Venice

Achilles and the Tortoise

Akires to kame (Japan)

By DEREK ELLEY

Takeshi Kitano's 'Achilles and the Tortoise.'

A Bandai Visual, TV Asahi, Tokyo Theaters, WoWow, Office Kitano production. (International sales: Celluloid Dreams, Paris.) Produced by Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida. Directed, written by Takeshi Kitano.
 
With: Beat Takeshi, Kanako Higuchi, Yurei Yanagi, Kumiko Aso, Akira Nakao, Masatoh Ibu, Reo Yoshioka, Mariko Tsutsui, Ren Osugi, Aya Enjouji, Eri Tokunaga, Nao Omori.
 

With more of a slow crawl than an Olympian sprint, Takeshi Kitano's "Achilles and the Tortoise" finally crosses the finish line of the Nipponese multihyphenate's trilogy on the plight of the performer-artist, aka himself. Pic is a considerably easier sit, and much less out-there and self-preening, than earlier segs "Takeshis'" (2005) and "Glory to the Filmmaker!" (2007). But the film, the longest of the trio, doesn't justify its two hours with enough insights or simple entertainment, and becomes massively repetitive in its final laps. Offshore, "Achilles" will earn minimal B.O. nectar but will look nice in its DVD boxed set.

"Takeshis'" roamed over the subject of Kitano's split artistic personality (as actor/TV standup comic Beat Takeshi and writer-helmer Takeshi Kitano), and "Glory" showed him trying to reinvent himself. "Achilles," via the character of a painter, ponders the Big Question of "What is art?"

The first of three acts is set sometime after WWII, as young Machisu Kuramochi (Reo Yoshioka), son of a wealthy businessman-collector (Akira Nakao), absorbs a love of art from the people around him. Soon he's churning out juvenilia and paying little attention in school as his love of painting takes over his life.

When Dad goes bankrupt and hangs himself, Machisu is dumped by his stepmom (Mariko Tsutsui) with his farmer uncle and aunt (Ren Osugi, Aya Enjouji). Even they finally admit the kid may have talent.

Classically shot and warmly scored, this opening 45-minute segment is the pic's most enjoyable, with young Yoshioka excellent as the boy who already has an obsessive look in his wide eyes. Section also outlines one of the basic themes -- whether the kid had a natural aptitude for art, or simply had art thrust upon him.

"Achilles" starts to become raggedy in its central half-hour, as geeky-looking teenager Machisu (Yurei Yanagi) attends art school around the late '60s/early '70s -- the film's time scale is deliberately left vague -- and gets mixed up in various wacky, artistic stunts. He also meets Sachiko (Kumiko Aso), who believes in him and sticks by him as the two become co-creators in middle age (Beat Takeshi, Kanako Higuchi).

Film really jumps the rails when Kitano himself appears onscreen as the middle-aged Machisu. It's already clear by then that the character is a skillful imitator but has no original talent, a point hammered home in a rondo of comic sketches.

Wannabe comedy is further undercut by the pic's deep strain of self-loathing. Kitano, it seems, seriously doubts the value of art itself, and sees value simply in carrying on working, no matter what. Worse, Kitano (who did all the paintings himself) deliberately toys with his audience over the extent to which Machisu is meant to rep himself.

For a helmer who made at least two classics ("A Scene at the Sea," "Hana-bi") a decade or more ago, the script has the off-putting smell of personal bitterness masquerading as self-analysis. Now that his navel-gazing trilogy is complete, it's up to Kitano to show whether he has anything original left to say.

Technical package by regular collaborators is fine throughout, with the paintings' colors especially vivid. Title refers to one of the paradoxes by ancient Greek savant Zeno, who seemed to prove mathematically that a runner could never overtake a tortoise that's been given a head start.

Camera (color), Katsumi Yanagijima; editors, Kitano, Yoshinori Ota; music, Yuki Kajiura; production designer, Norihiro Isoda; sound (Dolby Digital), Senji Horiuchi; associate producers, Satoshi Kubo, Michihiko Umezawa, Kazuhiro Ohta, Tetsuya Nasuno; assistant director, Takashi Matsukawa; casting, Takefumi Yoshikawa. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (competing), Aug. 28, 2008. (Also in Toronto Film Festival -- Masters.) Running time: 119 MIN.