Sukiyaki Western Django..."an epic tale of blood, lust, and greed"

I recently had the honor of watching the stylized and entertaining Sukiyaki Western Django directed by the revered and frequently imitated Miike Takashi. I am by no means an expert on Japanese cinema, save for a bit of dabbling in Anime and the occasional Japanese film that generates enough buzz to make it stateside. But I am trying to get more acquainted, especially since I've been taking Japanese classes. I did, however, enjoy this movie to the fullest. I was instantly drawn from the opening scene which features Ringo played by Quentin Tarantino (Miike had a role in Hostel back in '05, so I guess he was repaying the favor) laying some groundwork for the rest of the film. Ringo relays the tale of the Heike and Genji clans who war over a famed-treasure on some far off island. They are reportedly good friends and have said that they are fans of each others' works. And while this may come off as a Tarantino-esque (oodles of blood, stylized violence, pop culture references...and Tarantino himself) film , Miike is able to execute his vision a couple of steps above what Quentin manages.

This movie is not exactly the deepest of films when it comes to plot. The introduction (as mentioned, "Heike and Genji war over...treasure") is enough to have you in the know for the majority of the movie, save for the fact that a heroic gunman (played by Hideaki Ato), is thrown into the mix. There is, however, plenty of emotion that can be drawn from the characters. These range from a widow who loses her husband, and who must give her body up in order to exact her revenge upon his murderer, to a heroine who had long since put her past behind her and must reemerge as a gunslinger once again. There are also various themes to be followed here. Love, revenge, duty, morality, honor. All these apparent in interactions between interesting and archetypal characters.

But the main thing that caught my eye, would have to be, without a doubt, the things that I saw...with my eyes. Uhm, that is too say that this is a gorgeous movie. The imagery in every scene is astounding. The mix of contrasting colors(often the symbolic red and white of the Heike and Genji), as well as the juxtaposition of Western and Japanese elements is extremely pleasing to the occipital lobe. This movie has ten-gallon hats,katanas, kimonos, revolvers (you name it) all melded together into surprisingly cohesive scenery. Even the actors, the majority Japanese, speak in English. Although their acting is superb, the accents make it, at times, difficult to decipher the dialogue. However, this only adds another dimension to the film. Miike is able to fuse so many genres into one, paying homage throughout the movie, whether it be through imitation or satire. He nods to spaghetti westerns, b-movies, anime, etc. Movie buffs will no doubt be able to draw many connections to various schools of film. I'm not the most well-versed in movie history so I'll be picking at this thing forever. I just now understand the reference to Django. *Sigh* I've got a long way to go.

If you're looking for a movie with a deep and compelling plot in the traditional sense, you might want to steer clear of this one. But if you want to see a movie about movies, with interesting characters, if you want to have fun and watch something where even the violence is beautiful (and sometimes hilarious), then you might want to check this one out.
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