Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Takashi Miike (written by) &
Masa Nakamura (written by)

Release Date:

15 September 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

An epic tale of blood, lust and greed.

Plot:

A revolver-wielding stranger crosses paths with two warring clans who are both on the hunt for a hidden treasure in a remote western town. Knowing his services are valuable to either side, he offers himself to the clan who will offer up the largest share of the wealth. |

Plot Keywords:

Clan | Treasure | Whistling | Brawl | Old Man

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Hideaki Ito	...	Gunman
Masanobu Ando	...	Yoichi
Kôichi Satô	...	Taira no Kiyomori
Kaori Momoi	...	Ruriko
Yusuke Iseya	...	Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Renji Ishibashi	...	Benkei
Yoshino Kimura	...	Shizuka
Quentin Tarantino	...	Piringo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takaaki Ishibashi
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Sheriff
Taigi Kobayashi
Toshiyuki Nishida
Shun Oguri	...	Akira
Masato Sakai	...	Taira no Shigemori
Hideaki Sato
Christian Storms
Yôji Tanaka

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits
Takashi Miike		(written by) &
Masa Nakamura		(written by)

Produced by
Toshiaki Nakazawa	....	executive producer
Masato Ôsaki	....	producer
Nobuyuki Tohya	....	producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô

Cinematography by
Toyomichi Kurita

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura		(as Taiji Shimamura)

Production Design by
Takashi Sasaki

Art Direction by
Nao Sasaki

Costume Design by
Michiko Kitamura

Sound Department
Jun Nakamura	....	sound

Casting Department
Georgia Simon	....	adr voice casting

Other crew
Henry Hayashi	....	adr voice replacement
Hideo Kimura	....	adr voice replacement
Blake Kushi	....	adr voice replacement
Kazumi Nakamura	....	adr voice replacement
Masashi Odate	....	adr voice replacement
Christian Storms	....	assistant dialogue coach
Nadia Venesse	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Dentsu Productions Ltd.
• Geneon Entertainment
• Sedic
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan)
• Sukiyaki Western Django Film Partners
• TV Asahi
• Toei Company

Distributors

• First Look International (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Bez Granits (2008) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Universum-Film GmbH (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Nordisk Film Theatrical Distribution (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Roadshow Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• JINNI's Animation Studios
• OLM Digital
• OLM
• Viracocha

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• NovaStar Digital  sound post-production
• S Gear  lighting equipment supplied by
• Sapex Scripts  post-production services
• Sendai Miyagi Film Commission  
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  digital intermediate

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, including a rape.

Runtime:

121 min | (None):98 min (international cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Canada:18A | USA:R | Australia:R | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 | Denmark:15

Filming Locations:

Tsuruoka City, Yamagata, Japan

Company:

Dentsu Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

The characters who are named have been so after actual historical figures in the Tale of the Heike.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final scene, the Gunman goes from having a mustache and goatee to being clean shaven between shots.

Quotes:

Ringo: The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that to florish is to fall. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a night in spring; the mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Per un pugno di dollari (1964)

purely entertaining

Don't ruin this film for yourself by going in with expectations, limitations, rules, preconceptions, etc. of what you think it's supposed to be. Step inside the movie and let it tell you the story. It has the formula down for the typical old style western but it's done in a unique fashion. It's not supposed to be a carbon copy of an old American Spaghetti Western. Appreciate that, and you'll appreciate what this film has to offer. The Japanese-accented English only added to its charm, although I will admit that it was difficult to understand the dialogue at times. The film does include subtitles so no worries. The visuals/cinematography were wonderful, the story was interesting and overall it was a fun movie to watch. Purely entertaining.