Venice. Glory to the Filmmaker!

"Takeshi Kitano's latest auto-reflexive wallow, Glory to the Filmmaker! - the second installment (after Takeshis') in his self-proclaimed process of deconstruction - kicks off in high comic gear but then descends precipitously into solipsistic chaos," writes Ronnie Scheib for Variety.

Kitano plays "a struggling helmer who renounces violent gangster films and tries to reinvent himself through a series of parodied genres: romantic tear-jerker, ninja costumer, J-horror and sci-fi.... As Kitano tries the various genres, he sticks within painstakingly re-created conventions for some while pulling the conceptual rug out from under others. A narrator, who is ostensibly part of Kitano's production team, provides voiceover critiques of the assorted genre forays, although his patience with his 'stupid' boss's artistic crises is wearing thin."

"Although billed as his first real comedy since the 1995 Getting Any? the movie has a few extremely brutal scenes," notes Gautaman Bhaskaran in the Hollywood Reporter. "Venice honored him this year by naming an award after his latest movie. Kitano received the inaugural Glory to the Filmmaker prize, his first accolade on the Lido since 1997, when his Fireworks won the Golden Lion for the best competition entry."

Earlier: Mark Schilling in the Japan Times.

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Covering the coverage: Venice 07. Index.

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Posted by dwhudson at September 5, 2007 12:36 AM