Minamoto no Yoshitsune, played by Yusuke Iseya, teaches his clan to release their attachment to life by demonstrating a cool sword-stopping move meant to instill fear and loyalty. Photo courtesy of First Look Studios

by JAMES WOODARD
Hokubei Mainichi

What do you get when you mix Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo,” Quentin Tarentino’s “Kill Bill,” the “Tale of the Heike Clan” and Shakespeare’s “Henry IV?” The answer is groundbreaking Japanese director Takashi Miike’s latest film, “Sukiyaki Western Django.”

The film, which was released in Japan last year, is making its way to American theaters this fall, and is showing at select theaters in Southern California on Sept. 12.

Miike, known for such thrillers as “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition,” continues on his gore-filled path, shocking viewers with scenes of ultra-violence laced with comic abandon. But what stands out almost immediately in this film is that the actors, most of whom are Japanese, deliver their lines in English.

But not standard English. Miike uses a vernacular popularized by Western films of the ’50s and ’60s. The actors went through a month-long intensive language training under Nadia Venesse, a dialogue coach who has worked on many notable films such as “Chocolat” and “North Country,” and with Christian Storms, who translated the Japanese script into English.

Koichi Sato, who plays Heike leader Taira no Kiyomori, commented on the experience in an interview, saying: “I realize now how effortlessly I’ve been making money all these years.”

In a tip of the hat to Sergio Leone — who directed Clint Eastwood in his classic “A Fistfull of Dollars” (Leone’s homage to “Yojimbo”) — Miike uses a dusty old mining town as the center of a brewing war between the Heike clan, who dress in red, and the Genji clan, who wear white.

But don’t watch this expecting any historical relevance to the actual Heike-Genji saga. This film is more about providing a platform for Miike’s dazzling visual style.

The film starts with a cameo from American director Tarentino, who gives an eerie introduction to the tale against a backdrop of a Wild West Mount Fuji Kabuki set.
The colors of the costumes and the rustic details of the set are quite remarkable. The gunslinging and stuntwork are also truly amazing.

“Sukiyaki Western Django” was filmed on a specially built outdoor set in Ishikura, Yamagata, deep in the mountains of Tsukiyama in Japan.

Here’s a brief synopsis. A tall stranger with lighting-fast shooting skills, and some dark secrets of his own, rides into a God-forsaken mountain village for reasons unknown. In a scene resembling the beginning of Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo,” each gang challenges the stranger to join their side. But the cunning stranger, played by Hideaki Ito, tries to work each gang against each other in a bid to topple both clans.

At stake is the town’s treasure: a massive cache of gold. The stranger pits the Heike leader Taira no Kiyomori, played by Sato, against the Genji leader Minamoto no Yoshitsune, played by Yusuke Iseya.

Iseya portrays a cunning and violence-obsessed role that plays out like a samurai philosopher who regrets being born in a time of weak-willed men. Sato’s character is obsessed with the War of the Roses, which is the basis for Shakespeare’s historical trilogy “Henry VI.”

Caught in the middle are what is left of the townspeople, including Ruriko, a noodle house matron played by Kaori Momoi, and her grandson, who is the product of Heike and Genji lineage. Momoi’s character busts out with some fancy gunslinging of her own, when she emerges as “Bloody Benten.”

What follows next can only really be described as an over-the-top gunfight, which lasts for a couple hours. This film, while highly comical and entertaining (especially the performance of the town sheriff, played by Teru-yuki Kagawa), is absolutely inappropriate for young viewers.

Scenes of graphic violence and suggestive sexual situations — including a rape scene — are why this film is rated R. But for Miike fans, or fans of any action genre, this movie is two hours of non-stop entertainment.