Kitano at Toronto

[Mark Mays]

please note if you're going to reveal plot points in your notes, thanks.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susan Morrison" <susan.morrison at tel.tdsb.on.ca>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 8:09 PM
Subject: Kitano at Toronto


> Kitano's "Zatoichi" screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on
> Saturday to a very large (1500)  audience consisting mostly of fans who
> applauded at the appearance of his name on screen as the film began. It is
> very very violent, to the delight of many of these same fans, and  it has
> those Kitano autographic 'comic' bits where violence is the basis for
> humour, an example here being when a crazed young man who believes himself
> to be a samurai warrior is bonked on the head by Zatoichi's 'blindly'
> tossing a piece of wood in the air.
>
> Asano Tadonobu's role is very confused; he's introduced as a sympathetic
> character of unsurpassable sword skill who nonetheless is summarily
> finished off as a kind of mini-climax to the plot. He's onscreen for maybe
> 10 of the 120 minutes of the film.
>
> And the grand finale is a real eyeopener. A synchronised chorus line of
> geishas and peasants in wooden clogs actually do tapdance a 10 minute
> (?)number that has elements of Stomp, Tap Dogs and a heavy dose of Savion
> Glover. The accompanying music is produced with Kodo type drums, hammers
> and similar noises which are syncopated, rather than musical instruments.
> There was an article in the New York Times a few weeks ago about the
> popularity of tap dancing in Japan which stated that Savion Glover has a
> very large following among the Japanese practitioners.  I believe it now.
>
>