Takeshi Kitano

Takeshi Kitano

Birth : 1947-01-18, Tokyo, Japan

History

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host.

Profile

Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano

Movies

analog
Novel
Satoru Mizushima is a designer, who prefers traditional things like handmade items and handwritten works. One day, he happens to meet a mysterious woman, Miyuki Miharu, at the cafe named Piano. She seems to have similar values to him and he is attracted to her. Satoru asks for Miyuki's cellphone number, but she doesn't own a cellphone. They make a promise to meet at the cafe every Thursday. Since then, Satoru and Miyuki meet every Thursday and their relationship develops romantically. Satoru decides to propose Miyuki, but she doesn't show up at the cafe.
Asakusa Kid
Novel
Before he hit it big, Takeshi Kitano got his start apprenticing with comedy legend Fukami of Asakusa. But as his star rises, his mentor's declines.
Citizen Kitano
Self - Interviewee & Portrait Subject
Citizen Kitano
Self
Takeshi Kitano is an international icon. We know the actor, the multi-award-winning filmmaker, but many ignore his double personality: the crazy TV star, the street kid from Tokyo close to the Yakuza, and the political satirist who blasted taboos! Can we dream of a better guide to introduce us to the cultural history of Japan?
Plankton Salesmen
Self (archive footage)
A nostalgic look at the birth and death of arthouse film distribution in the early 2000s in Russia. The story of the Cinema Without Borders company and its two founders, Sam Klebanov and Anton Mazurov.
Outrage Coda
Screenplay
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Outrage Coda
Editor
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Outrage Coda
Director
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Outrage Coda
Otomo
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Prison Break
Urata
One late night in June 1942, Sakuma Seitaro dangles from the frame of a skylight in an isolation cell in Akita Prison. He forces open the glass window and breaks out of jail. This crime even reaches the ears of Urata Susumu, the chief warden of Kosuge Prison in Tokyo. Urata had been in charge of those sentenced to life in the prison until last year. Although Sakuma is a dangerous person who had also broken out of jail in Aomori, he submits to Urata who is the only person who had treated him kindly in the past. However, three months after escaping from jail, Sakuma shows up at Urata’s house. He has come to complain about the inhumane Akita prison officers. But he is locked up again after Urata notifies the police during an unguarded moment. A year later, Sakuma is sent to Abashiri Prison and Urata is also ordered to transfer as the prison’s chief warden.
Ghost in the Shell
Chief Daisuke Aramaki
In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human saved from a terrible crash, then cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
Doctor X: Gekai Daimon Michiko Special
Kojiro Himuro is a champion figure skater taking part in an upcoming world competition. Yet, he is suffering from a complicated CTEPH (chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension). Kantaro Kurosu is the director of the Cross Medical Center. He asks Michiko Daimon to perform surgery on Kojiro, but, right before his surgery, she is deprived of “the most important weapon as a surgeon.”
While the Women Are Sleeping
Kenji and Aya spend their summer days in a Hotel. While she is doing her own thing, he tries to work on his novel. But then a few strange hotel guest arouse the curiosity of the couple...
A Living Promise
Detective Koichiro Iwase
Yuma Nakahara (Yutaka Takenouchi) is the CEO of an IT company and he is a workaholic. He is focused only on expanding his company. He receives a phone call from his former co-worker and friend Kouhei, but Kouhei doesn't say anything. Yuma gets the sense that something is wrong and heads to Kouhei's hometown of Shinminato, Toyama Prefecture, Japan. In Shinminato, Yuma meets other people and becomes involved in the Shinminato Hikiyama Festival. His outlook on life begins to change.
Aka Medaka
Tatekawa Danshi
One of the hottest selling tickets in town is to see the hugely popular “rakugoka”, or comic storyteller, Danshun. Danshun himself was inspired as a little boy to become a rakugoka after seeing the legendary Danshi. He had found his calling. After his resistant parents relented to their son’s pleas, Danshun at age 17 became an apprentice of Danshi, the man dubbed a “wunderkind” and “genius” of the rakugo world. He soon realized however how hard the training was, and embarked upon a rigorous existence in which he had to deliver newspapers to earn a living. Living with hardship and joys, Danshun and his fellow apprentices would eventually rise in the rakugo world. A resplendent cast comes together to depict the rough and tumble world of a man who loved rakugo above all else and was destined to fulfill a dream.
