Flick Picks, Episode Three

Hello, fellow Streakers! Boog here with the third entry into the weekly adventure that is Flick Picks. This week, other posters gave me accidental inspiration. With Ginger's bit about anime, especially her first foray being Akira (sorry about that, again. I've since learned there are better ways to introduce people to Japanese culture), and Anacronus' take on new indie games following retro themes, got me thinking about old loves of mine, particularly:
spaghetti westerns, kung fu flicks, and Quentin Tarantino. So I found a film I remembered that had all three, and had a very small run here theatrically, so I may actually be the first one to clue some of you in to this film. Here comes...

Sukiyaki Western Django.

First, if you hate Tarantino, you can watch this, he only acts in this film, no director or producer credit. Second, if you hate watching subtitles for Japanese films, you can watch this, because the cast, despite being almost entirely Japanese natives, speaks English, although heavily accented. Third, if you hate Westerns, well, you may not like this movie. Oh, and SPOILERS!

This film has a weird backstory, some of which I must explain before I get into the film itself. The major point here, is that the director of the film had a very specific aesthetic and form he wanted, and the film's name explains a lot of it. Sukiyaki is a common noodle dish native to Japan, so Sukiyaki in this case translates to "Spaghetti". This film is a remake of a Spaghetti Western, known as Django, released in 1966. The part that gets confusing, is that Django itself is almost entirely a remake of a better spaghetti western, Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, released 4 years prior. Dollars, in comparison, while a gem of the spaghetti western genre, is a blatant retelling of another Japanese film, Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic Yojimbo, released the year before. But all of that goes hand in hand with a 12th century Japanese military epic, The Tale of the Heike, which is the tale that even Yojimbo is partly based on.

Whew. That was a bit of a trip, huh? It was also probably for most of you, boring and unnecessary. However, without all that in mind, this film becomes a weird almost spoof of the entire western genre, instead of the bloody, homage ridden tale of revenge, betrayal, and greed it really is. First, the visuals. The aesthetic can throw you off, as parts of the film are intentionally done with poor effects, like backgrounds that are obvious matte paintings, and gunshot wounds that are far too large to be believable. This looks especially heinous considering some of the beautiful effect shots later in the film. But when taken together, they help craft a strange world, at once alien, but familiar, with tokens of Shakespeare, Italy, Nevada, Akira(sorry Ginger), and Westerns and Samurai moves, of which everything I've linked above is directly referenced, or is a part of the overall plot.

The music is well done, but rather spartan, as most of the film is mostly scored by one singular trumpet, in a recurring theme reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's work on Leone's westerns, like Dollars. There are other tracks, and they are more of the variety one would find in other films from Director Takaishi Miike's repertoire, such as the main film he's known for to western audiences, 2001's Ichi the Killer, small tracks with strong rhythms from ethnic instruments, and a strong guitar-fueled rock number to play out the final showdown.

The Plot here, well, to be honest, it has been done before, a lot. It has also likely been done better before, and will probably be done better in the future. But it is a classic plot structure, told well, with new twists for western audiences in the historical context, providing ample characters to play with, and it is a story that the film absolutely revels in, in parts serious, playful, cruel, angry, sorrowful, and poignant. There are also around four subplots going on here, most of them small, and all of them familiar to diehard fans of Westerns, or of Japanese cinema. Their familiarity doesn't detract from the main plot, instead they work with the visuals and music to help ground the overall film experience into something thoroughly enjoyable.

Now, about the characters. This is really an ensemble piece, with about seven different characters who are central to the plot, or subplots, of the film. There are a few other notable performances and actors here, and I'll try my best to hit them all. First, for my own pleasure, Tarantino, here playing a bit part to open and close the film, a father figure in the art of killing with a gun. He knows what he needed to do to get the part across, and does no more than is needed. A no frills performance, which here is complimentary. The main antagonists, heads of their respective clans, the Genji and Heike, are played by Yusuke Iseya, and Koichi Sato, respectively. Both are great performances, bringing very different things to the table, Yusuke playing an agile swordsman, brash and confident, with a singular focus on what he wants for his world, and himself. Koichi, in turn, comes off as more of a thug, less intelligent, and tough, but overall disinterested in the world outside of his hatred for the Genji clan. The nameless protagonist here is played by Hideaki Ito, and played well. Confident and angry, he shows himself off as the badass he is supposed to be, in a way that would probably make Eastwood proud. Speaking of badassery, one must speak of Ruriko, aka "Bloody Benten", played by Kaori Momoi, who most readers here may recognize, as she was in 2005's Memoir of a Geisha, as the mother of the main character. Here she plays a aging woman, one who holds many secrets, the least of which is her ability with a gun. Resigned to fate, yet strong and determined, she comes off quite well as a badass to equal the protagonist, and in some ways, better him.

There are two other notable characters, the town's Sheriff, played by Teruyuki Kagawa, is a spineless, double-talking, coward of a man, whose bout with madness comes off as the main comic relief, played almost like a reference to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. Then there is Shizuka, a bar dancer played by Yoshino Kimura, who in a way is a parallel in Ruriko in the film. She is focused on revenge for the death of her husband, forsaking all else, even her own child, mirroring the determination of the film's antagonists, and coming off as a sad end of a cruel feud.
Also notable is a bit part in the character of Benkei, played by Takaaki Ishibashi, who is really the only other Japanese actor in the film besides Momoi who has been in a film widely released to American audiences, in this case, Major League II, and Major League: Back to the Minors. For those of you who remember when Charlie Sheen was relevant enough to merit leading man casting in a comedy, congratulations, take a shot.

So, in closing, overall, this film is fast-paced, wild fun, with an emphasis on violence and blood. A strong, familiar plot, with strong characters, good, if spartan music, great, heavily accented dialogue, and enough guns, swords and bullets to supply a year's worth of weapon shows. Heavily recommended, especially for those who love Westerns, or Japanese films, or both.