Takashi Miike's Japanese Spaghetti Western

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davide

Well-known member
I just saw Takashi Miike's Japanese Spaghetti Western, "Sukiyaki Western Django" at the NY Asian Film Festival. We all know the story of how Sergio Leone stole the idea for Fistful of Dollars from Kurosawa's Yojimbo, well now the Japanese are getting even. "Sukiyaki Western Django" is a English language Western, set in America but with an all Japanese (save for Quinten Tarantino) cast. The movie comes closer than any other I've ever seen to being a live action cartoon--in a good way. It's one of trippiest, funniest and surprising movies I've seen in a long time. The idea of having a Western taking place in America but starring Japanese actors trying to speak heavy-handed Frontier American English sprinkled with obviously anachronistic 20th century phrases is genius. Throw in Quinten Tarantino as the only character who speaks Japanese and you've got a classic.

It's also got great art direction and rather nice cinematography too. Much better than you'd expect from a comedy. Visually I think this is some of Miike's best work yet.

Has anyone else here gotten a chance to check it out? If not I highly suggest it. I heard the head of the festival say that it's theatrical release is slated for net month.

http://www.subwaycinema.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=80

davide
 
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Wouldn't a Japanese Western be a "Sushi Western?" Or, if you want to keep it noodly for whatever reason, an "Udon Western?" :D
 
What an awesome looking movie. Is it hitting Cinemas anytime soon or just festivals?

I want to seee.
 
Everything about that looks good. Except the casting of Tarantino. Hollywood is LOADED with supremely talented actors and they go and cast Tarantino?
 
Rick Meyer said:
Everything about that looks good. Except the casting of Tarantino. Hollywood is LOADED with supremely talented actors and they go and cast Tarantino?
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I wasn't too pleased with that choice either when I first heard about it. I really disliked Tarantino's performance in Pulp Fiction. But I didn't mind him at all in this movie. He wasn't amazing, but he didn't detract from the film. And in a lot of ways the casting decision is perfect. One of the overriding themes of this film is the way Eastern and Western cinema borrow from each other. And who better epitomizes that than Tarantino?

Kholi, I heard that it's going to be released in August, but that the distributor is currenty unsure of whether to make it a big or a small one. Let's hope enough interest gets out to justify a big release. If anyone has more info please post it here. I'll try to look around for it.

davide
 
I'll take your word for it.

Considering that Westerns are my all time favorite genre and Spaghetti Westerns are my all time favorite sub-genre, I will definitely be checking this out. Thanks for posting.
 
davide said:
We all know the story of how Sergio Leone stole the idea for Fistful of Dollars from Kurosawa's Yojimbo ...
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And thank god for that or we'd never have For A Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

:Drogar-Mark-10(DBG)
 
J.R. Hudson said:
And thank god for that or we'd never have For A Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

:Drogar-Mark-10(DBG)
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Ain't that the truth.:thumbsup:

You could probably say there might not have been the Spaghetti Western movement as we know it without Leone's early imput.
 
Blaine said:
Ain't that the truth.:thumbsup:

You could probably say there might not have been the Spaghetti Western movement as we know it without Leone's early imput.
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:beer:
:beer:
:beer:
:thumbup:

And how ironic is it too hear how Leone STOLE from Kurasawa only to have Miike make Pasta 30 years later ? Wiki says it's inpired by
Sergio Corbucci's Django

Homage. And Tarantino get's a bum rap ?
 
J.R. Hudson said:
:beer:
:beer:
:beer:
:thumbup:

And how ironic is it too hear how Leone STOLE from Kurasawa only to have Miike make Pasta 30 years later ? Wiki says it's inpired by
Sergio Corbucci's Django

Homage. And Tarantino get's a bum rap ?
Click to expand...

Miike's film is definitely an homage/parody. Whether Fistful of Dollars stole from or was an homage to or even had anything to do with Yojimbo is up for debate, and maybe I was a bit forward in calling it theft. Although the courts would agree with me. Kurosawa was supposedly awarded 15% of the box office gross for Fistful of Dollars.

Either way they are all great movies that stand on their own merits. There's more than enough creativity in all of them to make up for anything that is borrowed.
 
can't wait to see this -- looks insane! it appears the first 5 minutes (?) is up on youtube, just search for the movie title.
 
Fistful of Dollars wasn't just an Italian remake of Yojimbo...Clint Eastwood's performance was eerily similar to Toshiro Mifune's.
 
I'll have to rewatch Fistful. Although I'm not sure how I can make an unbiased judgment as I think that Yojimbo is pretty much perfect for what it is. My only issue with it are the damn blown out skies. I still can't understand why Kurosawa did that.
The skies in Django are, thankfully, kept from being overeposed.
 
J.R. Hudson said:
:beer:
:beer:
:beer:
:thumbup:

And how ironic is it too hear how Leone STOLE from Kurasawa only to have Miike make Pasta 30 years later ? Wiki says it's inpired by
Sergio Corbucci's Django

Homage. And Tarantino get's a bum rap ?
Click to expand...

We all know that the Magnificent Seven was a remake of Kurasawa's Seven Samuri... but later on I heard or read that Kurasawa said he wanted to make a John Ford western but wasn't allowed to do so... so he made Seven Samuri instead... it all goes around in circles... all directors like to do a homage to their favorite directors...
 
Yeah, I don't thing the word "stole" or "copied" is applicable in this conversation. I think the words "re-make" or "different interpretation" is more accurate.

Sergio Leone may have re-told "YOJIMBO" his way but aesthetically they are two completely different movies. Besides, "Fistful of Dollars" wasn't just Sergio Leone paying homage to a great story and great director, it was his homage to the great American Western. Keep in mind, the concepts of the Wild Wild West and Manifest Destiny are unique to the U.S.

But, thanks to dime store novels and the silver screen other cultures were exposed to the concept of our American West. So, many foreign directors (aka Sergio Leone) often romanticized the American WILD WEST and wanted to do their own version of this genre.
 
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