Achilles and the Tortoise
(2008)
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Achilles and the Tortoise
(2008)
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| Credited cast: | |||
| Takeshi Kitano | ... |
Machisu Kuramochi
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Kanako Higuchi | ... |
Sachiko
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| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Kumiko Asô | ... |
Sachiko - young
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Aya Enjôji | ... |
Tomisuke's wife
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Kuruo Hatoyama |
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Miki Hayashida | ... |
Passenger
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Masatô Ibu | ... |
Akio Kikuta
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Taigi Kobayashi |
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Akira Nakao | ... |
Risuke Kuramochi
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Takashi Nishina | ... |
Dream artist
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Makoto Ohtake |
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Bobby Ologun | ... |
Boxer
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Susumu Terajima | ... |
Yakuza pimp
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Eri Tokunaga | ... |
Mari Kuramochi
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Mariko Tsutsui | ... |
Haru Kuramochi
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Machisu is a painter. He never had the success he thinks he is entitled to. Regardless of this, he always remains trying to be successful. His wife Sachiko keeps supporting him, despite all setbacks.
Another relentless study by Kitano of an artist with no talent who refuses to give up, this goes on far too long and bludgeons the viewer with its relentless picture of a helpless sycophant trying to become a success by imitating his betters or copying trends that have just gone out of style. There is a disconnect between the early passages of the artist as a boy, which are fable-like, haunting, and touching (but also droll and odd) and the segments of the artist as an adult and "old" man (when Kitano himself takes over), the latter being simply a series of conceptual put-ons. Throughout the film is hurt by its suggestion that art of limited merit has no merit at all; that a child artist wouldn't produce anything of interest. And its later scenes are increasingly brutal and macabre. Another example of Kitano's limits as an "auteur." His work is distinctive and persistent, but there is a coldness, even a cluelessness, about it that is unappealing. The Allociné critic rating of 3.0/70 is full of raves, showing Kitano's strong "auteur" status among the French. Seen in Paris in April 2010.