Mozu The Movie
Daruma
Lone wolf detective with an enormous personal grievance seeks to connect the mysterious death of his daughter to an urban legend of a villain who terrorizes Japan by insinuating himself into people's dreams and the collective psyche of the Japanese people.
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
Detective Murakami
Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
Editor
Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
Writer
Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
Director
Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.
Morning
A pensioner takes a walk in the park.
Morning
Screenplay
A pensioner takes a walk in the park.
Morning
Director
A pensioner takes a walk in the park.
The 8th Floor
On the 8th floor of the Fondation Cartier in Paris, Raymond Depardon's film features a minute of silence with eight artists and scientists: David Lynch, Patti Smith, William Eggleston, Takeshi Kitano, Ron Mueck, Jean Michel Alberola, Agnès Varda and Misha Gromov.
In Between Mountains And Oceans
Himself
Finding their place between the forest and the sea, the Japanese have always felt awe and gratitude toward Nature. Since ancient times, they have negotiated their own unique relationship with their natural surroundings. Acclaimed photographer Masa-aki Miyazawa discovered the essence of that ancient way of living in Ise Jingu, Japan’s holiest Shinto shrine. Inspired by the idea of sending a message to the future in the same way this ancient shrine keeps alive the traditions of the past, Miyazawa used an ultra-high resolution 4K camera to create a breathtaking visual journey linking the Ise forest with other forests throughout Japan.
Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel
Rokuro Fujisawa
In 1959, a body of a flight attendant of an international airline is found, strangled. Detective Rokuro Fujisawa takes charge of the investigation with a young detective Ichimura and his investigations lead him to Father Tolbeck as a suspect. But the police are forced to move very discreetly as the time was right after the Second World War, when a sensitive situation that involves Western people and religion is likely to become an international issue. The investigation leads to an unexpected discloser of a shadowy business behind the church that reflects the uncertainty of the time.
Kids Return: The Reunion
Original Story
Set 10 years after "Kids Return." Shinji and Masaru have graduated from high school with different paths in their lives. Shinji attempted to become boxer and Masaru a yakuza. They both tried to rise to the top of their respective fields.
Trespassing Bergman
Self
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, left Stockholm and went to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special cinephiles, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (An abridged version of Bergmans video, 2012.)
Beyond Outrage
Editor
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Beyond Outrage
Writer
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Beyond Outrage
Otomo
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Beyond Outrage
Director
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Dearest
Teruo Sugino
A prison officer hands in his resignation after his wife's death, to drive to the port where she wants her ashes scattered at sea. Eiji (Ken Takakura) works as a prison officer in Hokuriku. At the age of 53 Eiji loses his wife who he loved the most. Eiji then receives a letter from his dead wife which requests that her ashes be spread by in the sea next to her hometown. Her wife never mentioned such a thing while she was alive. In order to find out her real intentions, Eiji heads to his wife's hometown of Nagasaki with his homemade camper van.
Bergmans video
Self
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, left Stockholm and went to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special cinephiles, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (Released in 2013, edited and abridged, as Trespassing Bergman.)
Une Journée particulière
Self
At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera.
Kikoku
Private First Class Oomiya
An unscheduled late night train arrives at Tokyo station on 15 August, the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. Boarding the train are spirits of great men who died honourable deaths in the war more than 60 years ago. They have come to the modern world to see their homeland as a peaceful country and to tell the lingering spirits of the war dead about the current conditions.
Miwa: Looking for Black Lizard
Himself
A legendary entertainer and a pioneer of gay activism, Miwa was born Akihiro Maruyama. As a young singer, Miwa popularized androgyny as a fashion statement, fusing the masculine and the feminine into a signal of a new generation of aesthetics. This evolved into performing as a woman and living off-stage as a man. With glitter, wit, evening gowns, and enchanting storytelling, Miwa looks back over a 50-year career and a fascinating life in music, film and television.
Outrage
Editor
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.
Outrage
Otomo
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.
Outrage
Screenplay
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.
Outrage
Director
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.
Takeshi's Castle Vol. 1
Director
Various attacking forces unique to Takeshi's Castle were organized, aiming for "Defeat! Takeshi's Castle" There were many battles. This set gathers the tightness of the battle, such as parent-child tournament, Danjin tournament, female college student tournament, brave fighter tournament, etc. Also included is a collection of contests in Takeshi's Castle, as well as episodes of Takeshi & Takeshi Corps struggling to recapture the castle that was stolen by Captain Tani.
