Jam Session – Kikujiro no natsu koshiki kaizokuban

Jam Session – The Official Bootleg of Kikujiro, made by one of Japan’s finest film-makers/critics, Shinozaki Makoto, is an intimate and very revealing documentary about Kitano Takeshi during the shooting and post-production of his Kikujiro (also screening in this programme). Since it follows the chronology of events and since Kitano likes to shoot his films in sequence, Jam Session really is like a ‘bootleg’ version of Kikujiro – except that here we see the out-takes instead of the good takes. The first thing Shinozaki shows is the only time Kitano had to call for a retake because he himself cracked up on camera: it’s a ‘gay’ scene, with Maro Akaji as a sad old pervert lunging at Kitano’s underpants behind the toilet in a park. Elsewhere we see the Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien chatting with Kitano during the editing, watch Kitano juggling his roles on both sides of the camera without slowing down a remarkable fast shoot… and get to hear some very frank comments from the man himself. In short, a treat. Available nowhere else. (T.R.)