Blurbing about Teruyuki Kagawa - and Kichijiro
Yesterday, reiko just informed me about an interesting discussion going on about Kichijiro's role in Martin Scorsese's new "Silence" movie. There are so many Japanese actors names taken up in IMDb board.
I threw in Joe Odagiri's name just for the heck of it, but I still think, if judging from purely acting point of view (not considering box office draw etc.), Teruyuki Kagawa would be the perfect fit for this role.
He comes from a Kabuki actor father and an actress mother, but he is not that good looking. Instead, he is SO GOOD in playing a complex supporting role. In 2006-7, he was in lots of the Japanese movies that were involved in Japan Academy - "Sway (Yureru)", "Memories of Matsuko", and "Memories of Tomorrow". Particularly in "Sway", he played an ugly and unfortunate brother of the leading man Joe Odagiri, and his depiction of this dark, deep, complex mixture of love, hate, jealousy was almost horrifying - it drew so much praise both by critics and fans. I can just picture him playing this ugly, miserable, weak, canning peasant sooooo perfectly.
I think Ken Watanabe and Tadanobu Asano may be too strongly built and tall for such a role. Particularly Ken - his good-fit roles are samurai, yakuza, military man or detective... tho he got a breakthrough in "Memories of Tomorrow" last year, as an ailing businessman who suffers from Alzeheimer desease.
If they want to pick someone that can draw audience in Japan, Takuya Kimura and Joe Odagiri would be the top choices, but I think KimuTaku is almost impossible. His work is based on TV, and he has weekly regular program, so he cannot be away from Tokyo for more than a few days. That schedule limitation was a big problem in filming "Love and Honor" and as a result, they shot almost everything in studios, instead of locations as Yoji Yamada did in "The Twilight Samurai". Although Scorsese says he will film "Silence" partly in Japan, I think most of the filming will be done in Canada or something, so it is practically impossible. His face is just too pretty for such a miserable role, anyways.
I think Joe can hide his pretty face better than KimuTaku (and my sister always teases me as Joe being strange and ugly), and definitely has more acting skill and more versatile, plus he speaks good English (see my previous post "Big River"), but still may give too strong an impression for this role. There is a rumor on Japanese rumor board on Joe that he was reading the original "Silence" novel while he was shooting "Shinsengumi" (see my previous post with "joe's samurai performance"), but it was already 3 years ago. Duhh.
Now for Sanada-san - I have a bit of the same concern as Joe. His physique is not as imposing as Ken, and he can be very versatile, but still may be too "shiny" for this role. And by the way, although he is still considered a big star in Japan, his audience-gathering power is not as strong as KimuTaku or Joe, since he is not exposed in Japan as much these days.
Anyway. I am SO CURIOUS who would be chosen for this role!
***Addition 5/29***
I noticed by Reiko's comment that I did not explain about Kichijiro role itself. He is a Christian peasant hired by the priest Rodrigo in Manila to sneak into Japan, but he eventually betrays him and tips the authority about Rodrigo. After Rodrigo is arrested, Kichijiro regrets so much and try to beg forgiveness from Rodrigo with weeping tears. I think this role is assumed a symbol of Jesus in the author's unique point of view - "weak God". It may sound odd if you have not read the original novel....
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okay, i had NO IDEA about who this kichijiro character is, so all i thought about was "SCORSESE doing a film in JAPAN"...and so, of COURSE, i thought of our guy.
but NOW....after reading your comments here (and many on the imdb board)...
i can TOTALLY see that hiro is likely NOT a good candidate to play this role.
(the guy sounds creepy...michi...why is kichijiro role so miserable?)
and your comment...hiro is too 'SHINY'....WELL, that is CLASSIC. i LOVE that expression!!!!!!!!!!!
(is there ANY substantive role for a semi major role of ANY japanese shogun or samurai in the book that hiro might be right for?)
well, this is not a 'blurb' about hiro...it was meant for this kagawa san. i must say, that your insights and observations about him are very intriguing and i can't WAIT to see who scorsese DOES end up going with. i'm SO GLAD you posted your thoughts on imdb board. conductor (on that thread) seems to know ALOT about japanese actors! so it will be very interesting to hear what he/she has to say!!!
and on a last note...i have to say, (on a whim) i went to hoga this morning and was SO HAPPY to see that you HAVE decided not to close it, and to continue with an occasional blog format! michi san....altho i did not go to hoga often (unlike HSE)...it was amazing to me, reading the comments you received when you said you would not be posting anymore. it was very powerful to know how many people were clearly 'fans' of your site that you likely were unaware of. you DO have a 'unique and effective' voice for japanese cinema in a way that allows a westerner to have insight, that goes far beyond the subtitles.
and your perspectives about the actors, how things (and people) are perceived in japan vs. u.s. is always so layered and thoughtful. anyway, THANKS for always enlightening me to japanese actors. especially ONE. :)
for that alone, i will FOREVER be in your debt.