Kimura Takuya

[brad2]

You know I have read so many critical things written about Kimura..it is obvious that those people have never watched him act in any drama. When he is doing his SMAP personality it is for laughs or various interests tied in with the other members. Always full talent used in the smallest corner.Dancing, singing, clowning around. Swimming, surfing jumping out of planes and rock climbing etc etc etc.
However, I have watched everything he has done except his stage work of course, and I have always found him to be totally serious about every role whether serious drama or romantic bowl you over stuff. He has so much within himself and he knows just how to use every moment.

He is a very tenacious person and I can never imagine him refusing to do anything he is asked to do to entertain. He knows himself so well and I think he must enjoy his work and life most of the time.

I also admire his ability to keep his family life apart and away from public enquiry.

Just like the guy.

Peggy

[brad2]

E.G.

Yes he did go to Colorado and the Four Corners area twice. One time he did the cowboy life thing. Very interesting and he worked like a dog as a cowboy. He is a good rider and he learned how to rope. He never does anything unless he gives 100%. The next time he was with the Native American people and had a very interesting time. They gave him a real authentic sweat lodge night and I am convinced it made a great change in his perception of life. This was a serious event and not one of those 'tourist things'. They did make him a member of their tribe and gave him the name 'Little Man'. Later before he left the Chief told him he had finally become a big man. Kimura pretty impressed. He went on long rides to find the right herbs and it was all carefully filmed without too much deception. In fact I think it was the straight day by day experiance for him. It's on video somewhere. I have most of it but it is in the distant archives. He climbed up the cliffs to where Geronimo hid out and he spent time with people and was obviously so interested.
I think he would have been about twenty two or thereabouts.

Peg

[gaijinmark]

brad2 wrote:

You know I have read so many critical things written about Kimura..it is obvious that those people have never watched him act in any drama.

I agree, whenever I hear people say he can't act or that he always plays the same basic character, I say to myself, "They've obviously never seen Sora Kara Furu, , ,."

[ralphm1999]

I suppose some folks are not attuned to the finer subtle changes that separate great actors from the run of the mill. They probably would also say that Cary Grant and James Dean never varied from one role to another. For me, KimuTaku has never been the same in any of his roles, in fact like the other greats I mentioned, he has that true natural ability to totally become the role that he is portraying with the slightest shift of an eye or body language. Truly one of the greatest artists in the Japanese acting community.

[gaijinmark]

ralphm1999 wrote:

he has that true natural ability to totally become the role that he is portraying with the slightest shift of an eye or body language.

That reminds me of a story I heard about Gary Cooper when he was first starting out. He was in some "B" Western and after a few days of shooting, a couple of the other actors went to the director and complained, "We can't work with this guy. He's not doing anything, he's not acting."

Then the director showed them some of the rushes and they saw what was coming across on the screen. They stopped complaining.

[ralphm1999]

gaijinmark wrote:

That reminds me of a story I heard about Gary Cooper when he was first starting out. He was in some "B" Western and after a few days of shooting, a couple of the other actors went to the director and complained, "We can't work with this guy. He's not doing anything, he's not acting." Then the director showed them some of the rushes and they saw what was coming across on the screen. They stopped complaining.

That's a great story and illustrates the point I wanted to make.

[brad2]

ralph.
I am so gratified to read your opinion of Kimura's abilities. You of all people know what I mean and what gaginmark means. He really does know what he is doing in front of the camera. He is very aware of acting as an art. I think he is also frustrated that the English language is not rolling off his tongueorhe would be breaking out into international film with gusto. So far only Wong KarWei has used him in his film "2046" . I think the recent "I Come with the Rain" can hardly be called a large role altho I think the director was very impressed with his almost silent acting.

I can remember some actors just by a scene in a film sometimes. I can always see James Cagney on top of that huge gasometer saying 'Look Ma, I'm top of the world !!' It was as effective in that time as Kimura in his scene at the top of that snowy mountain in 'Grand Family'.

