inside a twisted mind

jet bought tickets for us to go watch Takeshis, one of the many films featured in the MIFF (melbourne international film festival) this year. it's directed by... well... takeshi kitano himself, who also produced one of my favourite films - Zatoichi.

takeshi kitano seems to have a knack for adding random humour into his films. but Takeshis... was just... plain... random. and WEIRD. i have yet to figure out what exactly the film was about. and i doubt i ever will.

in a strange way, it reminded me of the twisted play on realities in mulholland drive. but far.. faarrrr weirder. this is how MIFF describes the movie:

Legendary Japanese director, actor and hardman, Kitano ‘Beat’ Takeshi, puts the ‘gang’ back into ‘doppelganger’ with this hyper-real violation of the traditional rules of film form and biography.

He plays Beat Takeshi, who lives a busy, and sometimes surreal, life of a show biz celebrity. But his blonde lookalike called Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, is still a gifted actor waiting for his big break. After crossing paths with Beat and a series of frustrating auditions, Kitano seems to strangely fall into a fantasy state highlighted by Beat’s real-life and onscreen persona.

A dramatic comedy of repetitions, exaggerations and contrasts, Kitano Takeshi not only directs this unique example of cinema-within-cinema but also performs his dual roles with consummate skill. As he himself admits, “I am surprised by the strange universe I created on the big screen and how it turned out to be weirder than I expected.”


after the movie, jet and i had dinner at waiter's restaurant - veal shanks night. later on, i met up with jm, ally, bryan & kristy for drinks at trader bar - jin min's recommendation bar.

i was cursing myself for having left the camera at home. as most bars are, trader bar is neatly hidden away underground in some alleyway with a dingy entrance you would never look twice at. but once inside, it's quite comfy and lounge-worthy.

i loved the novel concept of having screens above the bar showing stock market prices of drinks going up and down. i can just imagine a bunch of accountants clamouring around the screens waiting for the lowest price to hit before ordering their drinks. bloody cheap asses... *looks at jin min* hee hee.

i've just been posting up stuff on vogue and ebay to sell... i was serious. let's hope i get some moolah back!! and then... canon ixus 65, here i come!!