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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
min'na yatteruka, July 15, 2003
I was first exposed to the filmic works of Kitano Takeshi more than half a decade ago when the teachers of my Japanese language class screened Kikujiro the class after our midterm. Charmed by the film, I hurriedly purchased Hana-bi, A Scene at the Sea, and Kids Return. What struck me about his films was that there was no set formula, even though the same actors appear in his films, or detailed theme, but each film contained its own melancholy, surrealism, and playfulness that, although completely and firmly set in Kitano's filmic world.
However, although I enjoy each of the above mentioned films, the film that I have used to introduce a number of my friends to the films of Kitano Takeshi is Getting Any?, a film that is often consider by both Japanese and Western critics to be Kitano's lewdest, most hackneyed film that completely fails at being a comedy. Well, I enjoyed the film and, besides Kikujiro, I have watched it more times than any other Kitano film. Why? Because its brand of surrealism set in modern Japan is a rarity to be found in the filmscape of Japanese cinema.
Getting Any?, Min'na yatteruka?, centers upon the life of Asao, a deadpan, seemingly emotionless fellow whose main goal in life seems to be buying a car and getting a girl with whom he can engage in "car sex." Unfortunately, Asao has little money and can only afford lemons that fall apart almost immediately after he purchases them. Undeterred, Asao decides to do a number of things to make money such as selling a relative's organs, robbing a bank, by first going through an elaborate scheme to make his own pistol, robbing an armored car, and becoming an actor. The "plotline" of Asao having sex with a girl in his new car falls by the wayside at the middle of the film when he becomes a gangster and later the fly man. Haphazard, surreal, and just plain insane, Getting Any? makes for an interesting film viewing experience.
Film scholar Aaron Gerow states that Getting Any? is more than just a display of the bifurcated nature of Kitano Takeshi in his personas of Beat Takeshi the film/television actor and Kitano the director, but that it is an attack against the setting of formulaic, staged comedy. Kitano, who considers Getting Any as his magnum opus, supposedly made Getting Any? intentionally unfunny in order to strike against the prosaic, threadbare nature of Japanese comic television to show how empty and lame it really is without the accompanying glitz of television. If this is the case or not, Getting Any? is definitely not a typical comedy which will leave many, both Western and Japanese, scratching their heads.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The funny side of Kitano, May 16, 2003
Though it cannot be listed amongst Kitano's best work, Getting Any is still a lot of fun to watch. It really shows the other side of Takeshi Kitano, and what he used to do when he was doing stand-up comedy. This film cannot [or shouldn't] really be compared to Kitano's other work, since it's theme is so radically different. Getting Any belongs to a different category, and it should be treated accordingly. As a comedy it stands alone among Kitano's other films, yet elements of his comic style can be found in all of those other films as well. Many people compare this movie to Monty Python films, and I think they are quite right; and just like the Monty Python films Getting Any requires multiple viewings to get all the subtle jokes. That also means that one can watch this movie several times and not get tired of its humor. The yakuza sequences are especially priceless [you can watch them over and over again]. This film will certainly entertain both the hardcore Kitano fans and the casual viewers as well.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another bloody gangster movie...maybe not, December 10, 2002
I'd have to say this film is quite different from the usual Kitano fare. Than again it's a comedy, and a pretty wacky one too. Yet I found Getting Any? just as entertaining as all the other more known Kitano films, albeit on a whole different level. As an all out comedy it really does a good job of entertaining, even after repeated viewings, though Kitano tends to go overboard with some of the scenes. I know that some of these scenes were edited out of the so called international cut, though this dvd happens to be the director's cut, which is a good thing because the Yakuza scenes where heavily edited from the international cut, and they are one of the funniest scenes I've ever scene. As a matter of fact the Yakuza sequences [a good part of the film] and the studio scenes alone well worth it for any Kitano fan, or comedy fan to buy this disc. I watched this film with my friends, and they didn't get all the jokes at the first time [probably because you have to read the subtitles too, so some of your attention is reserved for that], but then we watched it again a couple of days later, and we were pointing out all the subtle jokes and "hidden characters" [hint: these are the people who died in the previous scenes, but they keep coming up in the subsequent sequences, it's a bit like watching the Simpsons or Futurama, you really have to pay attantion to catch these little private jokes]. I must say watching this film with others is twice the fun, and it's addictive too [like most cult classics]. I'd have to say Kitano does a great job yet again mixing comedy elements with violence, though there's much less violence and blood in this film [ it's a comedy after all]. People should approach this film from a different angle though, don't expect another gangster flick [not a serious one at any rate]. I warmly recommend this flick for any comedy fan, besides there aren't that many films out there that make fun of the whole Japanese society, mannerism and pop culture all wrapped up in a two hour film. Good job Kitano.
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