Sukiyaki, not Reinhardt

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.


Just got done watching Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django. I don’t really do movie revus but this flick is the tits. Miike is my favorite Japanese director (Dead or Alive trilogy, Ichi the Killer, 13 Samurai to name but a few).

We’ve got some crazy cross-culturalism going on here that is fantastic. Sergio Corbucci's violent 1966 classic Django was one of the highlights of the Spaghetti Western genre. He & fellow Sergio (that Leone one) skewered both Westerns & Akira Kurosawa to create memorable Italian westerns. Miike takes those Spaghetti classics & re-invents them in his own inimitable way. This results in a movie of unbridled violence, humor & weirdness. The mix of different cultures: Japanese; American; Italian; creates a heady blend. The film seems to be set in the American West, in the Japanese named town of Yuda in the state of Nevada (sign written in Japanese). Yet the architecture of the town itself is unmistakeably Japanese, reminiscent of the town in Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. The inhabitants are all clearly Japanese, but they speak American, though with very noticeable Japanese accents. At times the line delivery of some characters posits the question whether the actors really spoke American or if they merely memorized their lines. As I watched, I decided this flick was set in some kind of bizarro alternate universe.

All these things combine to make the suspension of reality a simple matter & adds to the over-all enjoyment immensely.

To quote The Mighty Peking Man:
"Sukiyaki Western Django is a great film. If you’re a fan of both Asian and Italian Westerns, it’s a must...It’s not a remake, it’s not a wannabe, it’s not a rip-off, it’s just a great director having fun while making a cool fucking movie."

Koji Endo - Sukiyaki Western Django, Crown, 2007.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

Django Sasurai
Foot of a Mountain in the Wilderness
Main Title Sukiyaki Western
A Vast Plain at High Noon
Gold Rush
Red
White
Denhichi Heihachi
Shizuka Dance on the Table Fiercely & Sadly
Sukiyaki Guitar
Ex. 1
Nearby the Mountain Road
Blood
The Blade
Climb a Mountain Road
A Mountain Ridge
Heihachi
Ex. 2
Gion Shouja no Kane no Oto
Sukiyaki Trumpet
The Gunman
Death
Benkei, I'll Make him Notice Me
Denhichi
Benten
Sukiyaki Flute
Something White Floats Down from the Sky
I Ain’t Dead ‘til I Beat You
Django


Enjoy,
NØ