Known for Directing
Takeshi Kitano (北野 武, Kitano Takeshi, born January 18, 1947), also known in Japan as Beat Takeshi (ビートたけし, Bīto Takeshi), is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. Kitano rose to prominence in the 1970s as one half of the comedy duo Two Beat, before going solo and becoming one of the three biggest comedians in the country. After several small acting roles, he made his directorial debut with 1989's Violent Cop and garnered international acclaim for Sonatine (1993). He was not widely accepted as an accomplished director in Japan until Hana-bi won the Golden Lion in 1997. In October 2017, Kitano completed his Outrage crime trilogy with the release of Outrage Coda. He is also known internationally for hosting the game show Takeshi's Castle (1986–1990) and starring in the film Battle Royale (2000).
Born
January 18, 1947 (age 79)
Birthplace
Tokyo, Japan
Filmography
167 films, 21 shows


Broken Rage
2024 · 1h 6m
country: Japan
A seemingly unremarkable man called “Mouse” is caught by the police. In exchange for his freedom, he goes undercover, infiltrates a drug ring, and arranges a fake deal, but an unexpected turn of events occurs.


Kubi
2023 · 2h 11m
country: Japan
Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears.


Outrage Coda
2017 · 1h 44m
country: France
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.


Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
2015 · 2h 5m
country: Japan
Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.


Morning
2014 · 4m
country: Japan
A pensioner takes a walk in the park.


Beyond Outrage
2012 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.


Outrage
2010 · 1h 49m
country: Japan
When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.


Takeshi's Castle Vol. 1
2009
country: Japan
Various attacking forces unique to Takeshi's Castle were organized, aiming for "Defeat! Takeshi's Castle" There were many battles. This set gathers the tightness of the battle, such as parent-child tournament, Danjin tournament, female college student tournament, brave fighter tournament, etc. Also included is a collection of contests in Takeshi's Castle, as well as episodes of Takeshi & Takeshi Corps struggling to recapture the castle that was stolen by Captain Tani.


Achilles and the Tortoise
2008 · 2h
country: Japan
Machisu is a painter. He never had the success he thinks he is entitled to. Regardless of this, he always remains trying to be successful. His wife Sachiko keeps supporting him, despite all setbacks.


To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · 1h 40m
country: France
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.


Glory to the Filmmaker!
2007 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
Takeshi Kitano plays a version of himself in which he's a struggling director cycling through a number of different genres in an effort to complete his latest project.


Takeshis'
2005 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.


One Fine Day
2005 · 4m
country: Unknown
A farmer travels to a remote, run-down cinema to watch one of Kitano's own previous films (Kids Return), only for the projectionist to ruin the screening


Zatoichi
2003 · 1h 56m
country: Japan
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.


Dolls
2002 · 1h 54m
country: Japan
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.


Brother
2000 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.


Kikujiro
1999 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.


Fireworks
1997 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With his wife suffering from leukemia and his business partner paralyzed from a brutal gangster attack, Nishi borrows from a yakuza loan shark and then robs a bank to clear his debt.


Hana-bi (1997) – Behind-the-scenes Footage
1997
country: Japan


Kids Return
1996 · 1h 47m
country: Japan
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.


Getting Any?
1995 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
While pursuing his dream of having car sex, a goofy middle-aged man makes all the wrong moves and ends up enrolling in a number of crazy escapades.


Sonatine
1993 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.


A Scene at the Sea
1991 · 1h 41m
country: Japan
A deaf garbage collector happens upon a broken and discarded surfboard. The discovery plants in him dreams of becoming a surf champion. Encouraged by his also deaf girlfriend, he persists against all odds.


Boiling Point
1990 · 1h 36m
country: Japan
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.


Violent Cop
1989 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.