The cinema of Takeshi Kitano : flowering blood /

Part of the "Director's Cut" series, this brief volume by Redmond (Deakin Univ., Australia) offers an extensive analysis of the films of Takeshi Kitano, also known by his screen alter ego "Beat Takeshi." After an opening sequence on cine pilgrimage that frames the journey not simply through the filmmaker's Tokyo but through his films as well, five thematically organized chapters explore the director's cinema. Rather than focus on individual films in chronological sequence, the author has wisely chosen to view Kitano's entire milieu as the individual films relate to temporal and spatial location, the carnal power of violence, alien alterity, inadequate masculinities and dangerous or absent femininities, the significance of the sea, and Kitano's numerous personae. Of the last, Redmond observes four in play: the artistic film director, the violent actor, the crude comedian, and "brand Kitano"--the savvy purveyor of the first three. The volume is highly theorized, using aesthetic, Deleuzian, phenomenological, and other approaches. There is little academic work on this significant and internationally recognized filmmaker, which makes the volume welcome. Equally useful, Redmond outlines and explores the appeal of Kitano in the West. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. K. J. Wetmore Jr. Loyola Marymount University