Review of Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) by Nate D — 24 Nov 2008

Can't decide between a western drama or a samurai flick? Takashi Miike has the answer; inspired by "spaghetti westerns", the movie is one part historical fantasy in tradition of Japanese story telling a la Kurosawa, and one part dirty American a la Eastwood, and a small part just strange, the missing piece that Miike fills to blend gun shooting cowboys with nomadic too-cool-for-school katana gang bangers.

Entertaining, very simple and straight forward, it's an instant classic for the Tarantino fan boys, and just a visual feast for other art house movie watchers. A no guts no glory film, it's not as odd as it might seem and story is almost too simple, but it's still filled with interesting aesthetic surprises (costumes are amazing) and fresh action takes to continue to engage the audience.

But, I think the one drag of the film was the dialog; if you've ever laughed at a Western actor attempting to speak in a language he clearly has no grasp of (think Richard Gere in Rhapsody Blue), then you'll cringe just a little less in Sukiyaki Western Django, where all the native Japanese actors speak in slow, forcefully enunciated English for the entire length of the film; they definitely have a better understanding of English than Richard Gere has of Japanese, but nonetheless hearing the tortured languor over "genuine" and "tits on a bull" can be part funny and part exhausting. It's a twist, and we get it, but it takes patience to endure and subtitles to ensure effective communication.

It's also a bit irk-ing how the "strong femme fatale" roles are restricted to an uncomfortable subservience to their male counter parts, though I suppose stereotypical of both Western and samurai films. I also find Tarantino's presence somewhat annoying, especially the dull clownish acting he delivers.

Still... it's new, it's got some shock factor, and it's all around fun. Recommend for rental, to see the making-of featurette as a supplement to the film.