Synopses & Reviews
The award-winning art film Hana-Bi, the stoic gangster elegy Sonatine, the surfer romance A Scene at the Sea, the absurdist comedy Getting Any?, the entertainment samurai spectacle Zatoichi--very different films made under one name, Kitano Takeshi. Who is Kitano Takeshi?--an artistic auteur in the traditional sense or a new kind of star who manages multiple identities, strategically changing them from film to film and situation to situation? This book explores issues of auteurship and stardom in the films of Kitano Takeshi, especially as they relate to problems of personal and national identity in a Japan confronting an age of globalization. Aaron Gerow combines a detailed account of Japanese film and criticism with unique close analyses of Kitano's films from Violent Cop to Takeshis.
Synopsis
Explores the issues of auteurship and stardom in the films of Kitano Takeshi especially as they relate to problems of personal and national identity in a Japan confronting an age of globalization. This book relates the director to issues of contemporary cinema, Japanese national identity, and globalism.
About the Author
Aaron Gerow is Assistant Professor of Japanese Cinema, Yale University