Takeshi's Castle Vol. 1
Various attacking forces unique to Takeshi's Castle were organized, aiming for "Defeat! Takeshi's Castle" There were many battles. This set gathers the tightness of the battle, such as parent-child tournament, Danjin tournament, female college student tournament, brave fighter tournament, etc. Also included is a collection of contests in Takeshi's Castle, as well as episodes of Takeshi & Takeshi Corps struggling to recapture the castle that was stolen by Captain Tani.
あの戦争は何だったのか
Hideki Tojo
The drama stars Beat Takeshi as General Hideki Tojo, who served as Prime Minister of Japan during World War II and was later executed as a war criminal. The story's theme is said to be a look at how the Pacific War began, focusing mostly on the three month period between the Imperial Conference (Gozen Kaigi) on September 6, 1941, and the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit
Take-Majin
When heads of state gather at the G8 summit in Japan, Guilala -- the intergalactic monster that had been banished from the earth in The X from Outer Space -- returns to ravage the Japanese countryside and threaten the world leaders. Military strikes prove futile against the beast, but a reporter learns that one rural community possesses a strange ritual that might influence the creature. Minoru Kawasaki directs this campy satire.
Achilles and the Tortoise
Editor
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.
Achilles and the Tortoise
Screenplay
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.
Achilles and the Tortoise
Machisu
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.
Achilles and the Tortoise
Director
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.
Dots and Lines
Jutaro Torikai
Jutaro Torikai is a senior detective set to uncover the truth behind an apparent double suicide.
To Each His Own Cinema
Screenplay
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
To Each His Own Cinema
Editor
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
To Each His Own Cinema
Producer
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
To Each His Own Cinema
The projectionist (segment "Rencontre unique")
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
To Each His Own Cinema
Director
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
Glory to the Filmmaker!
Editor
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.
Glory to the Filmmaker!
Takeshi / Yakuza / Father / Ninja / Detective / Astronomer
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.
Glory to the Filmmaker!
Writer
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.
Glory to the Filmmaker!
Director
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.
One Fine Day
Editor
An older gentleman deals with an incompetent projectionist.
One Fine Day
Writer
An older gentleman deals with an incompetent projectionist.
One Fine Day
Projectionist
An older gentleman deals with an incompetent projectionist.
One Fine Day
Director
An older gentleman deals with an incompetent projectionist.
Takeshis'
Editor
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Takeshis'
Writer
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Takeshis'
Director
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Takeshis'
Beat Takeshi / Mr. Kitano
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
The Golden Cups: One More Time
Himself
A music documentary that traced the trajectory of the authentic real power band "The Golden Cups" born from Yokohama / Honmoku where the US military base exists in 1966. The testimonies of the members who look back at that time and the interviews of people who respect them such as Takeshi Kitano, Kiyoshiro Imokano, Yukiyama Sword, and live images at Honmoku where original members resurrected after 31 years since dissolution. Moreover, it is spelled with valuable materials such as a photograph in which the appearance of the "Honmoku Golden Cup" store miraculously was recorded, and a performance scene of regular TV program R & B heaven since 1968.
Blood and Bones
Joon-pyong Kim
In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.
Izo
Chancellor
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Electric Yakuza, Go to Hell!
Self
Documentary about the Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, where we see him attend film festivals, personal influences and of course the study of his main films, apart from the opinions about him by other filmmakers such as Takeshi Kitano or Kinji Fukasaku.
Arakimentari
Self
A look at the life and work of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and his impact on Japanese culture.
Zatoichi
Zatoichi / Ichi
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Zatoichi
Editor
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Zatoichi
Screenplay
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Zatoichi
Director
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
The Final Battleground — Making of Battle Royale II
Self
Prolific director Kinji Fukasaku died suddenly during the production of Battle Royale 2. His son and screenwriter Kenta took over as director and completed the film.
Battle Royale II: Requiem
Kitano
It's three years after the events of the original Battle Royale, and Shuya Nanahara is now an internationally-known terrorist determined to bring down the government. His terrorist group, Wild Seven, stages an attack that levels several buildings in Tokyo on Christmas Day, killing 8000 people. In order for the government to study the benefits of "teamwork", the new students work in pairs, with their collars electronically linked so that if one of them is killed, the other dies as well. They must kill Nanahara in three days - or die.
