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I was asked today to write a 1500 word review on an auteur of my choice. I chose Kinji Fukasaku as I have seriously enjoyed every film by him I have ever seen.
I hope you enjoy the read as well. I actually enjoyed researching and writting about him-
------------------------------------------------
Kinji Fukasaku - Director, Writer, Actor - master of film violence
Itsuka giragirasuruhi, Battles Without Honour and Humanity and Battle Royale were all directed by Kinji Fukasaku, those are the three films I have chosen to focus on by a director of over sixty films.
Itsuka giragirasuruhi is a film about a group of criminals who make a robbery but end up with less than what they expected. The members of the criminal gang argue between themselves and the remaining hour and a bit of the movie is out and out action of car chases, shoot outs and explosions. Its a pure action genred film and has one of the longest action sequences of any movie I can remember for the same scene/location within a film. Fukasaku's style is shown throughout the film with deaths shown graphically and nearly everyone dying as a result of their own fortune and life.
All Fukasaku's films seem to be based on death and the end of a characters life. This is clear in Battle Royale; Battle Royale is a film about 42 japanese school children on an uninhabited island. They are forced to kill each other off. Again, this is another horrificly graphical film that due to its content, was banned anywhere but Japan for theatrical release.
The third film Battles Without Honour and Humanity is the raw portrayel of the modern gang of Japan the Yakuza. The film shows Japanese soldiers as they are forced to steal for food. Killing each other over bread and food in market places and committing murder for a bowl of rice. In that film. Crime is the only option. A common element in the three films is also the use of handguns and wide angle shots of characters holding their handgun. Fukasaku become known through all his films as the 'master of film violence'.
What remains throughout these three films is the consistant use of death. The plots are different but they deal with a very similar theme. Which is the social and underground world of Japan. One is about children, one about a gang, and another about the modern Yakuza. The conclusion of each narrative remains the same in all the films. Only a couple of the main cast survive. They all also conclude with an open narrative. As if Fukasaku's suggesting this social world is still present in modern Japan. He used graphics violence to sell the films, which in Japan is accepted in the cinema and when due a release on the screens in America are banned for inappropriate use of violence.
Close up shots of death and stills on the actual dead are used in Battle Royale and Itsuka giragirasuruhi. Fukasaku's contribution to Japan's cruelty in the theatres was over sixty films made in the period of forty years. Characters in his films died. It was that simple. He didn't want to portray anything beautifully or with a 'HollyWood' ending. If he wrote in the script that the main character died at the end, then they can in the last few minutes of the film (Battle Royale). His films seem to follow at least three characters at one time, somehow giving the audience a choice of who they would like to 'win' or 'stay alive'. The most graphic of the three films is Battles Without Honour and Humanity, its cold and somehow painful to watch but as the audience you must continue to see what happens. Fukasaku shows in his films what dares not be shown by anyone else. The look and feel to Fukasaku's films is consistant. Fukasaku creates visual effect with backlit shots throughout the film. Closeups of the action are used consistantly and extreme closeups on the characters faces to show the pain or pressure of the situation. Images of death and a non linear beginning are also shown. When watching Itsuka giragirasuruhi one can see why Quentin Tarentino is inspired by this auteur.
The editing within the shots of Battle Royale best describe Fukasaku's choice. He likes to show the pain of the action. However he does this with a very fast collection of shots finishing with flashes of the death, sometimes even leaving the reason of death (a sliced neck) on the screen for a couple of seconds. Unlike any other director. Special effects are something Fukasaku never used. He believed in filming what was real, he believed in showing the violence. In all the films crane shots are used beautifully to reveal the location of a quiet and what seems peaceful shot, then the scenic view is interupted by a straight cut to a death (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) or dialogue talking about who is dead (Beat Takeshi in Battle Royale as he calls out the dead pupils names).
Kinji Fukasaku was a director who worked in action films. Through IMDB he seems to have only touched Samurai films in his last few years of his life, but over 50 of his 62 films were action. Guns and death coupled with amazing scripts and shots make Fukasaku's films a different experience altogether. He recreated the action genre. Conventionally when the good-guy doesn't get shot and falls in love and has a happy ending. In Fukasaku's its not a question of 'if' the goodguy gets shot its 'when' the goodguy gets shot is he going to kill his lover to escape the situation?
