April 25, 2009

Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

Miike's remake of Corbucci's 'Django' seems to be made solely for the cult crowd. Heavy in references and kitsch, it seems to incite a constant searching for 'which original does this scene reference?' The phonetic-English-speaking Japanese cast was a novelty at start, with each line evoking laughter in the crowd, but eventually it wore off and it just became odd and distancing. Tarantino's inclusion was also a nice chuckle, and I'm wondering if he had any input in it other than acting. It is weird to see this trend of movies designed from the get-go for the cult-film crowd. It's like the director saw a need among his hordes of genre-movie followers and decided to fill it. In that respect this does its job, though I am not sure how much it can stand on its own, but then again, does it really need to?