Achilles and the Tortoise

Young Machisu has the creative spirit of the sprinter, but circumstances conspire to keep him crawling at the pace of the tortoise. There’s too much bad in his life – a bankrupt father, a harsh foster-uncle, hostile schoolteachers – and then, when he grows older, the endless struggle to find and develop a personal style while earning a crust. Kitano himself takes over the role of Makisu in the closing scenes and uses his own paintings throughout to illustrate the character’s travail – and, of course, to parody movements in modern art.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Script: Takeshi Kitano
Cinematography: Katsumi Yanagijima
Editing: Takeshi Kitano, Yoshinori Ota
Sound: Senji Horiuchi
Music: Yuki Kajiura
Actors: Beat Takeshi (Machisu-adult), Kanako Higuchi (Sachiko-adult), Yurei Yanagi (Machisu-young man), Kumiko Aso (Sachiko-young woman), Reo Yoshioka (Machisu-child)
Production: Office Kitano Inc.
Producers: Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida
Co-production: Bandai Visual, TV Asahi, Tokyo Theatres, Wowow
Art Direction: Norihiro Isoda
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Japan
Production Year: 2008
Duration: 119
Contact: Celluloid Dreams, FranceT. +33 1 4970 0370 F. +33 1 4970 0371info@celluloid-dreams.comwww.celluloid-dreams.com

Takeshi Kitano

He was born in Tokyo in 1947. As an actor he starred in such films as Furyo and Johnny Mnemonic. He made his debut as director with "Violent Cop". In 1997, "Fireworks" won the Golden Lion at the Venice IFF and consolidated his position as director. This was followed by "Kikujiro", the Japan-US co-production "Brother", "Dolls" and "Zatoichi". After the release of "Takeshi’s", Kitano was awarded the “Galileo 2000” prize in Italy, in 2006.

Filmography

(Selected)
1989 Sono otoko, kyobo ni tsuki/Violent Cop
1993 Sonatine/Sonachine
1995 Minna-yatteruka!/Getting Any?
1996 Kizzu ritan/Kids Return
1997 Hana-bi/Fireworks
1999 Kikujiro no natsu/Kikujiro
2000 Brother
2002 Dolls
2003 Zatoichi
2005 Takeshis’
2007 Kantoku Banzai!/Glory to the Filmmaker!
2008 Akires to kame/Achilles and the Tortoise