Zhang Yimou said thirteen years ago, "If the performance is smashed, it will definitely be the lowest point in life, and the audience will always have to say that you lost us once."
Thirteen years ago, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games became the best Olympic opening ceremony in a hundred years;
Thirteen years later, the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which had been highly anticipated for "Tokyo Six Minutes", really lost a lot to the Japanese audience.
"Ordinary" Japanese spectator Takeshi Kitano commented on the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics - "Shame is dead, I dare not go abroad in the future."
Some people felt that Kitano Takeshi's remarks were extremely bold, and even the news that Kitano Takeshi was facing arrest for improper speech. In fact, this is just the sprinkling of water by takeshi Kitano, the "first person with poisonous tongues"!
Although he is seventy years old, the poisonous tongue Kitano Takeshi has never stopped saying bad things in a simple and easy-to-understand way, and he even wrote a book "Poisonous Tongue Kitano Takeshi" to teach everyone how to use provocative words to fight back against anyone who offends you, and beautifully silence the other party.
At the beginning, in order to attract attention, the Tokyo Film Festival took anime as the focus of the screening, and awarded a samurai award to the famous Japanese director Takeshi Kitano and Hollywood director Tim Burton, in the 2-hour speech event in conjunction with the award, Kitano Takeshi put his poisonous tongue on Miyazaki's head: "I hate animation, and the most hated is Miyazaki Hayao." Although, the premise of Kitano's statement is that it is advised that young directors "can't tolerate what they can't get used to," so "only animation can make money, and I agree with its value." ”
You see, if most viewers who watch Miyazaki's anime don't know Takeshi Kitano, they must not scold Takeshi Kitano as a sieve?
Come and let's get to know this "ordinary" Japanese audience member, Takeshi Kitano!
01
In 1972, the 25-year-old Takeshi Kitano sat on a bench at Meiji University with only one dream in his mind:
Be an actor, especially a comedian.
To this end, he quietly dropped out of school in his senior year and fled from Saki, the mother of Jackie Chan.
Although penniless, he has no acting experience.
Wearing a shorts vest and beach sandals, Kitano Still has the "high mood of becoming an adult" and stepped into Asakusa's dream full of taverns, clubs, and strippers.
From elevator brothers, cleaners, lighting assistants, to stage technicians, extras.
Takeshi Kitano, who has worked hard to make a living, finally got the opportunity to perform on stage for the first time.
In very sudden situations, take the stage in place of someone else to perform a transvestite.
Too late to memorize the lines, put on the woman's makeup and rushed to the stage.
Takeshi Kitano's impromptu performance was appreciated by his mentor Chisaburo Fukami.
He was able to stay in his master's theater," the French Seat, and play the lewd roles he had conceived of as an old man.
After honing his comedy skills for two years in the "French Seat", in 1974, Kitano Met his later life partner, Kaneko Jiro.
They were the manga group that would later be popular throughout Japan, two beats.
The jokes of Pai Zi Wu and Pai Zi Qing are known for their absurd poisonous tongues.
They would tease an old lady sitting in the front row: "Obasan, stay with us, don't die until you hear our story!" ”
Not even afraid to make a joke about gang members: "I'm sure you're never going to make a promise with your fingers!" ”
Precise response and no taboos have made Two Beat famous.
During the performance, Takeshi Kitano was very sensitive to the reaction of the audience.
Although thousands of spectators were amused by them, Kitano took care only of the only one who did not laugh.
In order to make the man laugh, Kitano Takeshi did everything in his power, as if he were performing alone.
During that time, Kitano had only two things going on in his mind—making love and writing paragraphs.
While working with the young lady, he did not forget to write a long paragraph on the notebook next to his pillow.
From the elevator boy in Asakusa's French Seat to a comedy star with multiple TV shows, Takeshi Kitano spent a decade.
Those "mad cow" years about youth and dreams, the taste, no matter how much to describe, is not as good as listening to the elderly Kitano Takeshi sing a song "Asakusa Kid" with his broken gong voice.