The use of sound within the films merely add to the pain expressed in the shots. Slow opera music is used for death scenes in Battle Royale. Battles Without Honour and Humanity uses more Japanese military music which is sped down for speech scenes and upbeat for death. Itsuka giragirasuruhi uses action music which conventionally follows the narrative. The sound choices within the films are not consistent, he doesn't seem to just use one style, but he picks the correct genre of music for the images on the screen. Which is a little strange as he uses all forms of music for the death scenes.
Although Kinji Fukasaku died earlier this year, his films are at the heart of the Japanese film industry. His most debated film yet was Battle Royale. Where for one of the first times a film went to debate in parliament, with a Democratic Party member calling for a ban, feeling Battle Royale would "incite crime" and "destroy order".
Fukasaku was a superb auteur, he wrote many of his own films that he produced and directed. He gave young actors the chance in every film and wanted to represent modern day Japan as he saw it. An auteur that in my opinion, died a too early death as the master of film violence.
There is no doubt that Kinji Fukasaku's films will continue to challenge audiences and industry alike.
R.I.P Kinji Fukasaku
Thanks for reading (if you did)
er-no
I hope you enjoy the read as well. I actually enjoyed researching and writting about him-
------------------------------------------------
Kinji Fukasaku - Director, Writer, Actor - master of film violence
Itsuka giragirasuruhi, Battles Without Honour and Humanity and Battle Royale were all directed by Kinji Fukasaku, those are the three films I have chosen to focus on by a director of over sixty films.
Itsuka giragirasuruhi is a film about a group of criminals who make a robbery but end up with less than what they expected. The members of the criminal gang argue between themselves and the remaining hour and a bit of the movie is out and out action of car chases, shoot outs and explosions. Its a pure action genred film and has one of the longest action sequences of any movie I can remember for the same scene/location within a film. Fukasaku's style is shown throughout the film with deaths shown graphically and nearly everyone dying as a result of their own fortune and life.
All Fukasaku's films seem to be based on death and the end of a characters life. This is clear in Battle Royale; Battle Royale is a film about 42 japanese school children on an uninhabited island. They are forced to kill each other off. Again, this is another horrificly graphical film that due to its content, was banned anywhere but Japan for theatrical release.
The third film Battles Without Honour and Humanity is the raw portrayel of the modern gang of Japan the Yakuza. The film shows Japanese soldiers as they are forced to steal for food. Killing each other over bread and food in market places and committing murder for a bowl of rice. In that film. Crime is the only option. A common element in the three films is also the use of handguns and wide angle shots of characters holding their handgun. Fukasaku become known through all his films as the 'master of film violence'.
What remains throughout these three films is the consistant use of death. The plots are different but they deal with a very similar theme. Which is the social and underground world of Japan. One is about children, one about a gang, and another about the modern Yakuza. The conclusion of each narrative remains the same in all the films. Only a couple of the main cast survive. They all also conclude with an open narrative. As if Fukasaku's suggesting this social world is still present in modern Japan. He used graphics violence to sell the films, which in Japan is accepted in the cinema and when due a release on the screens in America are banned for inappropriate use of violence.
Close up shots of death and stills on the actual dead are used in Battle Royale and Itsuka giragirasuruhi. Fukasaku's contribution to Japan's cruelty in the theatres was over sixty films made in the period of forty years. Characters in his films died. It was that simple. He didn't want to portray anything beautifully or with a 'HollyWood' ending. If he wrote in the script that the main character died at the end, then they can in the last few minutes of the film (Battle Royale). His films seem to follow at least three characters at one time, somehow giving the audience a choice of who they would like to 'win' or 'stay alive'. The most graphic of the three films is Battles Without Honour and Humanity, its cold and somehow painful to watch but as the audience you must continue to see what happens. Fukasaku shows in his films what dares not be shown by anyone else. The look and feel to Fukasaku's films is consistant. Fukasaku creates visual effect with backlit shots throughout the film. Closeups of the action are used consistantly and extreme closeups on the characters faces to show the pain or pressure of the situation. Images of death and a non linear beginning are also shown. When watching Itsuka giragirasuruhi one can see why Quentin Tarentino is inspired by this auteur.
The editing within the shots of Battle Royale best describe Fukasaku's choice. He likes to show the pain of the action. However he does this with a very fast collection of shots finishing with flashes of the death, sometimes even leaving the reason of death (a sliced neck) on the screen for a couple of seconds. Unlike any other director. Special effects are something Fukasaku never used. He believed in filming what was real, he believed in showing the violence. In all the films crane shots are used beautifully to reveal the location of a quiet and what seems peaceful shot, then the scenic view is interupted by a straight cut to a death (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) or dialogue talking about who is dead (Beat Takeshi in Battle Royale as he calls out the dead pupils names).
Kinji Fukasaku was a director who worked in action films. Through IMDB he seems to have only touched Samurai films in his last few years of his life, but over 50 of his 62 films were action. Guns and death coupled with amazing scripts and shots make Fukasaku's films a different experience altogether. He recreated the action genre. Conventionally when the good-guy doesn't get shot and falls in love and has a happy ending. In Fukasaku's its not a question of 'if' the goodguy gets shot its 'when' the goodguy gets shot is he going to kill his lover to escape the situation?
The use of sound within the films merely add to the pain expressed in the shots. Slow opera music is used for death scenes in Battle Royale. Battles Without Honour and Humanity uses more Japanese military music which is sped down for speech scenes and upbeat for death. Itsuka giragirasuruhi uses action music which conventionally follows the narrative. The sound choices within the films are not consistent, he doesn't seem to just use one style, but he picks the correct genre of music for the images on the screen. Which is a little strange as he uses all forms of music for the death scenes.
Although Kinji Fukasaku died earlier this year, his films are at the heart of the Japanese film industry. His most debated film yet was Battle Royale. Where for one of the first times a film went to debate in parliament, with a Democratic Party member calling for a ban, feeling Battle Royale would "incite crime" and "destroy order".
Fukasaku was a superb auteur, he wrote many of his own films that he produced and directed. He gave young actors the chance in every film and wanted to represent modern day Japan as he saw it. An auteur that in my opinion, died a too early death as the master of film violence.
There is no doubt that Kinji Fukasaku's films will continue to challenge audiences and industry alike.
R.I.P Kinji Fukasaku
Thanks for reading (if you did)
er-no
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
I was asked today to write a 1500 word review on an auteur of my choice. I chose Kinji Fukasaku as I have seriously enjoyed every film by him I have ever seen.
I hope you enjoy the read as well. I actually enjoyed researching and writting about him-
------------------------------------------------
Kinji Fukasaku - Director, Writer, Actor - master of film violence
Itsuka giragirasuruhi, Battles Without Honour and Humanity and Battle Royale were all directed by Kinji Fukasaku, those are the three films I have chosen to focus on by a director of over sixty films.
Itsuka giragirasuruhi is a film about a group of criminals who make a robbery but end up with less than what they expected. The members of the criminal gang argue between themselves and the remaining hour and a bit of the movie is out and out action of car chases, shoot outs and explosions. Its a pure action genred film and has one of the longest action sequences of any movie I can remember for the same scene/location within a film. Fukasaku's style is shown throughout the film with deaths shown graphically and nearly everyone dying as a result of their own fortune and life.
All Fukasaku's films seem to be based on death and the end of a characters life. This is clear in Battle Royale; Battle Royale is a film about 42 japanese school children on an uninhabited island. They are forced to kill each other off. Again, this is another horrificly graphical film that due to its content, was banned anywhere but Japan for theatrical release.
The third film Battles Without Honour and Humanity is the raw portrayel of the modern gang of Japan the Yakuza. The film shows Japanese soldiers as they are forced to steal for food. Killing each other over bread and food in market places and committing murder for a bowl of rice. In that film. Crime is the only option. A common element in the three films is also the use of handguns and wide angle shots of characters holding their handgun. Fukasaku become known through all his films as the 'master of film violence'.
What remains throughout these three films is the consistant use of death. The plots are different but they deal with a very similar theme. Which is the social and underground world of Japan. One is about children, one about a gang, and another about the modern Yakuza. The conclusion of each narrative remains the same in all the films. Only a couple of the main cast survive. They all also conclude with an open narrative. As if Fukasaku's suggesting this social world is still present in modern Japan. He used graphics violence to sell the films, which in Japan is accepted in the cinema and when due a release on the screens in America are banned for inappropriate use of violence.
Close up shots of death and stills on the actual dead are used in Battle Royale and Itsuka giragirasuruhi. Fukasaku's contribution to Japan's cruelty in the theatres was over sixty films made in the period of forty years. Characters in his films died. It was that simple. He didn't want to portray anything beautifully or with a 'HollyWood' ending. If he wrote in the script that the main character died at the end, then they can in the last few minutes of the film (Battle Royale). His films seem to follow at least three characters at one time, somehow giving the audience a choice of who they would like to 'win' or 'stay alive'. The most graphic of the three films is Battles Without Honour and Humanity, its cold and somehow painful to watch but as the audience you must continue to see what happens. Fukasaku shows in his films what dares not be shown by anyone else. The look and feel to Fukasaku's films is consistant. Fukasaku creates visual effect with backlit shots throughout the film. Closeups of the action are used consistantly and extreme closeups on the characters faces to show the pain or pressure of the situation. Images of death and a non linear beginning are also shown. When watching Itsuka giragirasuruhi one can see why Quentin Tarentino is inspired by this auteur.
The editing within the shots of Battle Royale best describe Fukasaku's choice. He likes to show the pain of the action. However he does this with a very fast collection of shots finishing with flashes of the death, sometimes even leaving the reason of death (a sliced neck) on the screen for a couple of seconds. Unlike any other director. Special effects are something Fukasaku never used. He believed in filming what was real, he believed in showing the violence. In all the films crane shots are used beautifully to reveal the location of a quiet and what seems peaceful shot, then the scenic view is interupted by a straight cut to a death (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) or dialogue talking about who is dead (Beat Takeshi in Battle Royale as he calls out the dead pupils names).
Kinji Fukasaku was a director who worked in action films. Through IMDB he seems to have only touched Samurai films in his last few years of his life, but over 50 of his 62 films were action. Guns and death coupled with amazing scripts and shots make Fukasaku's films a different experience altogether. He recreated the action genre. Conventionally when the good-guy doesn't get shot and falls in love and has a happy ending. In Fukasaku's its not a question of 'if' the goodguy gets shot its 'when' the goodguy gets shot is he going to kill his lover to escape the situation?
The use of sound within the films merely add to the pain expressed in the shots. Slow opera music is used for death scenes in Battle Royale. Battles Without Honour and Humanity uses more Japanese military music which is sped down for speech scenes and upbeat for death. Itsuka giragirasuruhi uses action music which conventionally follows the narrative. The sound choices within the films are not consistent, he doesn't seem to just use one style, but he picks the correct genre of music for the images on the screen. Which is a little strange as he uses all forms of music for the death scenes.
Although Kinji Fukasaku died earlier this year, his films are at the heart of the Japanese film industry. His most debated film yet was Battle Royale. Where for one of the first times a film went to debate in parliament, with a Democratic Party member calling for a ban, feeling Battle Royale would "incite crime" and "destroy order".
Fukasaku was a superb auteur, he wrote many of his own films that he produced and directed. He gave young actors the chance in every film and wanted to represent modern day Japan as he saw it. An auteur that in my opinion, died a too early death as the master of film violence.
There is no doubt that Kinji Fukasaku's films will continue to challenge audiences and industry alike.
R.I.P Kinji Fukasaku
Thanks for reading (if you did)
er-no
I hope you enjoy the read as well. I actually enjoyed researching and writting about him-
------------------------------------------------
Kinji Fukasaku - Director, Writer, Actor - master of film violence
Itsuka giragirasuruhi, Battles Without Honour and Humanity and Battle Royale were all directed by Kinji Fukasaku, those are the three films I have chosen to focus on by a director of over sixty films.
Itsuka giragirasuruhi is a film about a group of criminals who make a robbery but end up with less than what they expected. The members of the criminal gang argue between themselves and the remaining hour and a bit of the movie is out and out action of car chases, shoot outs and explosions. Its a pure action genred film and has one of the longest action sequences of any movie I can remember for the same scene/location within a film. Fukasaku's style is shown throughout the film with deaths shown graphically and nearly everyone dying as a result of their own fortune and life.
All Fukasaku's films seem to be based on death and the end of a characters life. This is clear in Battle Royale; Battle Royale is a film about 42 japanese school children on an uninhabited island. They are forced to kill each other off. Again, this is another horrificly graphical film that due to its content, was banned anywhere but Japan for theatrical release.
The third film Battles Without Honour and Humanity is the raw portrayel of the modern gang of Japan the Yakuza. The film shows Japanese soldiers as they are forced to steal for food. Killing each other over bread and food in market places and committing murder for a bowl of rice. In that film. Crime is the only option. A common element in the three films is also the use of handguns and wide angle shots of characters holding their handgun. Fukasaku become known through all his films as the 'master of film violence'.
What remains throughout these three films is the consistant use of death. The plots are different but they deal with a very similar theme. Which is the social and underground world of Japan. One is about children, one about a gang, and another about the modern Yakuza. The conclusion of each narrative remains the same in all the films. Only a couple of the main cast survive. They all also conclude with an open narrative. As if Fukasaku's suggesting this social world is still present in modern Japan. He used graphics violence to sell the films, which in Japan is accepted in the cinema and when due a release on the screens in America are banned for inappropriate use of violence.
Close up shots of death and stills on the actual dead are used in Battle Royale and Itsuka giragirasuruhi. Fukasaku's contribution to Japan's cruelty in the theatres was over sixty films made in the period of forty years. Characters in his films died. It was that simple. He didn't want to portray anything beautifully or with a 'HollyWood' ending. If he wrote in the script that the main character died at the end, then they can in the last few minutes of the film (Battle Royale). His films seem to follow at least three characters at one time, somehow giving the audience a choice of who they would like to 'win' or 'stay alive'. The most graphic of the three films is Battles Without Honour and Humanity, its cold and somehow painful to watch but as the audience you must continue to see what happens. Fukasaku shows in his films what dares not be shown by anyone else. The look and feel to Fukasaku's films is consistant. Fukasaku creates visual effect with backlit shots throughout the film. Closeups of the action are used consistantly and extreme closeups on the characters faces to show the pain or pressure of the situation. Images of death and a non linear beginning are also shown. When watching Itsuka giragirasuruhi one can see why Quentin Tarentino is inspired by this auteur.
The editing within the shots of Battle Royale best describe Fukasaku's choice. He likes to show the pain of the action. However he does this with a very fast collection of shots finishing with flashes of the death, sometimes even leaving the reason of death (a sliced neck) on the screen for a couple of seconds. Unlike any other director. Special effects are something Fukasaku never used. He believed in filming what was real, he believed in showing the violence. In all the films crane shots are used beautifully to reveal the location of a quiet and what seems peaceful shot, then the scenic view is interupted by a straight cut to a death (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) or dialogue talking about who is dead (Beat Takeshi in Battle Royale as he calls out the dead pupils names).
Kinji Fukasaku was a director who worked in action films. Through IMDB he seems to have only touched Samurai films in his last few years of his life, but over 50 of his 62 films were action. Guns and death coupled with amazing scripts and shots make Fukasaku's films a different experience altogether. He recreated the action genre. Conventionally when the good-guy doesn't get shot and falls in love and has a happy ending. In Fukasaku's its not a question of 'if' the goodguy gets shot its 'when' the goodguy gets shot is he going to kill his lover to escape the situation?
The use of sound within the films merely add to the pain expressed in the shots. Slow opera music is used for death scenes in Battle Royale. Battles Without Honour and Humanity uses more Japanese military music which is sped down for speech scenes and upbeat for death. Itsuka giragirasuruhi uses action music which conventionally follows the narrative. The sound choices within the films are not consistent, he doesn't seem to just use one style, but he picks the correct genre of music for the images on the screen. Which is a little strange as he uses all forms of music for the death scenes.
Although Kinji Fukasaku died earlier this year, his films are at the heart of the Japanese film industry. His most debated film yet was Battle Royale. Where for one of the first times a film went to debate in parliament, with a Democratic Party member calling for a ban, feeling Battle Royale would "incite crime" and "destroy order".
Fukasaku was a superb auteur, he wrote many of his own films that he produced and directed. He gave young actors the chance in every film and wanted to represent modern day Japan as he saw it. An auteur that in my opinion, died a too early death as the master of film violence.
There is no doubt that Kinji Fukasaku's films will continue to challenge audiences and industry alike.
R.I.P Kinji Fukasaku
Thanks for reading (if you did)
er-no