Takeshi Kitano names his 10 favourite movies of all time
Stepping and venturing out into various entertainment industry outlets such as film, Takeshi Kitano has credits in acting, directing and hosting. The comedian is most known in Japan for working behind the camera for Hannah-Bi and Doll, and appearing on the screen in Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Tokyo Eyes.
Kitano employs a distinguished artistic layout for his cinema, showcasing dramatised depictions of Japan’s police force and gang culture. Given his innovative and successful artistry, which earned him the reputation as Akira Kurosawa’s successor, fans may wonder what style or periods of cinema Kitano watches in his free time or as a source of inspiration. The filmmaker’s top ten list, as cited by Combustible Celluloid, keeps its running themes and approaches varied, such as science-fiction and psychological examinations of humanity.
The top entry on the director’s list is the French 1956 film Children of Paradise. The feature narrates a sex worker who becomes the object of four men’s desires. The actor, mime, criminal and aristocrat all compete for her affection in this romantic drama directed by Marcel Carné. Children of Paradise, written by Jacques Prévert, stars Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Marcel Herrand and Pierre Renoir. Kitano isn’t the only cinematic figure to hold Carné’s film highly, and according to The New Yorker, actor Marlon Brando called it “maybe the best movie ever made” in Truman Capote’s The Duke in His Domain.
Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai also appears on Kitano’s list, focusing on a veteran samurai who gathers six samurais to warn off cruel bandits from attacking a village. The samurais extend their swords knowledge to the locals as a pack of 40 outlaws attacks the town. The classic film features Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Isao Kimura, Daisuke Katō, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yoshio Inaba, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Kokuten Kōdō, Yoshio Tsuchiya and Eijirō Tōno as its talented cast. It is one of Kurosawa’s finest works, showcasing a harmony of landscape, culture, history, entertainment and art through brilliant and compelling filmmaking.
Dipping into surreal territory, the filmmaker’s list includes the Lychian 1990 film Wild at Heart, a black comedy romantic crime film written and directed by David Lynch. It stars Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Willem Dafoe, Harry Dean Stanton, and Isabella Rossellini. The movie famously focuses on a young couple from Cape Fear, North Carolina, played by Cage and Dern, who go on the run from Dern’s overbearing mother, played by Ladd, and the gangsters she hires to kill Cage’s character. Wild at Heart is a blend of genres that explores the contrasting concept of ‘finding love in hell’, referencing pop culture and cinematic icons such as The Wizard of Oz and Quentin Tarantino’s works.
Takeshi Kitano’s top ten films:
- Children of Paradise (Marcel Carne, 1945)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
- A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
- To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin, 1985)
- Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
- Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah, 197)
- Darkman (Sam Raimi, 1990)
- Crazy Thunder Road (Sogo Ishii, 1980)
- The Railroad Man (Pietro Germi, 1956)
Pietro Germi’s 1956 Italian drama The Railroad Man, starring Germi, Saro Urzì, Luisa Della Noce, Sylva Koscina and Edoardo Nevola, features as one of Kitano’s top ten films. In a script written by Germi, Alfredo Giannetti, and Luciano Vincenzoni, a train operator witnesses the suicide of a desperate man who jumps in front of his train. The shock of the incident leads to many mishaps throughout the day, and a doctor’s visit suggests he may be an alcoholic.
Kitano’s list includes two Stanley Kubrick pictures, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, the former being a technological revolution and the latter an examination of a damaged psyche against an inspection of civilisation. Horror directors William Friedkin and Sam Raini also appear for their respective works, To Live and Die in L.A., released in 1985, and Darkman, released in 1990.