Asakusa Kid Takeshi Kitano - Golden Best Beat Takeshi - Victor Singles & Album Selection
In the light of the dim go to Asakusa
Only one duvet stove in the apartment
The first time I bought the same suit
Made the same bow tie
But they didn't have the money to buy the same shoes
......
The glass of wine that touched was nostalgic
We also have those times
You shake your shoulders and laugh
Don't say we've abandoned our dreams
We were two people that no one else could rely on
We were two people who had no other way to go
Recalling the old days, Takeshi Kitano said,
"Asakusa is the real school of my life: the first friends, the first romances, the first tragedies, the first happiness... It's all happening on the old streets here. ”
If "Asakusa Kid" has some kind of sad and inspirational power, it is probably it and the story of Takeshi Kitano behind it, which can comfort countless people who can't see the future but are still insisting.
Dreams will always come true, experiences will always be valuable.
Of course, Takeshi Kitano will not be so sensational, looking back on his own path to success, he will only say:
Fortunately, there are so many untalented people that this matter is not as complicated as imagined.
Comedy is the art of rebellion and takeshi Kitano's philosophy of life.
One of his passions for comedy is that it can ridicule and overturn everything.
He uses comedy to rebel against his powerfully educated mother, who believes that "education can cut off poverty", while Takeshi Kitano uses comedy to join the upper class;
Japanese society with a strong sense of rebellious order – often making outrageous moves such as showing their butts in public on NHK programs;
Even the rebellious and boring life - as we all know, Kitano Takeshi's life experience is a wonderful paragraph.
▲ Jiang Fangzhou talks about the Japanese novelist Murakami Ryu
About sex.
Takeshi Kitano, who had no political stance at all in college, joined the 1968 student movement against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.
Because there are rumors that behind the barricades, people are free to have sex.
So that spring, Kitano tookshi had been hanging around the barricades.
About fame and fortune.
After becoming famous, with money, kitano Takeshi first thing was to buy a Porsche.
When he finally sat in the cab, Kitano was distressed: he would not be able to see his Porsche.
To this end, he asked his friend to drive his own Porsche and follow him behind him.
About marriage.
At the age of 72, he divorced and left the house, and Kitano Takeshi laughed at himself:
"It's really not a good year, my money is gone. After no money, friends can't get in touch, and after exposure, the mistress is gone, I already know that it is so difficult, it is better to be with my ex-wife. ”
No matter how deviant things happened to Kitano Takeshi, it seemed much easier to accept.
Despite doing a lot of controversial things, Takeshi Kitano is still seen as a cute bastard.
Not only that, but in a 2011 survey, "Who are you most at ease to put Japan in?" and Kitano took the first place.
"Professor" Ryuichi Sakamoto said something similar:
"Takeshi Kitano is one of the smartest people I've ever met. He can be a great president if our society is willing to accept it. ”
He is the most daring person in Japan, the least afraid of the shortcomings of acupuncture.
He has very sharp views on children's education, cultural issues, and political systems in Japan, to relations between Asian countries, African issues, and so on.
He was once proposed to be Japan's minister of culture, but he categorically refused.
All he had to do was, "Give the middle finger to power for the rest of your life." ”
Comedy is his spear and his shield, his weapon to challenge the world, and his cloak to protect him.
02
In 1989, Takeshi Kitano wrote and directed himself in "The Violent Man", officially starting his career as a big-screen director.
In the film, takeshi Kitano plays the "burst criminal policeman" my wife Yusuke, who is a heretic in the system and pursues violence to counter violence.
Dressed as Yohji Yamamoto, he does not smile, which is contrary to the funny image of Pat Ziwu in the eyes of the Japanese.
This change is also thanks to Nagisa Oshima.
It is this big director with unique insight who sees a "natural killer on the big screen" from the TV joker Pai Ziwu.
He was also invited to star in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", the unapologetic war criminal Sergeant Ōhara.
And the light was not taken away by the mercurial David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Like a comedy career, Takeshi Kitano quickly identified the stylistic positioning of his films.
