Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageAsakusa Kid (2002)
Director: Makoto Shinozaki
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Shinozaki (whose documentary Jam Session remains the best portrait of Takeshi Kitano) proves the right man to film Kitano's memoir of his early years in the stripclubs and variety theatres of Tokyo's Asakusa district. A night sleeping on the streets persuades the young Takeshi (Suidobashi) to swap his leather jacket for a sky-blue happi coat and start working as a janitor in a stripclub. Many months later - months spent practising tap dance, learning from his mentor Fukami, going out with a stripper - he steps out on the vaudeville stage in a spangly white suit as one half of The Two Beats. This was made on a shoestring for a Japanese cable channel, but its movie brat director fills it with reminiscences of genre movies of the '60s, from working class comedies to Kumashiro sex films. The book was adapted by Dankan (star of Ikinai and longstanding member of the 'Takeshi-gumi' stable of comedians), who puts in a brief appearance. Funny, charming and only a shade over-extended.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Makoto Shinozaki
Producer: Masayuki Mori, Hajime Shigemura, Mitsuru Umemoto, Hiroshi Kataoka
Cast: Hakase Suidobashi, Sujitaro Tamabukuro, Saburo Ishikura, Kanako Fukaura, Harumi Inoue, Keiko Utsumi, Susumu Terajima, Dankan full cast
Duration: 111 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now