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IMDbPro

Kantoku · Banzai!

  • 20072007
  • 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
Takeshi Kitano in Kantoku · Banzai! (2007)
ComedyDrama
Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Takeshi Kitano
  • Writer
    • Takeshi Kitano
  • Stars
    • Takeshi Kitano
    • Tôru Emori
    • Kayoko Kishimoto
  • Director
    • Takeshi Kitano
  • Writer
    • Takeshi Kitano
  • Stars
    • Takeshi Kitano
    • Tôru Emori
    • Kayoko Kishimoto
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 15User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Photos

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    Top cast

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    Takeshi Kitano
    Takeshi Kitano
      Tôru Emori
      Kayoko Kishimoto
      Kayoko Kishimoto
      Anne Suzuki
      Anne Suzuki
      Keiko Matsuzaka
      Yoshino Kimura
      Yoshino Kimura
      Kazuko Yoshiyuki
      Kazuko Yoshiyuki
      Yuki Uchida
      Yuki Uchida
      Akira Takarada
      Akira Takarada
      Yumiko Fujita
      Ren Ôsugi
      Ren Ôsugi
      Susumu Terajima
      Susumu Terajima
      Naomasa Musaka
      Tetsu Watanabe
      Tetsu Watanabe
      Rakkyo Ide
      Rakkyo Ide
      Moro Morooka
      Moro Morooka
      Shun Sugata
      Shun Sugata
      Tamotsu Ishibashi
      • Director
        • Takeshi Kitano
      • Writer
        • Takeshi Kitano
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        In the first scenes/credits of this movie, the Takeshi Kitano's stunt doll is submitted to some medical examinations. When the results are shown on the technicians' screens, the patient name constantly changes from result to result. The names refer to some Masters of the Japanese Cinema and their birth/death dates.
      • Connections
        Referenced in Panel Quiz Attack 25: Episode dated 27 May 2007 (2007)

      User reviews15

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      7/10
      A notch above kitsch
      Beat Takeshi's Glory to the Filmmaker, in the first instance, is difficult to rate. Its merits are clear, but its failures are even more striking. It is second in his supposed trilogy of self-critical, self-reflective, self-mocking metamovies. Having given up on his increasingly mainstream audiences (the accolade he received after Zatoichi), Beat Takeshi is trying to bring the "Beat" back into the mix. It remains an open question whether his methods are to be applauded or lamented. Here, in this film, Kitano widens the schism between himself, the auteur, and the movie-going audiences, by techniques of alienation that are borderline sado-masochistic. The salvaging fact is the comedy of the film, which shows Kitano's long-standing background as a comic. He has shown this side of his psyche only very rarely in his films. So, I am torn between appreciating the light-hearted spirit of the film and castigating, as I should, its heavy-handed pacing and direction.

      But let's look back for a moment... The film that started off this self-reflective trilogy two years ago, Takeshis', I really enjoyed (especially after repeated viewings), because it culminated his career up to that point. This current film does not achieve, or even try to achieve, anything of the sort. It does not reflect back as much as make fun of any sense of history and continuity. It is a meta-movie, a non-movie, a post-movie... and, underneath it all, a series of quirky scenes, gags and fragmentary ideas. The humour of the film is its driving force, making it closer to his comedy Getting Any (1995) than anything he's done before or since. But one has to wade through a pool of dragging nonsense to get to those tasty bits, for which reason I cannot recommend this film as a comedy.

      At parts, I found the film pretentious, self-righteous and uninvolving. In a word, it's too self-conscious to be a comedy.

      During some other scenes I was completely at loss of words (whether because of the film's absurdity, incoherence or its complete disregard for the audience), to the degree that I simply decided I would postpone my judgment for some other day... Well, that "other day" is today, but I still can't make up my mind... The movie disarms the viewer, but it does not live up to much, either. It's like an extended foreplay.

      All in all, one has to appreciate Kitano's vision and uniqueness, but this film works best as a meta-statement of the art of movie making and not so well as a comedy, a drama or anything else. Most viewers will probably find it to be, rightly or wrongly, an irredeemable piece of trash.

      I kinda liked it. It's not good enough to classify as Dada, but it's just a notch above kitsch.
      helpful•9
      4
      • K2nsl3r
      • Nov 25, 2007

      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • June 2, 2007 (Japan)
      • Country of origin
        • Japan
      • Official sites
        • CTV International (France)
        • Official site
      • Language
        • Japanese
      • Also known as
        • Glory to the Filmmaker!
      • Filming locations
        • Tokyo, Japan
      • Production companies
        • Bandai Visual Company
        • Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.
        • DENTSU Music And Entertainment
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

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      • Gross worldwide
        • $410,999
      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Technical specs

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      • Runtime
        1 hour 48 minutes
      • Color
        • Color
        • Black and White
      • Sound mix
        • Dolby Digital
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.85 : 1

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