Takeshi Kitano

Born on January 18, 1948 in Tokyo, Takeshi Kitano had a very poor childhood, marked by the absence of his father, who according to him only spoke to him three times in his life. He was an alcoholic man who quickly abandoned his family, so the very young Takeshi was forced to live with his three brothers, his mother and his grandmother in a tiny house. They used boxes as furniture, and due to the lack of light, the boys had to go out to do their homework in the street, taking advantage of the light from the street lamps.

As a young man he studied engineering at a major Japanese university. But they immediately expelled him from the faculty due to his rebellious character. From that moment on, he held various jobs, while receiving classes from Senzaburo Fukami, a famous comedian from his country, with whom he learned to sing and dance. The opportunity came to him when he was working as a waiter and delivery boy at a music hall. One day when one of the comedians fell ill, Kitano dared to go on stage in his place, and was a great success. From that moment he decided to form the comedy duo The Two Beats, with his friend Kaneko Kiyoshi, and adopted the stage name ‘Beat’ Takeshi ‘. Both became very popular on television, with their provocative style, in programs where Kitano made rude jokes, or was limited to pronouncing the word ‘ass’ throughout the broadcast. Takeshi was married, but he constantly joked about his alleged lovers and encounters with prostitutes. As a result of this stage, the Japanese have never taken their cinema seriously.

In 1983, he gained international prominence by playing a minor character, the rude Sergeant Hara who constantly mistreats British prisoners, in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence . Kitano’s ‘gross’ face went to the hair of the character. But he did not take advantage of the success of Nagisa Oshima ‘s film –with whom he also filmed much later , Gohatto– to make the leap to international cinema, instead he decided to stay in his country, to present Fuun! Takeshi Jo (Takeshi’s Castle), extreme television contest in which the contestants underwent extremely tough obstacle courses in which they suffered spectacular blows and falls. It was a milestone in his country, and was successful in many countries, such as Spain, where the wildest fragments were broadcast on the Yellow Humor program .

Nagisha Oshima had advised Kitano to quit TV comedy and go into playing gangsters. Passionate about these types of stories, he would end up filming them as a director, starting with his debut in the late 80s with Violent Cop , where he also played an unorthodox policeman facing off against the yakuza. Lighter than his later films, it already anticipated several of what would be his usual themes: police corruption, and above all gangster stories. Along the same lines were his subsequent works on the yakuza, Boiling Point , and Sonatine , although at the beginning of his career he also filmed Scenes in front of the sea , a romantic drama that pointed out ways.

Takeshi Kitano’s life changed completely after he suffered a traffic accident that he miraculously survived. Since then his cinema has become more reflective, and he has also become a painter, which leads to a greater concern for aesthetics in his films. The true turning point of his cinema is the lyrical and violent Hana-Bi , where he is a policeman facing off against the mafia and his wife’s terminal illness. Golden Lion in Venice, obtained the support of international critics who proclaimed his author as ‘the new Kurosawa’. The paintings that appear on a recurring basis were made by Kitano himself. Then he hit the nail on the head again with The Summer of Kikujiro, which had nothing to do with his previous films, as it was a comedy about the relationship between a grumpy individual and a child who asks him to take him to his mother, who left him long ago. After filming Brother in the United States , he completely dazzled the public and critics with Dolls , of striking visual beauty, which is made up of three unconnected stories.

Kitano’s last memorable film is Zatoichi , about a blind 19th-century samurai. It mixes violence, with humorous sequences and musical moments. His next film, Takeshis –Where he plays himself– doesn’t measure up to his best works, while Kantoku – Banzai! and Akiresu to kame , have had –for now– little international distribution. Kitano has also directed music videos for his daughter, pop singer Shoko Kitano.