This debut film has laid the aesthetic elements of the future Kitano Takeshi films:
Fixed mirror positions, long shots, lyrical soundtrack, few lines, violent aesthetics, death and fate.
It injected a dose of fresh blood into the black cop film of the time.
This jealous genius intuition is still full of Kitano Takeshi's cold humor.
For example, the iconic protagonist walking long shot in the film was originally just to make up the number of shots!
And the protagonist's less words are set up purely for convenience and clumsiness.
Because if you talk a lot, Takeshi Kitano feels that he has a greater risk of becoming a crappy actor...
After that, Takeshi Kitano filmed and starred in a number of gangster movies, such as "Gangster" and "Extremely Evil" series.
It once led the fashion trend of Japanese gangsters, and also made Takeshi Kitano quite respected among Japanese gangsters.
Unknown foreign film fans, thinking that the real Kitano Takeshi is a gang boss who hugs before and after.
Although Kitano Takeshi did have a disciple who formed the Kitano Takeshi Legion.
The "Friday Incident" that shook Japan at the beginning — Friday Entertainment Weekly revealed that a female friend of Takeshi Kitano was his mistress and harassed her violently, kitano Takeshi smashed and cleaned the newspaper office with fire extinguishers in anger — and indeed gave Kitano Takeshi a gangster temperament.
The disposition to fight violence with violence is the same as the characters in his films.
But unlike other on-screen tough guys, Takeshi Kitano is a contradiction that fuses two extreme traits.
He is a childlike gangster and a hooligan of pure love.
In 1993, "Sonata" made Takeshi Kitano stand out on the international stage and was selected as one of the top ten of the year in the French Film Handbook that year.
Before the bloody gang massacre, Kitano took a long vacation for gang members to play on the beach.
They dug traps on the beach, fought with fireworks, spat on each other's flower shirts, and scrubbed their hair under the eaves of the rain.
Especially the live-action sumo game that was accelerated in the later stages, it was weird and interesting.
Without play and imagination, this kind of scene could not be filmed.
Just like a younger brother in the play complains to Murakawa, played by Takeshi Kitano:
Big guy, can you not be so childish?
The game brings the gangsters back to their innocence and enjoys the last tranquility before they die.
In Takeshi Kitano's most tender film, Kikujiro's Summer, games are also his way of expressing the warmth between people.
During the summer road trip of the unreliable uncle Kikujiro and the gloomy child Masao, they encounter all kinds of strange people along the way.
Kikujiro's series of losses, young couples' orange juggling and coin-operated mechanical dances, drivers and motorcycle men's magic and cosplay...
Their play and companionship gave the lonely man a most memorable summer vacation.
And in "That Summer's Quiet Sea", his girlfriend Takako accompanied Shigeru surfing;
In "Bad Boy Sky", Shinshi accompanies The Pony to practice boxing.
The left hand is the unrelenting pursuit of love, and the right hand is the love and friendship without impurities.
Takeshi Kitano's set of combination punches can be pure enough for the audience to shed tears.
In addition to the movie, Kitano Takeshi also wrote poetry, painted, and produced a pure love novel.
In the poem he wants to become stupid for the people he likes:
How many days have passed since you left me?
Is it because of loneliness, I became interested in many things
So far completely indifferent, paintings, novels, music, movies, etc
My head seemed brighter than before
It's all your credit
But if you want to come back, I can turn back into an idiot
In the painting, he sprinkles paint like a child.
▲ His paintings also appeared in large numbers in "Hanabi", "Kikujiro's Summer", and "Achilles and the Turtle"
In pure love novels, the protagonist wants to see the person he likes again, but no matter how hard he tries, he is still separated from each other.
Innocence and pure affection are the parts of Kitano Takeshi as an adult who has experienced vicissitudes.
It is this escape that allows Takeshi Kitano to be adorned with cute adjectives in front of negative terms such as villain and rogue.
Kitano Takeshi has always protected the "Xiaowu" of his childhood very well.
