--- name: "Takeshi Kitano" canonical: "https://film.one/person/takeshi-kitano" fi1m_id: "takeshi-kitano" imdb_id: "nm0001429" tmdb_id: 3317 wikidata_id: "Q26372" roles: ["Actor","Director"] born: "18 January 1947" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-17T17:57:20.536744+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Takeshi Kitano ## Identity Takeshi Kitano - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/takeshi-kitano - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** takeshi-kitano - **IMDb ID:** nm0001429 - **TMDB ID:** 3317 - **Wikidata ID:** Q26372 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kitano, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26372, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001429/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3317 Actor and director. Born 18 January 1947 in Tokyo, Japan. ## Details - **Work:** Actor, Director - **Born:** 18 January 1947, Tokyo, Japan - **Active:** 1997–2000 - **Also known as:** Такэси Китано, Beat Takeshi, 기타노 타케시, 비트 타케시, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, บีท ทาเกชิ, تاکشی کیتانو, 北野武 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 directing - **Venice Film Festival:** 1 Venice prize (1 won) - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 88 (1), 2000s 83 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kitano, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26372, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001429/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3317 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Battle Royale*](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) (83) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Takeshi Kitano > Takeshi Kitano acts with a face that barely moves and lets the film around it decide what the face means. Stillness that reads as menace in one scene and grief in the next is his whole method, and in *Fireworks* it is close to perfect. Watch Yoshitaka Nishi in *Fireworks* (1997) sitting beside his dying wife. His face barely moves. A few scenes later he hurts a man badly, and it is the same face. Kitano's method as an actor is to give the camera almost nothing and make us supply the rest, and he knows exactly what he is doing. He has compared it to a Noh mask: "It's unnecessary for the actor to act dramatically. What the audience can see and interpret is limitless." Plenty of actors say something like that to excuse doing nothing. Kitano's nothing is full. He started as a stand-up comedian, Beat Takeshi on Japanese television in the 1970s, and the comedy did not go away when he took up crime films; it went quiet. His first big film part was in *Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence* (1983). He directed himself for the first time in *Violent Cop* (1989), and the yakuza and police outsiders he played through *Sonatine* (1993), *Fireworks*, *Brother* (2000) and the *Outrage* trilogy (2010–2017) are all variations on a man who has stopped explaining himself. Japanese critics at first treated the directing as a comedian's hobby. They were wrong about the 1990s, and the films since *Zatoichi* (2003) have been fairly called less inventive; we have not reviewed them and will not judge them here. What he does works best when the frame leaves him alone. In *Fireworks*, Hideo Yamamoto shoots Nishi in still compositions with room around him, so we have time to study the face and notice when it changes, which is rarely and always matters. His stillness reads as funny, threatening or simply exhausted depending on what is next to it, and his editing arranges what is next to it. We were moved by Nishi's quiet attention to his wife, and moved because he never softened the performance to earn it; the helplessness is in what he does not do. Joe Hisaishi's music, across six films together, supplies the warmth the face withholds. The cost of the method falls on other people. In *Fireworks* the wife, played by Kayoko Kishimoto, is thinner than she should be, because a man who will not explain himself does not leave much room for anyone else to. Under another director the same reticence becomes something else. In Kinji Fukasaku's *Battle Royale* (2000) his teacher is essential to the film's unpleasant humour, funny without making the killing seem harmless, and the menace makes the adults' cruelty feel personal. It is the best argument that the face is an instrument and not a limitation. Start with *Fireworks*, then *Battle Royale*, to see what someone else does with the same face. Then decide whether a man who gives so little has, over three decades, been giving the same thing. ## Biography Takeshi Kitano (born 18 January 1947) is a Japanese comedian, actor and filmmaker, known in Japan as Beat Takeshi. He began his career in the 1970s as one half of the comedy duo Two Beat before pursuing solo work in television and film. Kitano made his directorial debut with *Violent Cop* (1989). He gained international recognition for *Sonatine* (1993) and *Fireworks* (1997; also