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Lord Retsudo
Reviews
Kikujirô no natsu (1999)
Another 'Beat' Takeshi masterpiece...
Takeshi Kitano proves once again, in his eighth film as director, that he is one of, in not the, most versatile and talented directors currently working in cinema.
This film is a return to the territory he explored in A Scene at the Sea' and Kids Return', featuring many of the same themes and emotions.
It is beautifully filmed, with Kitano's lovely use of editing and innovative film techniques standing out as usual. Joe Hisaishi's music is as gorgeous as always, Takeshi's acting as understated and powerful as ever.
The film is quite simply a joy, at turns happy, sad, uplifting, depressing, peaceful, violent. But never boring and never anything other than utterly absorbing.
I look forward with great enthusiasm to Kitano's next film, which I understand is a return to the gangster genre which he has reinvented so well.
New Rose Hotel (1998)
Ferrara's latest is a bizarre bore...
As a huge fan of Ferrara I ordered the DVD of New Rose Hotel the day it was released (there has been no sign or mention of the film here in the UK) - what a disappointment. The film is pretty indescribable, starting out reasonably but then going *very* down hill. As others have commented, it's like Ferrara ran out of money/ideas for the last half hour so he just shows us footage from the first hour again! Walken is incredible (as always), raising every scene that he's in. Asia Argento is good also, better than in Dario's films. Overall though, a big disappointment. Hard to believe it's from the same man who gave us *the* great American contemporary film of the 90's, 'Bad Lieutenant'...
Bullet Ballet (1998)
Boring film compared to Tsukamoto's others...
As a huge fan of Tsukamoto I was very excited when I finally got hold of a copy of this film, subtitled and widescreen - too bad that it turned out to be a real disappointment. Tsukamoto has gone back to black and white for this film and as a result the film suffers when compared to 'Tokyo Fist' or 'Tetsuo II'. The initial idea (about a man trying to get hold of a gun) is good and Tsukamoto handles things well, with his trademark wobbly camera and multiple jump cuts, but the film just loses its way about half way through and starts to drag. A pity, but I'm still looking forward to 'Gemini'...