Takeshis

Kitano Takeshi is a complicated man. Turn on the TV in Japan, and you will probably see a silly prop-comic running around in a shemp wig and a yellow flowery dress, hitting people on the head with a giant squeaky mallet. Go to any international film festival in the US, and you will probably see a dead-eyed killer, surrounded by beautiful imagery; a genius auteur director and a subtle and effective actor. Then there are the books, the political commentary, the painting...there is practically not a single art form that Kitano has not touched upon at some time.Now enter the fragmented world of "Takeshis". This schizophrenic surreal film is almost too bizarre to know what to make of. Originally titled "Fractals", it seems to tell the story of two Takeshis, one the famous and respected celebrity, another, also named Takeshi, who is a poor convenience store clerk trying to make his career as an actor, but is mainly noted for his stunning resemblance to his more famous counterpart. They both move in and out of a twisted story-line that includes scenes from some of Kitano's most famous films, as well as revenge fantasies and strange occurrences that leave one disorientated, never sure if this is all a dream or reality or just Kitano Takeshi getting confused in his head as to which one of his many faces is the real one. Most of the other main characters play dual roles as well, heaping confusion on confusion.I am still not sure if this is a good film or not. It is either a giant ego-fest served up with Kitano style, or a brave experiment by an artist testing his boundaries and abilities. There are no handholds of sanity when it comes to the storyline, so one just has to stop fighting to find sense in the whole thing, and just go along for the wild ride. It definitely needs more than one viewing, although it isn't the kind of flick you necessarily want to see a second time.The part of this movie that probably won't work for most American viewers is the "behind the scenes" portion of the Japanese celebrity scene. Much like Robert Altman's The Player, "Takeshis" parts the curtain of the industry, and lets celebrities drop their famous personas and just be regular people doing an irregular job. It is the kind of insider's view that only Kitano could have commanded, but outside of their home country most of these people aren't famous so the references and shock will be lost.

No, it's not a misprint. The title of Takeshi Kitano's splendid new film is indeed in the plural, and does indeed denote possession without indicating what is possessed. The working title was Fractal, which suggests the kind of ideas in play: this is a splintered narrative, densely populated with doppelgängers and tripelgängers, which explores alternative realities and possibilities. Insofar as it has a centre, it centres on two Takeshi Kitanos, one a successful TV star, the other a bum who accidentally discovers his resemblance to the star and trades on it by trying for a career on the fringes of showbiz. But these two are surrounded by many other doubles and triples as the multiplying storylines fracture into a world of infinite chances and choices. And the only fixed points in this dizzying illusion are, ironically, two iconic figures who combine alternative possibilities and identities within one body: Japan's most famous female-impersonator chanteuse Akihiro Miwa (formerly Maruyama, friend of Mishima, the original Black Lizard) and her younger confrere Daigoro Tachibana (the transvestite geisha in Zatoichi). In short, Kitano has responded to the global success of Zatoichi by making his most 'experimental' film yet: a sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice.