Called "the world's most original action auteur" by the Village Voice, world-renowned Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano is an enormously popular figure in his own country, not only for his films but for his legendary alter ego, comedian Beat Takeshi. The U.S. release this summer of his latest film, Kikujiro -- an official selection at Cannes 1999 -- will add to the recognition he gained here with Fireworks two years ago, and expose an even larger audience to the stylish noir aesthetic previously lauded by such directors as Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino. Kitano's films have won awards at the Venice and Cannes film festivals, but despite his impact on contemporary cinema, Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano is the first English language book to be published on his work. This collection of essays by Casio Abe, one of Japan's preeminent cultural critics, examines both Kitano's films and his Beat Takeshi persona, offering an incisive and revelatory critique of the Japanese consumer culture which Kitano's films and comedy both draw on and play against. Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano is the first book in Kaya's Wicked Radiance series, which examines the work of the new wave of Asian filmmakers who are reshaping contemporary cinema.

Combining a detailed account of the situation in Japanese film and criticism with unique close analyses of Kitano's films from Violent Cop to Takeshis, the author relates the director to issues of contemporary cinema, Japanese national identity, and globalism.

The first volume in Kaya's series examining the work of a new wave of Asian filmmakers who are reshaping contemporary cinema Called "the world's most original action auteur" by the Village Voice, Takeshi Kitano is already legendary in Japan, where he is known both for his inventive films and for his legendarily caustic alter ego, comedian Beat Takeshi. In the United States, his stylishly noir aesthetic has both influenced and been admired by such directors as Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino. His emotionally intense yet lyrical films have won him worldwide acclaim and honors, including the Grand Prix for Hanabi [Fireworks] at the Venice Film Festival. Now, the long-awaited Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano offers a collection of essays on the internationally acclaimed film director by Casio Abe. Despite his impact on contemporary cinema, very little critical work on Kitano's films exists in the United States. Abe's book, originally published in Japan, combines a detailed look at Kitano's filmography with an incisive critique of the consumerist culture which Kitano's films play against. It is also purportedly Kitano's favorite book on his own work. This translation of Abe's writings on Kitano has been updated with articles that discuss Kitano's most recent releases, up to and including Dolls (2002), as well as extensive appendices and footnotes. Abe is one of Japan's preeminent cultural critics, and his book gives a rare and insightful look into the workings of one of the largest media cultures in the world. This will be the first book devoted exclusively to Kitano's work to be published in the United States. Beat Takeshi vs. Takeshi Kitano is the first volume in Kaya's Wicked Radiance series, which examines the work of a new wave of Asian filmmakers who are reshaping contemporary cinema.

Mainly known as a TV personality and film producer, this is Takeshi Bito's first art project. His idea is that art does not need to be serious and that those coming to see his installations should relax enjoy them, and become participants. He sees art as an evolving process with no fixed ideas and likes to twist conventions.

The Cinema of Takeshi Kitano: Flowering Blood is a detailed aesthetic, Deleuzian, and phenomenological exploration of Japan’s finest currently-working film director, performer, and celebrity. The volume uniquely explores Kitano’s oeuvre through the tropes of stillness and movement, becoming animal, melancholy and loss, intensity, schizophrenia, and radical alterity; and through the aesthetic temperatures of color, light, camera movement, performance and urban and oceanic space. In this highly original monograph, all of Kitano’s films are given due consideration, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Sonatine (1993), Dolls (2002), and Outrage (2010).

"The author samples the climates of New York and Korea to present an unflinching, meticulously detailed view of lives cracked open as much by love as they are by overwork, violence, and racism. Sharp street wit and sensual attention to detail give vivid, palpable form to the lovers and criminals, mothers and gangsters who live behind the closed doors of New York immigrant life. Within each poem lives a story; within each story lies a whole community waiting to be uncovered. Whether tracing the path of prisoners meeting girlfriends or Korean comfort women or .44s shot from rooftops in Brooklyn, Park's passion and uncompromising honesty lays bare the ruined heart of a city still pulsing with light"--Back cover.

Rising Sun and Divided Land provides a comprehensive, scholarly examination of the historical background, films, and careers of selected Korean and Japanese film directors. It examines eight directors: Fukasaku Kinji, Im Kwon-teak, Kawase Naomi, Miike Takashi, Lee Chang-dong, Kitano Takeshi, Park Chan-wook, and Kim Ki-duk and considers their work as reflections of personal visions and as films that engage with globalization, colonialism, nationalism, race, gender, history, and the contemporary state of Japan and South Korea. Each chapter is followed by a short analysis of a selected film, and the volume as a whole includes a cinematic overview of Japan and South Korea and a list of suggestions for further reading and viewing.