In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Friday 20 November 2015

Glory to the Filmmaker! (2007)

The second film in Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy continues the 'deconstruction' of his career by conceptually examining the films he didn't make. Fans of the director will understand how that approach relates to what was presented in Takeshis' (2005), but everyone else will be very lost. It's a superb, self-referential madness that lasts for approximately half the film.
The second half, by comparison, is a kind of return to the Kitano of years past, the one that made his name in Japan being half of a Manzai act. It's an impenetrable clusterfuck that relies heavily on slapstick.
The first half makes it clear that he no longer cares about living up to past glories, or will rely on the safety net of falling into what's expected of him, but if not for the mother and daughter storyline (and their stuffed animals) I'd have thrown the towel into the ring before the end of the second.

3 discordant Beats out of 5 (i.e. an average of 5 for the first half and 1 for the second).

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