Sukiyaki Western Django (2007, Japanese)

Oh, Takeshi Miike, how I’ve missed you.

There are so many layers to Sukiyaki Western Django that it can be more than a little mind-bending to unpack. Right from the start, Yojimbo is invoked (“Best not think about playing Yojimbo.”), which then turns towards A Fistful of Dollars, and the lesser-known Spaghetti Western, Django, before the whole thing turns back on itself as a remake of a remake of a remake (of a remake?), featuring an all-Japanese cast (pretty much) speaking English and adhering to a weird mixture of Japanese and Western weaponry, cultures, and settings. And since this is Miike, that’s not nearly the end to the odd – there’s the gang leader who’s obsessed with William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, the sheriff with multiple-personality disorder, the Japanese village named Nevada, and, regrettably, Quentin Tarantino. Unfortunately, no singing and dancing zombies. Maybe next time. (By the way, I highly recommend watching Sukiyaki with the English subtitles on, since most of the actors seem to be speaking phonetically.)

As a side note, after seeing him in this and Tokyo Sonata, Teruyuki Kagawa is becoming one of my favorite Japanese actors. His role here is hilariously over-the-top, light years away from his tamped-down salaryman in Sonata.