CUT - Kikujiro

[Lanceart]

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----- Original Message -----
From: Aaron Gerow <gerow at ynu.ac.jp>
To: KineJapan <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 1999 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: CUT - Kikujiro


> >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
> KineJapan list owner
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>
>