the Sea is probably one of the most minimalist films that I have ever seen in both dialogue and action, but watching it was like being in a quiet meditation for one-hundred minutes and small parts of the film, such as when Takako folds Shigeru's clothing or when the "Orange Woman" repeatedly asks a number of people to peel her fruit, are quite heartwarming. The ending of the film left me a bit melancholy, but it was tinged more with nostalgia than sadness. I then watched Fireworks which is a film that must be experienced more than once because the duel stories of Nishi and Horibe overlap more than one thinks upon the initial viewing.

Since then I watched several other Kitano Takeshi films and have enjoyed each in a different way be it the aesthetic beauty of Dolls or the ribaldry of Getting Any?. However, besides reading some short articles by Beat Takeshi that were, of course, more for fun than scholarly intent, I had yet to read a scholarly tome concerning Kitano's body of work. Therefore I was very pleased to read the announcement that Abe Casio's study Beat Takeshi vs. Kitano was going to be released in English. This was back in 2002 and so I waited and waited for the book to be released and after quite some time had passed, I forgot about it. However, one day, while randomly surfing the Internet, I came across the book and saw that it had been released, so I quickly ordered it and read it. It is quite good and I believe that both Kitano enthusiasts and Japanese film fans and scholars should read it.

Abe's book is separated into two halves. Being that the book was originally released in 1994 and Kitano had only directed four films, Violent Cop, Boiling Point, A Scene at the Sea, and Sonatine, so the book at first glance seems to be less than comprehensive work, however, with ample information concerning Kitano's work as an actor, Many Happy Returns, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and his television work, Abe fills this supposed void. At any rate, the second half of the English edition of the book contains a number of articles concerning Kitano's later films, Getting Any?, Fireworks, Kikujiro, Brother, and Dolls.

As made obvious by the title, Abe contrasts the dueling personalities of the larger-than-life comedian Beat Takeshi and the more subdued, almost gloomy persona embodied within the filmmaker Kitano Takeshi. Much of the earlier parts of the book mainly consist of Abe's diatribes against Japanese television which he views as nothing more than a vapid waste of time consisting of little more than talk shows, travel shows, and cartoons. However, he also writes that television is dangerous because of its collective desire to homogenize a nation. It is within this miasma of pop-culture vacuity that the former manzai comedian Beat Takeshi raised to stardom, but he, along with his comic troop the Takeshi Gundan, or Takeshi Army, was able to prevent himself from being homogenized by his refusal to play along by television's rules. However, because it is a tremendous force, Takeshi was not able defeat television, so when opportunity to direct Violent Cop knocked, Takeshi jumped upon it. Without worrying if his films would be hits, it was nearly impossible for any Japanese film to do well during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kitano, as a director, was able to put his thoughts on screen, especially his relentless fascination with suicide.

Quite wordy and academic in nature, the names Walter Benjamin, Kierkegaard, Orikuchi Shinobu, etc. pop up quite often, one sometimes has to wage battle with Abe's words to find his main ideas, but the book is a valuable and welcome edition to ones Japanese film bookshelf.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Two Halves of a Most Unique Filmmaker Meticulously Discussed, January 7, 2006

By	Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The seemingly split personality between international film auteur Takeshi Kitano and TV personality/movie actor "Beat" Takeshi has intrigued me since I saw his wondrous 2000 road movie, "Kikujiro", right after one of the ridiculously dubbed episodes of his game show, "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" (a.k.a. "Takeshi's Castle"). What appears common between the two selves is the unpredictability of his technique and his quirky sense of humor. Film critic Casio Abe has done a thorough job in examining both halves of the man in question with a series of meticulously written essays that illuminate Kitano's artistic motivations and the native culture that embraces him wholeheartedly. "Kikujiro", as it turns out, is something of an anachronism in Kitano's filmography since he is known by Westerners for developing his own film noir aesthetic with its stylized violence and narrative idiosyncrasies. You can tell from the book why his approach is revered by directors such as Martin Scorcese, John Woo and especially Quentin Tarantino, who seems to follow similar themes in his films.

As a true Japanese film connoisseur, Abe tends to get didactic in his meticulous descriptions of scenes and character motivations within Kitano's movies. For example, his comments about Kitano transcending Beat Takeshi move toward a philosophical discussion that borders on pretentious. The author's praise sometimes gets a little too effusive, but it's a forgivable indulgence since only the most serious fan of Kitano's work would read this book. Regardless, it's fortunate that this work has been translated into English since Kitano's worldwide audience has been building steadily for the past decade. Abe includes several excerpts from Kitano interviews and paints as complete a portrait of the filmmaker as possible. Originally published in 1994, the graphically pleasing softbound book has been augmented with a series of more recent magazine articles that focus on his most recent work. This is an excellent overview of Kitano's work for those who have been lucky enough to expose themselves to his artistry.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource for Understanding Takeshi's Films, February 24, 2009

By	J.L.M. - See all my reviews

This book is full of interesting reviews of most of Takeshi's films, everything from Violent Cop to Dolls. It presents engrossing ideas of the duality of self and the masks Takeshi wears for his public. While being perhaps a little too worshipful of the director/superstar, it is none the less thought provoking and thorough. Worth every penny.