Citizen Kitano (2020) [Documentary Review]

Citizen Kitano; or, A Tribute to the Auteur!
     I intentionally shoot action to make the audience feel real pain. I have never and I will never shoot violence as if it’s some kind of action video game.
It goes without saying that Takeshi Kitano gained widespread international attention in the 1990s, but French occupation with the Japanese director should be categorised as a separate phenomenon. Apart from releasing Kitano’s productions on the European market, France would also translate his books and collections of essays. Yves Montmayeur’s 2020 documentary called Citizen Kitano is yet another proof of how much the Japanese legend is revered there. Let’s see together how it holds up.

Release Info

Directed by: Yves Montmayeur Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Katsumi Yanagijima, Kayoko Kishimoto

Language: French, Japanese Runtime: 52 min

From Street Kid to TV Star
I was lucky enough to catch the documentary on the Canal+ channel in my country. The documentary lasts slightly over 50 minutes, so it is not a lot of time to cover Kitano’s rich cinematic legacy, but Citizen Kitano manages to get through the major points in a succinct way.

We start off with Kitano’s childhood. Where he came from and what his background was. These memoirs are accompanied by animation clips as well as old photos. Then, we move on to his stage endeavours as ‘Beat’ Takeshi and a career on Television in the 1980s. This part of the documentary includes a lot of previously unknown archive footage from Kitano’s reality shows. What is more, the narration is accompanied by insightful interviews from Kitano himself as well as actress Kayoko Kishimoto, director of photography Katsumi Yanagijima, and journalist Michel Temman.

The interviews are undoubtedly the best part of the documentary as they present the fans with new information on the elusive figure of Kitano; however, the director’s “pretentious” (for lack of a better word) narration is unforgivable. It seems as if Yves Montmayeur relentlessly tries to frame Takeshi, with the usage of inventive adjectives and comparisons, as a kind of an underdog battling the disbelievers who fail to recognise his creative talent. Indeed, Kitano had a hard time transitioning from the realm of TV to cinema, and his movies did not sell well in Japan, but it does not mean by default that the whole public perceived him as an misunderstood outcast.

The part of the documentary which covers Kitano’s movies also leaves a bit to be desired. Montmayeur focuses primarily on Kitano’s popular yakuza flicks, such as Violent Cop (1989), Sonatine (1993), and Hana Bi (1997) as well as the director’s intertextual pieces like Takeshis (2005) and Glory to the Filmmaker! (2007). However, Kitano’s sensitive side reflected in A Scene at a Sea (1991), Kikujiro (1999), Dolls (2002), and Achilles and a Tortoise (2008) is barely scratched.

Still, I admire that the documentary shows off Kitano’s activity as a painter and modern commentator on the political and social issues in Japan. We even get a short interview with the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, who describes her encounter with Kitano dressed up as Donald Trump.

Arguably, the most interesting and heart-warming statements come from Kayoko Kishimoto who has collaborated with Kitano since the 1980s. The actress really manages to capture the multifaceted image of the director who is either hated or loved by cinemagoers.

Recommendations
All things considered, if you are a die-hard fan of Takeshi Kitano, you probably will not get a lot of new info out of this documentary. Still, it is worth checking it out for the interviews and archive footage. Dear Netflix, I am still waiting for the live-action movie inspired by Kitano’s life. Don’t disappoint me!

Overall score: 7/10

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