CUT - Kikujiro

[Aaron Gerow]

>On a publishing list I saw that the magazine CUT devoted its May issue
>(No. 86) to Kitano Takeshis new film with the titel "Kitano Takeshi
>mondaisaku 'Kikujiro no natsu' umarekawaru". 
>I wonder why the film is dubbed a 'mondaisaku'? Is the reception of
>Kitanos new film in Japan as mixed as in the West. Did anyone read this
>article or could comment the Japanese reception of Kikujiro? 

I have not read the the CUT article, but I have been noting some of the 
reviews of the film in the press.  The more "advertizing" oriented pieces 
(such as the intro in KineJun) praised the film to no end as an example 
of Kitano's daring refusal to tread the same path, to film the kind of 
melodrama he in general dislikes.  The auteurist bent of these pieces is 
clear: while praising Kitano for not getting stuck in a "Kitano" rut, 
they take all this as a sign of his brilliance.  In the least, the 
auteurist analysis focuses on the film as an example of Kitano's sense of 
play, both in terms of content and filmmaking practice.

But there have been critical essays, and the general opinion among 
colleagues is pretty low.  KineJun (I forget what issue) printed two 
reviews of the film in their reviews section (this was several weeks 
after the introductory essays), one which was generally favorable, and 
one which argued the film is evidence that Kitano is over the hill.

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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