BANDAI VISUAL, TOKYO FM, DENTSU, TV ASAHI AND OFFICE KITANO PRESENT A TAKESHI KITANO FILM Written, Edited and Directed by Takeshi Kitano Japan 2007 104 min Colour/B&W Dolby SRD 1:85 Japanese World Sales Celluloid Dreams 2 rue Turgot Paris 75009 T: +33 1 49 70 03 70 F: +33 1 49 70 03 71 E: info@celluloid-dreams.com www.celluloid-dreams.com International Press Richard Lormand World Cinema Publicity M: +39-347-651-0945 or +39-348-380-5733 E: intlpress@aol.com www.filmpressplus.com
SYNOPSIS Famous director Kitano goes on a quest to shoot the ultimate film for movielovers everywhere, but he finds out this isn t as easy as it sounds. He s already troubled since having declared to stop making violent films despite his previous success with yakuza movies. Determined to turn out a hit film, Kitano imagines every genre possible for his new project. An Ozu-style film would be too slow. A nostalgic period piece wouldn t work either. What about a horror film which could eventually be remade by Hollywood? Maybe a romantic tearjerker? A costume adventure full of sword play? Better yet, a sci-fi extravaganza! Unfortunately for the frustrated Kitano, all his pitches are nixed. Then he takes on the story of a ruthless lady con artist and her money-hungry daughter who set their sights on a wealthy man. On screen and off, a series of wacky, unpredictable events soon follow, especially when an unprecedented catastrophe is about to change history. So this time, it s up to the director to not only complete his film, but also save mankind!
DIRECTOR S STATEMENT For a while now, I have been frustrated by the fact that cinema has not gone through a radical enough evolution and changes, despite its 100 or so year history. We do not have cinematic equivalent of Cubism or Fauvism, radical evolutions in the history of painting. This film is my take on cinematic Cubism, where I played with different genres of cinema in one film. Being originally a standup comic, I couldn t help having fun with the process by adding a lot of comedic elements to it. I wanted to explore what can be shown in cinema but wanted to do it with fun. I get the feeling that my search will continue for quite some time yet.
TAKESHI KITANO Director, screenwriter & editor Born in Tokyo in 1947. As an actor, he has starred in such films as Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence ( 83), Yasha ( 85), Johnny Mneumonic ( 95), Taboo ( 99), Battle Royale (00) and Blood and Bones ( 04). He made his debut as director with Violent Cop, which he also starred in. Since then, he has directed Boiling Point, A Scene at the Sea, Sonatine, Getting Any? and Kids Return. Hana- Bi was awarded the Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival and consolidated Kitano s position as director. This is followed by Kikujiro, the Japan- U.S. co-production Brother, Dolls and Zatoichi, Kitano s first period drama, winning the Best Director Award at the Venice International Film Festival. After the release of Takeshis, Kitano was presented the Special Culture Award of the 10th Galileo 2000 Awards in Italy. Glory to the Filmmaker! is Kitano s 13th film.
FILMOGRAPHY Glory to the Filmmaker! 2007 One Fine Day (Chacun son Cinema) 2007 Takeshis 2005 Zatoichi 2003 Dolls 2002 Brother 2000 Kikujiro 1999 Hana-Bi 1997 Kids Return 1996 Getting Any? 1995 Sonatine 1993 A Scene at the Sea 1991 Boiling Point 1990 Violent Cop 1989
CREW CAST WRITTEN, EDITED AND DIRECTED BY TAKESHI KITANO PRODUCED BY MASAYUKI MORI TAKIO YOSHIDA LINE PRODUCER SHINJI KOMIYA PRODUCTION MANAGER TORU MORI MUSIC SHIN-ICHIRO IKEBE CINEMATOGRAPHY KATSUMI YANAGIJIMA LIGHTING DESIGN HITOSHI TAKAYA PRODUCTION DESIGN NORIHIRO ISODA SOUND DESIGN SENJI HORIUCHI FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR TAKASHI MATSUKAWA EDITOR YOSHINORI OTA SCRIPT SUPERVISOR KUMIKO YOSHIDA CASTING TAKEFUMI YOSHIKAWA VFX SUPERVISOR YOSHIFUMI SADAHARA SOUND EFFECTS KENJI SHIBASAKI SET DECORATOR TATSUO OZEKI COSTUMES FUMIO IWASAKI HAIRSTYLIST & MAKE-UP AKIKO HOSOKAWA BEAT TAKEHSI TOHRU EMORI KAYOKO KISHIMOTO ANNE SUZUKI KAZUKO YOSHIYUKI AKIRA TAKARADA YUMIKO FUJITA YUKI UCHIDA YOSHINO KIMURA KEIKO MATSUZAKA REN OHSUGI SUSUMU TERAJIMA NAOMASA MUSAKA TETSU WATANABE RAKKYO IDE MORO MOROOKA SHUN SUGATA TAMOTSU ISHIBASHI MASAHIRO CHONO HIROYOSHI TENZAN MASATOH IBU - Narrator