Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Takashi Miike (written by) &
Masa Nakamura (written by)

Release Date:

15 September 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

An epic tale of blood, lust and greed.

Plot:

A revolver-wielding stranger crosses paths with two warring clans who are both on the hunt for a hidden treasure in a remote western town. Knowing his services are valuable to either side, he offers himself to the clan who will offer up the largest share of the wealth. |

Plot Keywords:

Clan | Treasure | Whistling | Brawl | Old Man

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Hideaki Ito	...	Gunman
Masanobu Ando	...	Yoichi
Kôichi Satô	...	Taira no Kiyomori
Kaori Momoi	...	Ruriko
Yusuke Iseya	...	Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Renji Ishibashi	...	Benkei
Yoshino Kimura	...	Shizuka
Quentin Tarantino	...	Piringo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takaaki Ishibashi
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Sheriff
Taigi Kobayashi
Toshiyuki Nishida
Shun Oguri	...	Akira
Masato Sakai	...	Taira no Shigemori
Hideaki Sato
Christian Storms
Yôji Tanaka

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, including a rape.

Runtime:

121 min | (None):98 min (international cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Canada:18A | USA:R | Australia:R | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 | Denmark:15

Filming Locations:

Tsuruoka City, Yamagata, Japan

Company:

Dentsu Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Quentin Tarantino's mechanical wheelchair has a duck hood ornament on one of the arms, the same hood ornament as on Stuntman Mike's car in Death Proof (2007), directed by Tarantino.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final scene, the Gunman goes from having a mustache and goatee to being clean shaven between shots.

Quotes:

Ringo: What can i say, I'm an anime otaku at heart."

Movie Connections:

References Django (1966)

Not for everyone

Obviously, this film is not for everyone. It is quite a postmodern movie with lots of background meanings. There are hidden connections not only to the movies "Sukiyaki" is a remake of, but also to the ancient Japanese "Heike Monogatari" (The Tale of the Heike) and even Shakespeare's "Henry VI". So, this work could be compared to the Japanese poetic genre "haikai no renga", а comic though quite emotional poem. This movie is not a deep philosophical opus, it is quite light and easy to watch, though it is for "those, who know". I am quite sure "Sukiyaki" will take a deserved place in the connoisseurs' movie library like some other "experimental" movies (i.e. "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead").