Personal details
- Birth Date: 1947-01-18
- Height: 5′ 6¼″ (1.68 m)
- Birth Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Professions: Actor, Writer, Director
Takeshi Kitano’s life, man, it’s kind of wild when you look at it. He was supposed to be an engineer—yeah, really—but got booted from school for not exactly playing by the rules. Instead of hitting the books, he ended up learning comedy, singing, and dancing from Senzaburô Fukami, a legend in his own right. At some point, Kitano found himself working as a lift boy in a nightclub where, no joke, comedy sketches collided with striptease acts. So, one night, a comedian flakes out (gets sick or something), and Kitano just jumps on stage. That was it. He caught the bug. After that, he teamed up with a buddy and formed this comedy duo called "The Two Beat." That’s where "Beat Takeshi" comes from, if you’re wondering. These two were a big deal on Japanese TV for a while. But Kitano wasn’t about to stop there. Dude shifted gears into acting, and—plot twist—ends up directing "Violent Cop" when the original director gets too sick to finish it. He just takes over, like it’s no big deal. Then, almost immediately, he cranks out "Boiling Point." He keeps the momentum going until, bam, in ’94, he gets into this brutal motorcycle accident that nearly ends things for him. It messes with his head, but also kind of wakes him up. He starts painting, for real. You can totally see the shift in his later movies: suddenly, the visuals matter just as much as the story. "Fireworks" and "Kikujiro"—those films ooze this new attention to aesthetics, all because life threw him a curveball.
movies trivia informationnnTakeshi Kitano’s old man, Kikujiro, wasn’t exactly the chatty type. Actually, Kitano once said his dad only spoke to him three times, total. Can you imagine? That’s barely even enough for a proper argument. Anyway, Kikujiro died back in 1979. Years later, in a rare interview, Kitano mentioned something that kinda sticks with you: his father’s last words were just, “I’m sorry.” Nothing fancy, just those two words, and then that was it. It’s wild to think about how much weight a moment like that can carry, especially after a lifetime of saying almost nothing. People always talk about closure, but sometimes it’s just a single, simple apology that hangs in the air. Not exactly your typical family story, right? Kitano’s relationship with his dad is almost as enigmatic as some of his films – complicated, sparse, and tinged with regret.
Seriously, every time the camera does that annoying swirl around the actors, I just roll my eyes. It’s like, who thought spinning the lens around in circles would make this scene more “dramatic”? Spoiler: it doesn’t. It pulls me right out of the story. Instead of focusing on the characters or the actual emotions, I’m just sitting there getting dizzy, wondering if the director lost a bet or something. It’s so fake, like they’re trying way too hard to look artsy. Honestly, does anyone actually like that? Half the time it just reminds me that I’m watching a movie, not getting lost in it. If you want to show tension, maybe just… I don’t know, let the actors act? Wild idea, I know. But nah, let’s just keep spinning until someone pukes. Great job, Hollywood.
January 18, 1947
5′ 6¼″ (1.68 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Tokyo, Japan
Yes, Shoko Kitano
78 years old