Takeshi Kitano Venice Film Festival 2003 in Competition
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a film by Takeshi Kitano Venice Film Festival 2003 In Competition Bandai Visual, To k yo FM, Dentsu, TV Asahi, Saito Entertainment and Office Kitano pr e s e n t a film by Takeshi Kitano s t a r r i n g Beat Takeshi a n d Tadanobu Asano World Sales: Celluloid Dreams 2, Rue Tu rgot 75009 PA R IS tel. +33-1-4970 - 0370 fax. +33-1-4970 - 037 1 www. c e l l u l o i d- d r e a m s . co m International Press: Ri c h a rd Lormand www. f i l m pr e s s p l u s . co m i n t l pr e s s @ a o l . co m tel. +33-1-4804-5173 fax. +33-1-4804-8043 tel. +39-3 4 9 - 6 1 6 - 5 9 8 1 o r + 3 9 -3 47- 2 5 6 - 4 1 4 3 2 0 03 - Japan - 116' - Color - 35mm - 1:85 - Dolby SRD Not only is ZATOICHI my first period piece, but it's also the first time since my directorial debut VIOLENT COP that I have made a film from an existing idea conceived by someone else. I thought ZATOICHI was going to be a tough film to make because making a period piece is commonly considered to be much more painstaking. It actually turned out to be quite a fun film to make. I found the whole process of making a period piece much more fictitious because I had to fabricate everything. This allowed me to do preposterous things and explore new areas I hadn't before. I can certainly say that making the film has been one of the most artistically and creatively satisfying experiences of my career. Takeshi Kitano SY N O P S I S 19th Centu ry Japan... Za toichi is a blind wanderer who makes a living by gambling and giving massages. But behind his humble fac a d e, Za toichi is a m a ster swordsman, gifted with lightning-fast draw and st rokes of breathtaking pr e c i s i o n . Za toichi discovers a remote mountain town at the mercy of the Ginzo gang. The ruthless Ginzo dispose of anyone who gets in their way, quicker than ever since they recruited Hattori, the mighty samurai ro n i n . In a gambling joint, Za toichi and tru stworthy young friend Shinkichi meet up with a couple of geishas. As dangerous as they are beautiful, Okinu and her s i ster Osei have come to town to avenge their parents' murd e r. With their only clue being the mysterious name Kuchinawa, the geisha sisters have lots of tricks up their sleeves. S i n i ster henchmen are soon hunting down Za toichi. With his legendary cane s w o rd at his side, Za toichi's path is destined for many violent showdowns... ATAKESHI KITA N O ON ZATO I C H I THE ZATOICHI LEG E N D ZATOICHI BAFFLES Za toichi is one of the most popular heroes in Japanese period drama. I think Za toichi is practically invincible. He can take e v e rybody over 30 in Japan knows Za toichi. Because it's been over 10 years since anybody on. The question is how? He is blind, so a film about him was made, now there are younger Japanese who aren't familiar he shouldn’t be that st rong not seeing his with him. I hope my film gives them the opportunity to get to know him. o p p o n e n ts. I finally decided the secret to Za to i c h i ' s strength is "This is a film!" I even played with the ORIGIN OF THE PROJ ECT notion of Zatoichi's blindness at the end of the film : This project was proposed to me quite unexpectedly by Madame Chieko Saito, maybe Za toichi isn’t blind after all... Za toichi baffles one of my mentors during my Asakusa period. She was a very good friend of you, but that’s his ro l e. the late ac tor Mr. Shintaro Katsu, who starred in the original episodes of the Za toichi series on film and TV (from 1962 to 1989). A few years ago, she asked ZATOICHI'S CANE SWO RD me if I would make a Za toichi sequel. It sounded interesting because I had never I thought red for the cane would be the natu ra l directed a period piece. When she asked me she also wanted me to play the c h o i c e. It would have looked un-cool if Za to i c h i lead charac t e r, I panicked. There was no way I was going to replace Mr. Kats u ! used an unpainted wood cane. It would have been I politely declined, but Madame Saito wouldn't take no for an answe r. I finally too down-to-earth and might have made the film to o gave in on one condition : I would have to be allowed to make the film the way much of a heart-warming sto ry about ord i n a ry I wanted as long as the main character remained a blind masseur named Za to i c h i to w n s p e o p l e. I thought that if Za toichi was blond who is also a master swordsman and a dice-gambling genius. Everything else and carried a red lacquered cane, the other would have to be entirely my own creation. c h a racters would be a little wary of him and nobody would want to get involved with him too much. THE NEW ZATO I C H I My screenplay was not based on a sto ry from any of Mr. Katsu's ZATOICHI films. I also saw no point in trying to impersonate his version of Za toichi. I set out to create a new version that would be as different as possible both physically and p sy c h o l o g i c a l l y. Mr. Katsu's Za toichi had dark hair, dressed in a plain-co l o r e d kimono and carried a brown cane sword. Although this worked well in his time, I thought I would make my Za toichi conspicuously different visually. My Za to i c h i is ac tually a pretty eccentric person. He has platinum blond hair and a blood- r e d cane sword. Al s o, in terms of mentality, my Za toichi is far more emotionally d e t ached from the other characters. Mr. Katsu's Za toichi was more about an a l m o st heart-warming relationships he made with the good and meek to w n s p e o p l e. Mine doesn't fully mingle with the good guys. He just keeps slaying bad guys! PERIOD PIEC E S ZATOICHI'S MOVE S One would expect that period pieces impose We had a sword fighting choreographer on the set, but I ended up choreogra p h i n g greater restrictions than co n t e m p o ra ry films, a l m o st all the sword-fighting scenes myself except the one with the two geishas because of the co stumes and locations having to versus Ginzo's henchmen at Ogi's residence. I didn't want the sword fighting scenes be faithful to historical fac ts, etc. On the co n t ra ry, to resemble those in past films where you can tell the same combinations are being I felt greater creative freedom, because basically used. I tried to do something different than the well-known past fight sequences you can fabricate everything in a period piece. c h o r e o g raphed by the experts. I hate duels where the sword dictates every t h i n g , E v e ry detail -- the looks of the charac t e r s , resulting in a lot of clinking and clanking. Luckily, Za toichi usually strikes with just locations, etc. -- is ac tually more fictitious than in one st ro k e, so I was able to avoid that type of sword-fighting. In co n t ra st, I let ac to r a co n t e m p o ra ry piece since everything is being Tadanobu Asano (as the ronin bodyguard Hattori) perform trickier stuff that I had recreated. For example, almost all ac tors have to accumulated over the years. Coming from Asakusa's comedy scene, I had done a wear hairpieces to replicate the styles that fair amount of training in sword fighting, which was co m p u l s o ry for any comic in s u g g e st old times. As to the language, my choice those days. We often adopted sword fighting in our sketches on st a g e. My co m e d y went for modern Japanese as the film’s essence m a ster would first show us basic movements and then we rearranged it to make it is not of a classic period dra m a . look funnier. Ever since then, I had quite a few ideas in the back of my mind fo r tricky sword-fighting choreogra p h y, which I had always wanted to use in a period CO M PUTER GRAPH I C S film if ever I would make one.