Achilles and the Tortoise
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User Rating
Current user rating: 85/100 (4 votes)
Profile
- Movie: Achilles and the Tortoise
- Romaji: Achilles to Kame
- Japanese: アキレスと亀
- Director: Takeshi Kitano
- Writer: Takeshi Kitano
- Producer: Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida
- Cinematographer: Katsumi Yanagishima
- Release Date: September 20, 2008
- Runtime: 119 min
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Plot
Machisu, the only son of a rich collector, has a childs love for painting. Praise from a famous artist friend of his father inspires the young boy to dream of becoming a painter himself. Precocious Machisu begins to paint everyday and everywhere, even during class, to the dismay of his teacher. When tragedy strikes, little Machisus privileged life ends, leaving him orphaned, but with an incomparable passion for art ...
As a young man, poor loner Machisu manages to attend art school with money earned from working. He is introduced to an unconventional world of bold creativity but he also gets his first bitter taste of harsh criticism from a dealer. Encouragement comes in the form of attractive clerk Sachiko who is convinced that she alone understands him. Marriage is soon followed by a daughter, as love and hope drive Machisu to commit even more deeply to his art ...
Upon reaching middle age, Machisu has yet to sell a painting. But he remains dedicated, supported by his devoted wife Sachiko, who has become his indispensable creative partner. With each new work, Machisu tries to push himself to greater limits of inspiration. Hungry for recognition, their creative attempts escalate beyond what neighbors and even their own teenaged daughter Mari can tolerate. Will Achilles ever overtake the Tortoise?
Cast
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| Takeshi Kitano | Kanako Higuchi | Yurei Yanagi | Kumiko Aso | Reiko Yoshioka | Akira Nakao |
| Machisu Kuramochi | Sachiko Kuramochi | Machisu Kuramochi (20's) | Sachiko Kuramochi (20's) | Machisu Kuramochi (child) | Risuke Kuramochi |
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| Mariko Tsutsui | Masato Ibu | Nao Omori | Ren Osugi | Aya Enjoji | Eri Tokunaga |
| Haru Kuramochi | Akio Kikuta | Art Dealer (Akio's son) | Tomisuke Kuramochi | Tomisuke's wife | Mari Kuramochi (Machisu's daughter) |
Additional Cast Members:
- Susumu Terajima - Yakuza pimp
- Shoken Kunimoto - Yakuza / Debt collector
- Mansaku Fuwa - person that discovers barn on fire
- Eri Fuse
- Takashi Nishina
- Yoshiyuki Morishita - male prostitute in public bathroom
- Umi Yamano
- Kei Sunaga
- Mariko Tsitsui
- Mari Hayashida
- Takeshi Obayashi
- Natsumi Seto
Trailer (English subtitles)
Film Festivals
- 2008 (65th) Venice Film Festival - August 27th-September 6th - In Competition
- 2008 (23rd) Mar del Plata Film Festival - November 6th-16th - Panorama
- 2009 (38th) International Film Festival Rotterdam - January 21st-February 1st - Spectrum
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Ki Says:
Feb 28 2009 8:25 pm
“Achilles and the Tortoise” is the final installment in Takeshi Kitano’s self-reverential trilogy based on his own persona. Although I have yet to watch the first installment (Takeshis’), his second installment (Glory to the Filmmaker) turned out to be an ordinary film featuring off the mark humor and borderline narcissism. With “Achilles and the Tortoise” the narrative is much stronger and you can actually focus on the merits of the film without having to think about the man Takeshi Kitano himself - which is impossible in “Glory to the Filmmaker”. “Achilles and the Tortoise” can turn off just as many as it inspires, simply due to the film’s episodic nature and its black humor level. The type of humor that would place a big smile on someone like Kurt Vonnegut. Which is just fine with me.
Young Machisu Kuramochi is an introverted kid immersed in his own world of painting. His father is a connoisseur of the arts (or so he would like others to think) and a powerful businessman. Young Machisu’s world comes to a crash when his father’s business collapses and his father commits suicide soon after. Exasperating his problems, his mother commits suicide shortly afterwards as well. Machisu is then sent off to an orphanage.
Now in his early 20’s, Machisu continues his pursuit of becoming a painter and attends art school. He also works in a factory to pay for his tuition. At the factory he meets Sachiko, a women who understands his art and eventually marries Machisu. Unfortunately, success, like the tortoise that Achilles fails to overtake in Zeno’s paradox, is always one step ahead of Machisu. Machisu continues his attempts to sell his paintings to an unscrupulous art dealer, but fails each time.
Now in his elderly years, Machisu is still driven to become an accomplished painter. He mimics every style known in the art world, but still finds rejection by the same unscrupulous art dealer. Meanwhile, his wife Sachiko becomes increasingly disillusioned by their quest and their daughter is disgusted by their parents obsession. After Sachiko is arrested for an artistic stunt to inspire Machisu, Sachiko leaves Machisu for good. Then his teenage daughter dies. None of this deters Machisu’s singular drive for artistic success, but will he ever find success?
Takeshi Kitano, an accomplished painter in his own right, centers “Achilles and the Tortoise” in the art world and takes frequent jabs at the art dealers who influence people’s perception of what “art” really is. The film is also loaded with beautiful art work all done by Takeshi Kitano himself. Yet, this isn’t what captured my imagination about the film so much so as the singular pursuit by Machisu Kuramochi to achieve success. This aspect could have worked with an aspiring gardener or a baseball player just as easily as a painter.
The first third of the film covers Machisu Kuramochi’s childhood years and unfolds in a dramatic way with sweet visuals and pacing that is done just right. Child actor Reiko Yoshioka shared an uncanny resemblance with Takeshi Kitano which works to movie’s favor. The middle portion of the film dealing with Machisu’s post-teenage years was a bit more uneven. There are a handful of funny moments when Machisu works with his fellow art students. Then there are the less than original diatribes about the true spirit of art (should have been left on the editing room floors) & the poor choice in casting Yurei Yanagi as Machisu Kuramochi (he doesn’t resemble the younger or older versions and lacks screen prescence). Meanwhile, the third portion of the film features some of the funniest moments in the movie, with the “Jean-Michel Basquiat” moments being particularly hilarious. Kanako Higuchi gets significant screen time as Mrs. Kuramochi and she is simply wonderful. Interesting to note, casting for Kuramochi’s mother and Kuramochi’s wife (both her teenage years and later years) always shared a strong resemblance – which I don’t think was by chance.
The movie then wraps everything together with an uplifting message that comes out of nowhere. It turns out success for Machisu Kuramochi isn’t attaining fame in the art world, but rather reclaiming the unrequited love held by his ex-wife Sachiko. You see, “love” is to “success” in the way many people associate success with acceptance and acceptance with love. Thus, when you’re seeking success it just might turn out that you’re simply seeking love, something attainable for even Achilles in his pursuit of the tortoise.