Kichiku
Dolls
Editor
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Dolls
Screenplay
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Dolls
Director
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Kogoro Akechi vs Kaijin Nijyuu Menso
Niju Menso
Asakusa Kid
Original Story
After dropping out of college, "Takeshi" jumps into the Asakusa France Theater and begins his training as a comedian. His teacher, Senzaburo Fukami, Masayoshi Inoue, who also trains at the French Theater and aspires to be a writer, and other good-natured dancers... This heartwarming and moving drama set in Asakusa vividly depicts the process of "Takeshi's" self-discovery through interaction with his delightful friends.
Shooting Film is Battleground: Making of BATTLE ROYALE
Self
The late Kinji Fukasaku directed "Battle Royale" - his 60th movie - at the age of 70. This film follows the shooting of the film.
Battle Royale
Kitano
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Brother
Editor
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang.
Brother
Aniki Yamamoto
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang.
Brother
Author
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang.
Brother
Director
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang.
Making of 'Battle Royale'
Self
An abundance of footage from the shooting of Battle Royale and cast and crew discussions.
Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano
First major English-language documentary profile of the cult Japanese actor/director, Takeshi Kitano. Featuring interviews with many of his regular contributors and colleagues, the film explores Kitano's rise from working-class poverty to superstar of Japanese radio, TV, comedy and journalism, and follows the making of his US-Japanese gangster film, 'Brother'.
Taboo
Toshizo Hijikata
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Kikujiro
Screenplay
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Kikujiro
Director
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Kikujiro
Editor
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Kikujiro
Kikujiro
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
The Unpredictable Takeshi Kitano
Self
Jean-Pierre Limosin follows Takeshi Kitano on the set of Kikujiro, films it during an interview with Shiguehiko Hasumi, president of the University of Tokyo and who, as a great film buff, was one of the first to recognize directorial talents of Takeshi Kitano
Jam Session (The Official Bootleg of Kikujiro)
Documents the events surrounding the making of 'Kikujiro no natsu'.
Zankyo
The story of Iwaki, a young brawler who becomes a professional criminal when he joins a Yakuza clan.
TOKYO EYES
Yakusa
The police are tracking a man who shoots at people. But the young sister of a detective finds that he's not the mad vigilante portrayed in newspapers.
Fireworks
Yoshitaka Nishi
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Fireworks
Director
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Fireworks
Writer
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Fireworks
Editor
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Making-of Kids Return
Himself
Making of Takeshi Kitano's movie Kids Return.
Kids Return
Editor
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Kids Return
Writer
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Kids Return
Director
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
GONIN
Ichiro Kyoya
Five men plot to steal a large sum of money from the local yakuza, but everything does not go as planned and the men find themselves hunted down by contract killers.
Johnny Mnemonic
Takahashi
In a dystopian 2021, Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits—and will kill him if the data is not removed in time—but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
Getting Any?
Editor
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.
Getting Any?
Scientist
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.
Getting Any?
Writer
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.
Getting Any?
Director
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.
Many Happy Returns
Novel
Kazuo encounters a religious group travelling around Japan performing "miracles". He discovers they are fakes, but is intrigued by the showmanship of the group, and becomes involved with them. The group is split into two, some members concentrating on spiritual teachings, and the others using the facade of religion to make money. The business faction dismiss the old spiritual master and choose Kazuo to lead their group.
Many Happy Returns
Daisuke Shiba
Kazuo encounters a religious group travelling around Japan performing "miracles". He discovers they are fakes, but is intrigued by the showmanship of the group, and becomes involved with them. The group is split into two, some members concentrating on spiritual teachings, and the others using the facade of religion to make money. The business faction dismiss the old spiritual master and choose Kazuo to lead their group.
Sonatine
Screenplay
A Japanese mobster attempts to even the score when he realizes he and his lackeys have been pawns in a lethal game.
Sonatine
Editor
A Japanese mobster attempts to even the score when he realizes he and his lackeys have been pawns in a lethal game.
Sonatine
Director
A Japanese mobster attempts to even the score when he realizes he and his lackeys have been pawns in a lethal game.
Sonatine
Aniki Murakawa
A Japanese mobster attempts to even the score when he realizes he and his lackeys have been pawns in a lethal game.
Erotic Liaisons
Okuyama
A low-key private detective agency in Paris is run by Rie and her lover and partner Kishin, two ex-pats who tick along between cases by giving guided tours of the city to busloads of Japanese tourists. After the wealthy Okuyama hires them to trail his French mistress Lorraine whom he believes to be having an affair, feeble-willed Kishin finds himself seduced by this femme fatale and way out of his depth in a seamy underworld of rich Japanese businessmen, S&M games and huge piles of money.