known as *Hana-bi*), the latter winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He frequently writes, directs, edits and stars in his films, which include *Kikujiro* (1999), *Zatoichi* (2003) and the *Outrage* trilogy (2010–2017). *Sources: imdb.com, britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (2) ### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these - *Battle Royale* (2000), Fi1m 83, as Kitano — [page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) ### Directed (1) - *Fireworks* (1997), Fi1m 88, as Yoshitaka Nishi — [page](https://film.one/film/fireworks.md) ## Complete filmography (95) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Broken Rage* (2024), as Nezumi · Director, Writer, Editor - *Kubi* (2023), as Hashiba Hideyoshi · Editor, Screenplay, Director, Novel - *Analog* (2023), Novel - *Asakusa Kid* (2021), Novel - *Idaten: Tokyo Olympics Story* (2019), series, as 古今亭志生 - *Kiseki taiken! Unbelievable* (2018), series, as Storyteller - *Outrage Coda* (2017), as Otomo · Director, Editor, Screenplay - *Prison Break* (2017), as Urata - *Ghost in the Shell* (2017), as Aramaki - *Doctor X: Gekai Daimon Michiko Special* (2016), Actor - *While the Women Are Sleeping* (2016), as Sahara - *A Living Promise* (2016), as Detective Koichiro Iwase - *Aka Medaka* (2015), as Tatekawa Danshi - *Mozu The Movie* (2015), as Daruma - *Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen* (2015), as Detective Murakami · Director, Writer, Editor - *たけしのこれがホントのニッポン芸能史* (2015), series, Actor - *オモクリ監督～O－Creator's TV Show～* (2014), series, Actor - *Morning* (2014), Director, Screenplay - *Seicho Matsumoto's Black Gospel* (2014), as Rokuro Fujisawa - *Kids Return: The Reunion* (2013), Original Story - *Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea* (2013), series, Assistant Editor - *日曜ゴールデンで何やってんだテレビ* (2012), series, Actor - *Beyond Outrage* (2012), as Otomo · Director, Writer, Editor - *Dearest* (2012), as Teruo Sugino - *Kikoku* (2010), as Private First Class Oomiya - *Outrage* (2010), as Otomo · Director, Screenplay, Editor - *Takeshi's Castle Vol. 1* (2009), Director - *What the War Meant* (2008), as Hideki Tojo - *The Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit* (2008), as Take-Majin (voice) - *Achilles and the Tortoise* (2008), as Machisu · Director, Screenplay, Editor - *Yayoi Kusama: I Love Me* (2008), Actor - *Dots and Lines* (2007), series, as Jutaro Torikai - *To Each His Own Cinema* (2007), as The projectionist (segment "Rencontre unique") · Director, Screenplay, Producer, Editor - *Glory to the Filmmaker!* (2007), as Takeshi / Yakuza / Father / Ninja / Detective / Astronomer · Director, Writer, Editor - *Takeshis'* (2005), as Beat Takeshi / Mr. Kitano · Director, Writer, Editor - *One Fine Day* (2005), as Projectionist · Director, Writer - *Blood and Bones* (2004), as Joon-pyong Kim - *Izo* (2004), as Chancellor - *Zatoichi* (2003), as Zatoichi / Ichi · Director, Screenplay, Editor - *Battle Royale II: Requiem* (2003), as Kitano - *Musashi* (2003), series, as Munisai Shinmen - *Kichiku* (2002), Actor - *Dolls* (2002), Director, Screenplay, Editor - *Kogoro Akechi vs Kaijin Nijyuu Menso* (2002), as Niju Menso - *Asakusa Kid* (2002), Original Story - *The 300 million yen robbery* (2000), Actor - *Battle Royale* (2000), as Kitano — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) - *Brother* (2000), as Aniki Yamamoto · Director, Editor, Writer - *The Story of One Century* (2000), series, Actor - *Taboo* (1999), as Toshizo Hijikata - *Kikujiro* (1999), as Kikujiro · Editor, Director, Screenplay - *Kiseki Taiken! Anbiribabō: Kyōfu Eizō Kaiki Shashin Korekushon* (1999), Actor - *Kiseki Taiken! Anbiribabō: 1999 Nostradamus Senritsu no Daiyogen Mysterious Unbelievable* (1999), Actor - *Jam Session (The Official Bootleg of Kikujiro)* (1999), Actor - *Zankyo* (1999), Actor - *加ト・けん・たけしの世紀末スペシャル!!* (1998), series, Actor - *Tokyo Eyes* (1998), as Yakusa - *Fireworks* (1997), as Yoshitaka Nishi · Editor, Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/fireworks.md) - *Hana-bi (1997) – Behind-the-scenes Footage* (1997), Director - *Kids Return* (1996), Director, Writer, Editor - *Gonin* (1995), as Ichiro Kyoya - *Johnny Mnemonic* (1995), as Takahashi - *Getting Any?* (1995), as Scientist · Director, Writer, Editor - *Many Happy Returns* (1993), as Daisuke Shiba · Novel - *Sonatine* (1993), as Aniki Murakawa · Director, Editor, Screenplay - *Erotic Liaisons* (1992), as Okuyama - *Dioxin from Fish!* (1992), as Azuma - *北野ファンクラブ* (1992), series, Actor - *A Legend of Turmoil* (1992), as Kiichirou Yashiro - *A Scene at the Sea* (1991), Director, Editor, Screenplay - *Kim's War* (1991), as Kim Hyi-ro - *KILL THEM ALL* (1990), Actor - *Boiling Point* (1990), as Uehara · Director, Screenplay - *Hoshi wo tsugu mono* (1990), as Yama no hito - *The Yagyu Code: Secret Scrolls* (1990), Actor - *Violent Cop* (1989), as Azuma Ryosuke · Director, Writer - *Beat Takeshi Presents TV Tackle* (1989), series, Actor - *The Boss' Wife* (1988), as Shoji Sugimoto, Hitman - *雨の降る駅* (1986), as 演员 - *No More Comics!