Peggy

[ralphm1999]

brad2 wrote:

ralph. I am so gratified to read your opinion of Kimura's abilities. You of all people know what I mean and what gaginmark means. He really does know what he is doing in front of the camera. He is very aware of acting as an art. I think he is also frustrated that the English language is not rolling off his tongueorhe would be breaking out into international film with gusto. So far only Wong KarWei has used him in his film "2046" . I think the recent "I Come with the Rain" can hardly be called a large role altho I think the director was very impressed with his almost silent acting. I can remember some actors just by a scene in a film sometimes. I can always see James Cagney on top of that huge gasometer saying 'Look Ma, I'm top of the world !!' It was as effective in that time as Kimura in his scene at the top of that snowy mountain in 'Grand Family'. Peggy

Oh yes. Not only was the entire drama superb, but that scene on the mountain in the Grand Family was incredibly effective. As for James Cagney he will always be Yankee Doodle Dandy for me. lol. Yes. Cagney was one of the all time greats too.
I have not seen Kimura in the American film as yet. I'm not sure I want to see him in the modern Hollywood style. But of course I will see it.

[brad2]

Actually I am in doubt if 'Come with the Rain' will make it to the big screen here in US. It really has Josh Hartnett in the lead and he is not as big a star in US as Kimura is in Japan.
It might get here because of Tranh the director. He did that lovely film 'Scent of Green Papaya' which was really good.
Although it was made in studio in France you would swear it was in Viet Nam location.

Peggy

[ralphm1999]

brad2 wrote:

Actually I am in doubt if 'Come with the Rain' will make it to the big screen here in US. It really has Josh Hartnett in the lead and he is not as big a star in US as Kimura is in Japan. It might get here because of Tranh the director. He did that lovely film 'Scent of Green Papaya' which was really good. Although it was made in studio in France you would swear it was in Viet Nam location. Peggy

I found a sstraight d/l site for it and will begin to d/l tomorrow:

http://www.downarchive.com/movies/58515-i-come-with-the-rain-2009-dvdrip.html

[brad2]

Sounds good but I will wait for your opinion about the d.l site. too late for me tonight. thanks for the link.

Peg

[ralphm1999]

I d/l the first segment. Not happy. It's got Korean subs. So if KimuTaku does not speak English the subs will be useless. Not going to take the chance and waste time d/l 8 segments. Besides from the first it looks like a lot more violence than I care for. I'm into happy dramas.

[Ender's Girl]

qnuy wrote:

indeed but it's one of his best dramas I've watched

I wholeheartedly agree. Is it because the source material is so meaty and complex? Or because the ensemble cast is so incredibly spot-on? Or both, ne?

(I see you haven't watched SORA KARA and NEMURERU MORI, aside from GIFT. Not too fond of crime dramas, eh? )

Peggy, I seriously LOLd at the "Little Man" epithet. Thanks for describing Kimura's Native American sojourn so vividly. Now I'm getting him confused with Daniel Day-Lewis' character in The Last of the Mohicans... (No, not really, lol)

Re I COME WITH THE RAIN, I seriously doubt it'll ever score a U.S. distributor; maybe a perfunctory run on the art house circuit, but a wide release? Nah. Even if it DID make waves in the international scene (which, alas, it didn't; after making its splashy debuts in Japan and Korea, the film bombed and faded to oblivion), the thematic material isn't exactly viewer-friendly.

Ralph, you're a dear for tracking down the d/l link. The dialogue of RAIN is 100% English (bad idea, actually. made the whole thing feel so artificial), so no need for subs.....................

BUT !!! You'll probably need English subs to understand Kimura's lines, heh heh heh (*runs from Peggy*). But even without 'em, he only speaks like, 4 lines or something towards the end of the film, so no biggie. Come to think of it, you may not be used to the accent of the other Asian actors (except for Lee Byung-hun), so yeah, maybe you'll need E-subs after all.

Here's an alternative d/l link: the SMAPxMEDIA Livejournal community (http://community.livejournal.com/smapxmedia) recently released the DVD rip of RAIN. So if you don't want your copy with Korean subs, you can check out the site. You'll need to be a member first, then look up RAIN in the index and -- voila! The Links.

On second thought, Ralph is right about the excessive violence in RAIN. Personally, I think the film is a waste of time. But lots of other Kimura fans feel otherwise, and it's all cool, we're still friends. So you guys MIGHT like it after all. (My review: http://endersgirrrl.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/film-review-i-come-with-the-rain-2008/)

[brad2]

Hi E.G.

One of the reasons I have not raced after the "RAIN" film is that I knew of the brevity of the role for Kimura. Also I am not a Hartnett fan at all. Also it did seem very ugly and violent in the clips. This because of the horrible Hartnett theme.
I was,, however, impressed with the way Kimura apparently kept his eyes open with hordes of insects cralwing all over his face, even in his eyes. No fliching. How did he do that.... director was apologetic but very impressed.