In the epilogue to the book "Kitano Takeshi", Kitano Takeshi said: I have always cherished the sensibility formed as a child.
The sea always appears in his films, resulting in the iconic "Kitano Blue".
Kitano Recalls, probably because his father, Kikujiro, who had no communication with him, took him out to play the only time he was at the beach when he was a child.
▲ "Kikujiro's Summer" is a gentle gaze of Kitano Takeshi on his father
"No matter what kind of adult I grow into, no matter how rich I am in the future, that is my most precious wealth."
I hope to always be faithful to my sensibility and live it seriously and frankly. ”
Takeshi Kitano said.
03
In 1994, a motorcycle accident split Takeshi Kitano's life in two.
Kitano Takeshi, whom the audience knows, is divided into anterior and post-facial paralysis.
It is widely believed that the facial scars and muscle twitches caused by the car accident helped Takeshi Kitano better interpret the dark, melancholy and cold humor of his films.
The cause of this accident is still permeated with the absurd style of Kitano Takeshi's actions.
At that time, gossip magazines always published secret photos of Takeshi Kitano going to the Kazezuki place.
Enraged, Takeshi Kitano bought a motorcycle, "Riding a motorcycle is not so easy to be photographed!" ”
As a result, he slammed his face into a mess at three in the morning.
Drinking, wearing a hard hat, and accelerating on the way, doctors deduced that he was a deliberate act of suicide.
Before the accident, Takeshi Kitano's films had already been depicted several times as suicide.
In "The Fierce Man" and "Sonata", Kitano Taketo raises his gun to end himself.
Looking back at the accident, Kitano Felt That He had been squeezed dry by his work.
Everything is spinning in place, repeating past ideas, looking for freshness but never finding it.
"Gradually, I came to a critical tipping point, a very extreme state."
Takeshi Kitano began to entangle with "death" very early on.
When he was in elementary school, he saw the death of someone close to him, and he began to think about life and death.
In 1988, life was not going well, and Kitano Thought, "If I had a gun, I would shoot myself in the head." I was ready to jump the train or the subway. ”
After experiencing this car accident, Kitano Takeshi was finally able to face the anxiety and fear of death.
In his comeback work Bad Boy Sky, he used his youth and boxing to prove his determination to return to his starting point.
In the peak of the mature style, "Hanabi", the desperate love and sudden death erupt into a short and brilliant life consciousness like fireworks.
Takeshi Kitano's "Hanabi", which reflects on death, won the Venice Golden Lion Award, becoming the third person in Japanese history to win this award.
Whether it is the creative process or the result of creation, "Hanabi" is not good.
He not only let Kitano Takeshi straighten out a knot in his life, but also revived his career.
Television ratings rose, and the directing career gained real respect from others.
Since then, he has not only directed Takeshi Kitano, but also the master Takeshi Kitano, and is even regarded as the successor of Akira Kurosawa, the emperor of Japanese cinema.
Despite this, Takeshi Kitano was never satisfied with his films.
"I'm a person who is always anxious."
Anxiety keeps him always starting over, always trying again.
So far, his identity and side hustle cannot be said in one breath:
Actors, directors, screenwriters, writers, editors, producers, TV presenters, amateur baseball players, running fashion cards, tap dancing, singing, writing poetry...
Masayuki Mori, a producer with Takeshi Kitano for decades, said: "His energy is breathless."
At the same time, Kitano Takeshi also has a strict concept of time.
Michelle Terman, a Frenchman who came from afar, was only four minutes late to interview him, and Kitano tookshi did not wait for the people to leave.
Perhaps only after "dying" once will you cherish every second of being alive so much.
Takeshi Kitano commented that he was a somewhat narcissistic person.
"I'm most interested in myself. I wanted to see where Awu would go and see what else he could do. I imagined myself as a male salmon struggling laboriously in the waters of the early spring. ”
Key References:
Takeshi Kitano's Tavern, Nova Press, 2017.
Takeshi Kitano's Self-Description: I Don't Want a Boring Life to Die," Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2015.