ACTing! Genius!
Too much time to watch too much tv leads to odd theories. Today, it's about why some actors manage to . . . act (or not), I guess. Like, no matter the role, Tom Cruise is always playing Tom Cruise. And what about looks? I suppose there's a bit of a Catch 22 in that you need somewhat striking looks to succeed as a film actor so it's hard to then disguise said looks, but some are more difficult cases than others-- witness Bruce Willis in The Jackal, wherein he got to take various wigs, facial hair configurations, and costumes for a spin. And yet still always looked like Bruce Willis. (I so wanted a witness in the film to exclaim "It was that guy from Moonlighting, only with a really bad toupee! I always suspected he was balding, and a criminal!") With enough effort it can work; I was shocked to find that Nicole Kidman under her fake Virginia Woolf nose in The Hours was managing to create a believable character I could watch, instead of my usual reaction, which is the vague desire to slap her Botoxed mug.
So it was all the more interesting to run across Tadanobu Asano in Ichi the Killer last week.
It's his character Kakihara that's featured on almost all the promotional material for the film, and not the titular Ichi-- for good reason. Ichi's an unprepossessing, whiny, sniveling little git who just happens to be good at killing people. It's Kakihara who draws your eye, not only with his unique sense of gigolo fashion, scarring/piercing, and hair dye, but with his tweaky personality. Oh, sure, he's a violent gang enforcer, but except for his clothes he's not loud, not working that blustering machismo. And it creeps people out.
When I looked over Tadanobu Asano's filmography, I was surprised to find I had seen him before, but had not made the connection. He stood out to me in Taboo and Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl, but looked totally different each time. Some of that may be down to the unfortunate tendency of humans to have trouble differentiating between individuals in ethnic groups not their own, but in looking at pictures of Tadanobu, I think he really does effectively visually morph for his different roles.
As for watching Ichi the Killer, hmm. All right, it does have an interesting take on how the victim card is played. An intriguing question is raised about: In a business where your biggest form of control is the threat of physical violence, how do you menace a dedicated masochist? And yes, you can kind of map the Batman/Joker relationship over the Ichi/Kakihara interaction to some extent. But can I recommend it? Unless you're familiar with the work of director Takashi Miike, know he's a sick little monkey, can get past that and truly over-the-top gore and blood and hooker abuse-- don't. Just . . . don't. I'm not kidding here. Few of us can take it with Kakihara-like aplomb.
Great. Now where did I leave my car keys?
So it was all the more interesting to run across Tadanobu Asano in Ichi the Killer last week.
It's his character Kakihara that's featured on almost all the promotional material for the film, and not the titular Ichi-- for good reason. Ichi's an unprepossessing, whiny, sniveling little git who just happens to be good at killing people. It's Kakihara who draws your eye, not only with his unique sense of gigolo fashion, scarring/piercing, and hair dye, but with his tweaky personality. Oh, sure, he's a violent gang enforcer, but except for his clothes he's not loud, not working that blustering machismo. And it creeps people out.
When I looked over Tadanobu Asano's filmography, I was surprised to find I had seen him before, but had not made the connection. He stood out to me in Taboo and Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl, but looked totally different each time. Some of that may be down to the unfortunate tendency of humans to have trouble differentiating between individuals in ethnic groups not their own, but in looking at pictures of Tadanobu, I think he really does effectively visually morph for his different roles.
As for watching Ichi the Killer, hmm. All right, it does have an interesting take on how the victim card is played. An intriguing question is raised about: In a business where your biggest form of control is the threat of physical violence, how do you menace a dedicated masochist? And yes, you can kind of map the Batman/Joker relationship over the Ichi/Kakihara interaction to some extent. But can I recommend it? Unless you're familiar with the work of director Takashi Miike, know he's a sick little monkey, can get past that and truly over-the-top gore and blood and hooker abuse-- don't. Just . . . don't. I'm not kidding here. Few of us can take it with Kakihara-like aplomb.
Great. Now where did I leave my car keys?