I think Kimura takes these small roles just to show his wares to film makers from other countries. His English will have to improve more but I still don't understand why we love accents from France and Italy and Spain but cannot admire Asian accents when English is spoken.

I do like the way Tommy Haas speaks with his slight German Accent. It is fading as he gets older because he lives in Florida for so long. Charming man and so good looking. Not to mention the tennis......

E.G. "Little Man" was not exactly an epithet. It was the actual name given at the beginning of his time with the tribe. Since he went through all the trials and ceremonies with flying colours then he was given the "Big Man"
name. This was a serious visit he had there, which is why I think it had a real effect on his approach to life afterwards.

Peg

[brad2]

E.G.

Please give opinion of two "PRIDE" haikus which you will find on the 'Poem of the Day' thread.

Eve and I have caught the haiku bug. I have tried this for a long time and recently I have read a lot about waka which I think is truly a fascinating way to correspond.

Peg

[Wynter]

OMG did someone say PRIDE?! It's my favourite drama of all time! I just recently re-watched it all over again. And perhaps I'll re-watch it again soon. Maybe.

And about the haters. If you pay attention, it's usually only the people with low self-esteem, a chip on their shoulder, or fanboys who hate on fangirls, that do the KimuTaku hating.
_________________

Wanna trade? My Drama List (UPDATED: July, 2013)

[brad2]

Re-watch "PRIDE" Maybe????????????

NO ! MUST BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peg

[qnuy]

brad2 wrote:

Re-watch "PRIDE" Maybe???????????? NO ! MUST BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peg

ooh I love love love PRIDE! my head is full of Halu and Aki for the whole one month I can't think of anyone else
_________________

[ralphm1999]

EG,

Thanks, did not know Live Journal has "Rain". I've been a member for a couple of years and have d/l tons of stuff.


Mina...

You say Pride and off I go to my library to watch a couple of scenes....
How can I ever finish 1% Of Anything when I get so many interruptions.
Oh yes.... I'm hooked on 1% too. Romantic and easy to watch. Love it. It would have been better with Sung Yuri though.

[Ender's Girl]

brad2 wrote:

I think Kimura takes these small roles just to show his wares to film makers from other countries. His English will have to improve more but I still don't understand why we love accents from France and Italy and Spain but cannot admire Asian accents when English is spoken.

I don't mind Asian accents at all if the actors are just being themselves. I love watching Tony Leung Chiu Wai's interviews because he's fluent in English and can express himself well, despite the accent. (Way better than a phony U.S. twang, which can make my ears bleed.)

But Kimura's character in RAIN was the son of an Asian billionaire based in L.A., so you'd expect him to at least speak like he WAS the son of an Asian billionaire based in L.A. (I mean, don't these tycoon-y types send their kids to Swiss boarding school and expect them the come back knowing 9 different languages or something?) Kimura's difficulty enunciating basic English words just made his character less believable, and more... giggle-inducing. Sorry, Peg. If he had played a normal Japanese guy conversing in English, his enunciation wouldn't have been such a big deal.

Another major character in RAIN, Shawn Yue, struggled as well with his English dialogue. What was so distracting wasn't so much his accent as the fact that he didn't seem to fully comprehend his lines. It was as if he had only memorized them phonetically or something. That was distracting, because if the actor can't believe the words coming out of his mouth, how can the viewer be expected to? That's primarily the reason why the all-English dialogue of RAIN just didn't work. It all felt so horribly stilted, IMO.

brad2 wrote:

E.G. Please give opinion of two "PRIDE" haikus which you will find on the 'Poem of the Day' thread.

I did go there just now... Amazing!!! (If there was a "bow down" icon, I'd use it.)

Wynter wrote:

And about the haters. If you pay attention, it's usually only the people with low self-esteem, a chip on their shoulder, or fanboys who hate on fangirls, that do the KimuTaku hating.

Oh dear. (Fire in the hole!!!! *ducks* lol)

To paraphrase George Orwell, it's like, all fanboys and fangirls are created equal... but some are more equal than others, ne?

ralphm1999 wrote:

EG, Thanks, did not know Live Journal has "Rain". I've been a member for a couple of years and have d/l tons of stuff.

LOL, I'm sure you have. The links have been up for only a month or so, so maybe that's why you weren't aware of them yet.

Ta, I won't keep you guys from your PRIDE Memory Lane Trip. I'm thinking of revisiting Kimura's other ren'ai myself. In preparation for his upcoming drama, w00000000t.