Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

A nameless gunfighter arrives in a town ripped apart by rival gangs and, though courted by both to join, chooses his own path.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Takashi Miike, Masa Nakamura

Stars:

Hideaki Itô, Kôichi Satô, Quentin Tarantino

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Hideaki Itô	...	Gunman
Masanobu Andô	...	Yoichi
Kôichi Satô	...	Taira no Kiyomori
Kaori Momoi	...	Ruriko
Yûsuke Iseya	...	Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Renji Ishibashi	...	Village Mayor
Yoshino Kimura	...	Shizuka
Quentin Tarantino	...	Piringo
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takaaki Ishibashi	...	Benkei
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Sheriff
Taigi Kobayashi
Yutaka Matsushige
Toshiyuki Nishida
Shun Oguri	...	Akira
Masato Sakai	...	Taira no Shigemori

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

spaghetti western | woman smokes a cigar | woman with a tattoo | cigar smoking | dead body with eyes open | 

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Taglines:

Who will be the last man standing?

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Genres:

Action | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, including a rape

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Düello

Filming Locations:

Tsuruoka City, Yamagata, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$3,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,172, 31 August 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$48,034, 21 September 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

A-Team, Dentsu, Geneon Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min 98 min (international cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The background for the artificial set in the prologue is clearly inspired by the woodblock prints "Gaifu Kaisei" and "Sanka Haku" featured in Hokusai's famous "Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji" series.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ringo: [shoots a snake out of the claws of a flying hawk and cuts egg out of it]
Cowboy: [draws his gun on Piringo and whistles appreciatively]
Boss: Piringo. Been looking for you. It's the end of the road for you.
Boss: [gong] What's that sound?
Ringo: That's the sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells.
Boss: What?
Ringo: You know, those Heike and Genji boys. On a distant island, these to clans split into the Reds and the Whites. Waged a war. Sort of like that, uh, War of the Roses, ya know? In England?
Boss: Who won? The Whites?
Ringo: This ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The international cut version, shorter by 23 minutes, omits several scenes for pacing reasons and also all the scenes where the big Genji/Minamoto henchman after having his balls shot off develops a crush for his leader Yoshitsune. This version was screened at several film festivals and is featured on most of the DVD releases outside of Japan.

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Connections

Remake of Yojimbo (1961)

User Reviews

Very good film that swings from the dramatic to the ridiculous

If you've seen "High Plains Drifter", "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" any other Leone films or "spaghetti westerns" you will appreciate this film. (I guess this is an "udon western"? Sorry, I had to throw that in there.) For those who have not, you may not understand why the film goes to such extremes throughout the scene sequences. Everything from the bumbling sheriff to the mindless and spineless random gang characters as well as the leader of the 'reds', offer comedic escapades that are quite hysterical. Then we swing to the very dramatic and tragic scenes of loss, murder, pillaging and revenge. Japanese themes and references are inherent because the director is well...Japanese! The dialogue is all English and purposely so. I'm not sure if this was for comedic reasons or to reach out to a larger audience, but it is effective and an interesting choice on Miike's part. It is subtitled which, depending on how you view it, either detracts or adds to the film. It does help in some cases, but in my opinion, I think it would have been better to leave it out altogether. Overall, its a very fun film but expect to be taken up and down emotionally. Production, cinematography, scenery, costumes, art direction and sound design aren't even worth mentioning because they're all done so well, you don't notice them. Its about as close as you can get to a Western-Samurai Japanese-Western!