* (1986), as Yakuza - *Jesus' Ark* (1985), as Takeyoshi Sengoku - *Demon* (1985), as Yajima - *Joke with a Sorrowful Heart* (1985), as Hiroshi Igarashi - *Tokyo Melody: A Film About Ryuichi Sakamoto* (1985), as Hara (archive footage) - *The Crimes of Kiyoshi Ōkubo* (1983), as Kiyoshi Ôkubo - *The Mosquito on the Tenth Floor* (1983), as Man at Racetrack - *Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence* (1983), as Hara - *Summer Secrets* (1982), as Ramen shop owner - *Completely... With That Air!* (1981), Actor - *Manon* (1981), as Shinobu - *The Dump Truck Rascal* (1981), Actor - *Makoto-chan* (1980), Actor - *Go, Go Second Time Virgin* (1969), as Gang Member - *In Your Blood: Hoki Naiden*, Actor - *Kodai bunmei Misuterī Takeshi no shin sekai nana fushigi dai hyakka*, series, Actor ## Gallery - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-9bec8d3df25a.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Takeshi_Kitano_2017.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-22b68038d557.jpg) ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2823552750408%29.jpg/1280px-Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2823552750408%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-1e378b67db20.jpg) ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2837374309262%29.jpg/1280px-Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2837374309262%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-1a1dd77efa1d.jpg) ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2837405452591%29.jpg/1280px-Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2837405452591%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-916f3ddca408.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-b9369aaae130.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-bd26acf6c560.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB - ![ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-9d6ba297e33f.jpg) ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson_%26_Juliette_Binoche_%2837405452591%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ピルー・アスベック ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ ルパート・サンダース 桃井かおり (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-b22f4fe3931b.jpg) ゴースト・イン・ザ・シェル ワールドプレミアレッドカーペット ピルー・アスベック ビートたけし スカーレット・ヨハンソン ジュリエット・ビノシュ ルパート・サンダース 桃井かおり (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Pilou_Asb%C3%A6k%2C_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson%2C_Juliette_Binoche%2C_Rupert_Sanders_%26_Momoi_Kaori_%2837147912300%29.jpg/1280px-Ghost_In_The_Shell_World_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Pilou_Asb%C3%A6k%2C_Kitano_Takeshi%2C_Scarlett_Johansson%2C_Juliette_Binoche%2C_Rupert_Sanders_%26_Momoi_Kaori_%2837147912300%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-8a17ba46a766.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-b1965ec37440.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB - ![Takeshi Kitano](https://film.one/media/person/87401/gallery-e511bfba60ec.jpg) Takeshi Kitano — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Venice Film Festival — 1 won - 1997: Golden Lion (won), for *Hana-bi* ### Other awards — 12 won, 1 nominated - The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette 2018: The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (won) - Asian Film Award for Best Director 2013: Asian Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Beyond Outrage* - European Film Award for Best Non-European Film 2003: European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (nominated), for *Zatōichi* - Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director 2003: Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Zatōichi* - Silver Lion 2003: Silver Lion (won), for *Zatōichi* - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor 1999: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor (won), for *Hana-bi* - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director 1999: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director (won), for *Hana-bi* - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director 1997: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director (won), for *Kids Return* - European Film Award for Best Non-European Film 1997: European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (won), for *Hana-bi* - Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director 1996: Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Kids Return* - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director 1992: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director (won), for *A Scene at the Sea* - Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Newcomer 1989: Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Newcomer (won), for *Violent Cop* - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Supporting Actor 1986: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Supporting Actor (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/takeshi-kitano