Venice and Toronto. Sukiyaki Western Django.

Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django "carries its influences on its sleeve," writes Tom Mes - the author, you'll remember, of Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike - at Midnight Eye. "[T]here is a lot of Kurosawa and a lot of Leone, a generous sprinkling of Corbucci, a touch of Okamoto, and a whiff of Gosha. More than just a reminder of the debt the Italians owe the Japanese through the Yojimbo-Fistful of Dollars connection, the film adheres to the far wiser stance that cross-cultural pollination is the essence of cinema and that there is no such thing as a one-way street of influence. As university professors everywhere like to phrase it, cinema is inherently transnational, and Sukiyaki Western Django is that statement made flesh."

Mes also hung with Miike and what can only be described as his entourage (of more than 20) in Venice and his report is a medley of nifty little moments that add up to a mighty enjoyable read.

Sukiyaki Western Django "is a loopy explosion of energy, the most overtly crowd pleasing effort from the prolific cinematic freak show since Zebraman," writes Todd Brown at Twitch. "Bright, brash, violent, and intentionally camp Sukiyaki Western Django is that rarest of things: an intentional cult film that succeeds on all fronts."

"Both Miike and Tarantino, overpraised and overindulged for years, are now in the baroque phases of their careers, strenuously embellishing by-now familiar themes with ever more convoluted arabesques of cinematic referencing and auteurist posturing," writes Mark Schilling in the Japan Times. "I count myself as a fan of both - but I also think they have both reached an impasse, like aging rockers who jazz up their stage shows as vehicles for their decades-old riffs.... Unlike Tarantino, Miike also has a macho sentimental streak, expressed in Sukiyaki by the gunman's selfless championing of the traumatized boy, his much-abused mother and other decent townsfolk. But the operatic clowning undermines the drama." Via Jeffrey Hill at the House Next Door.

This is a "misguided cowboy tale with no twist," writes Michael Lerman at indieWIRE.

"Even with a wealth of past ideas to pilfer, Sukiyaki Western Django can't sustain itself for its full two hour running time," writes Mike White. "Things slow down about an hour into the proceedings. In order to inject some life into the faltering action, Miike breaks into the cartoon sound effects library and attempts to make SWD a life action anime film. These instances feel completely out of place, even after the highly stylized pre-credit sequence starring living cartoon character Quentin Tarantino."

Posted by dwhudson at September 20, 2007 3:37 PM