Dioxin from Fish!
A black comedy about a former Rock'n'Roll singer, who becomes the mayor of Tokyo.
A Legend of Turmoil
A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza family. When his boss gets shot, he decides to go after the plotters.
Shoko Asahara with Takeshi
Sect leader of Aum Shinrikyo, known as Shoko Asahara, and Takeshi Kitano meet in an interview.
A Scene at the Sea
Screenplay
The lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
A Scene at the Sea
Editor
The lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
A Scene at the Sea
Director
The lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
Kim's War
Kim Hyi-ro
After shooting a gangster in self-defense, Kim Hui Ro takes refuge at a hotel and takes the guest hostages. Realising his position, he invites the press inside and explains why he was driven to his crime.
KILL THEM ALL
Boiling Point
Screenplay
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
Boiling Point
Uehara
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
Boiling Point
Director
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
Hoshi wo tsugu mono
Yama no hito
An old man falls into a coma and dreams about his childhood during WWII.
Violent Cop
Writer
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
Violent Cop
Adaptation
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
Violent Cop
Director
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
Violent Cop
Azuma
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
The Boss' Wife
Shoji Sugimoto, Hitman
The widow of a murdered yakuza boss serves jail time for attacking the man she believes killed her husband. After her release, as she is shadowed by a hitman, she returns to thoughts of revenge.
No More Comics!
Police
Stuck doing show-biz schlock, an investigative reporter stumbles on a scheme to swindle pensions through an attractive gold futures scam, a potential news-story.
Demon
Yajima
Shuji was once a feared member of the Yakuza crime syndicate, but he's reformed his ways, abandoned his old life and left the city for a small coastal fishing town where he's become an honest fisherman.
Joke with a Sorrowful Heart
Hiroshi Igarashi
This is a sad and beautiful story about a father who is a popular comedian and a son who suffered by an incurable disease.
Tokyo Melody: A Film about Ryuichi Sakamoto
Hara (archive footage)
Documentary about the eclectic Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto during the recording sessions for his 1984 album "Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia".
The Crimes of Kiyoshi Ôkubo
Kiyoshi Ôkubo
Arrested and interrogated by the police for a murder, Kiyoshi Ôkubo remembers his past and ends up confessing to several murders. Inspired by the true story of the serial killer who raped and killed eight women in Japan in 1971. The case moved the whole country.
The Mosquito on the Tenth Floor
Man at Racetrack
A lower-middle-class policeman lives decadently, chasing cheap beer and girls at the same time he's running from loan sharks and his personal expectations.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Hara
Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.
Summer Secrets
Two high school girls get mixed up in murder while investigating the disappearance of a classmate.
Completely... With That Air!
This film is Beat Takeshi's first starring role.
Manon
Shinobu
A story about a woman who is a research student of a theater company and the three men who are at the mercy of her.
The Dump Truck Rascal
Depicting the turbulent life of truck driver Takashi, his fellow drivers, and the women he meets.
Makoto-chan
The series follows the odd life of kindergartener Makoto Sawada and his family. Makoto gets into all sorts of toilet and adult humor. He sometimes dresses in his mother's and sister's clothing, and often has a long strand of mucus dangling from his nose.
Go, Go Second Time Virgin
Gang Member
After being sexually assaulted on a rooftop, seventeen year old Poppo meets a mysterious boy, and swap their traumas and fears, with fatal consequences.
Untitled Takeshi Kitano Project
Writer
Plot Unknown.
Untitled Takeshi Kitano Project
Director
Plot Unknown.
JAPANARAMA! Psycho TV From Japan Vol. 1
No wonder the Japanese are such a stressed-out society: They enjoy mutilating and torturing each other just for the hell of it...not to mention for the benefits of the television cameras, and Japanarama! Volume 1 captures two hours of only the very twisted of psycho TV from Japan. Much of this party tape utilizes footage from bizarre and cruel game shows. Rounding out the tape are some great cheesey commercials, mostly for foods that look grossly unappetizing, and some with sell out American celebrities. A few scenes are shown from various weird Far East movies.
Neck
Writer
Based on the real-life Honno-ji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582.
Neck
Director
Based on the real-life Honno-ji Incident, in which famed warlord Oda Nobunaga was assassinated at a temple in Kyoto in 1582.