Another relentless study by Kitano of an artist with no talent who refuses to give up, this goes on far too long and bludgeons the viewer with its relentless picture of a helpless sycophant trying to become a success by imitating his betters or copying trends that have just gone out of style. There is a disconnect between the early passages of the artist as a boy, which are fable-like, haunting, and touching (but also droll and odd) and the segments of the artist as an adult and "old" man (when Kitano himself takes over), the latter being simply a series of conceptual put-ons. Throughout the film is hurt by its suggestion that art of limited merit has no merit at all; that a child artist wouldn't produce anything of interest. And its later scenes are increasingly brutal and macabre. Another example of Kitano's limits as an "auteur." His work is distinctive and persistent, but there is a coldness, even a cluelessness, about it that is unappealing. The Allociné critic rating of 3.0/70 is full of raves, showing Kitano's strong "auteur" status among the French. Seen in Paris in April 2010.

I like different films especially from Japan and this fits the category, interesting from beginning to end, a sad film in my opinion but with lots of messages for art lovers if you look that deep into the story, a bit like Rembrandts 'Nightwatching'.Didn't quite get the ending but it didn't seem to matter. Gosh to have a wife like he had, so patient and supportive all his life but sad for the daughter who had to endure so much also all her life.The title is a stunning one. Okay the Tortoise is the pursuit of success but what is the Achilles, the inability over time to achieve that success? Good acting throughout but cant take it as a comedy with a western mind.

After two introspective films before Achilles to Kame, Kitano is back to complete his trilogy. With Takeshis' he explored himself as an actor, Kantoku: Banzai! revealed Kitano as a troubled filmmaker and Achilles to Kame, third in line, is telling us something about Kitano as a painter. And art. Or non-art, for that matter.The film starts of rather slow. Kitano seems to reach back to the feel-good 50s try-outs he made in Kantoku: Banzai! Soft lightning and swift switches between humor, slices of life and drama of the poor make up most of the first 30 minutes. A few scarce moments remind us we are watching a Kitano film, most of them coming from the interaction between the young kid and the village retard. Scenes that are not unlike the ones between the grandpa and little girl in Ishii's Taste of Tea.While those first thirty minutes are quite pleasant, the humor is warm and comforting and the score is pretty spot on (staying very close to the work of former Kitano regular Hisaishi), as a Kitano flick the film is definitely missing something vital. That something is added when we jump a couple of years forward to the painter's college years. It is obvious that Kitano's style starts to flourish in a more modern Japanese environment.This is also the time when things start to go wrong for our young painter. Up until then he has been following his heart, making the paintings he likes best. But apparently, that is not to the liking of the young art dealer who is asked to sell his work and our young painter is urged to start following art lessons. He begins learning about art, which kick-starts his everlasting journey to grasp to concept of Art (with a capitol A).Visually this second part is much more like the films that made Kitano famous. Static camera views, harsh lighting and many shots of stark facial expressions. The structure too becomes more like his older work, reminding me a lot of Kikujiro. Where the first parts grounds the trip the main characters are about to make, the core of the film lies in the sketchy scenes that follow. Our young painter teams up with his classmates and through several (often very funny) attempts eh tries to capture the core of art, spirit and originality.After this second part the film jumps to the current time, Kitano himself (of course) portraying the painter as someone who has lost touch with reality, still running behind this idealized image of capturing the essence of art. In this third part the film really starts to shine as Kitano himself can fool around to make the best of the scenes he's in. He is visibly enjoying himself as probably a couple of those scenes were largely improvised on set (remembering the docu I once watched on Kikujiro).Kitano will always remain Kitano, no matter what character he plays, but since he's playing himself that's hardly a fault. Apart from that, his mannerisms and posture are gold in the comedy scenes. Still, Kitano's character starts to sink deeper and deeper to the point where the comfortable life around him is shattered to pieces, with Kitano unable to let go of his self-induced passion.The first section of the film is obviously the weakest but important for Kitano's vision on the subject. The moment he goes to school to learn about art he loses his spirit and becomes a parody of what an artist is supposed to be. Kitano pretty much trashes artists, art dealers, self-indulged amateurs and buying customers alike as he questions and undermines the importance of art and its function in our society.It is nice to see a director doing this so openly and directly. Even though the film revolves around Kitano as a painter, it is easy to broaden the perspective and to see this film as a comment on art and art appreciation in general. On how people approach art, want to understand art and want to profit from it. It is also good to see that Kitano can walk away from it in the end with a contented heart and a freed soul.Achilles to Kame is a film that combines the themes and topics of his two latest outings with the style and feel of his earlier work. The comedy is typical for Kitano, the acting (with a neat little cameo for Terajima), directing, structure and pacing are all very much like his earlier films too. Even the music seems to come right out of Hisaishi's office. It's very nice to see all these things come together to create something that feels like the current Kitano, bearing his past baggage and showing multiple sides of his personality as a director, while still remaining very consistent in style and feel.A must for Kitano fans and probably art fans alike (as all paintings were made by Kitano himself and are apparently based on existing paintings). Probably not the best place to start for people not really familiar with Kitano's earlier work as a director, but as a fan of his directorial efforts this is a pretty complete and awesome film to behold. 4.5*/5.0*

This should be required viewing for everyone in the "art" world. Kitano skewers global modern art culture and also makes fun of his own work.The story is simply of an artist from childhood to "middle age" (which seems to be around 62) as he tries to be a successful artist. He starts out as an untrained "primitive" but with a certain talent for texture and color. He is insulted at every turn while we get to see the "good" art by "masters" which are all really, really bad. Unfortunately the artist gets progressively worse as he takes advice from gallery owners on how to make his work "sellable", which it never is. Every time the work gets better, he's advised to go in a different direction. Many mildly humorous situations arise but the film isn't going for outright laughs most of the time. The scenes of the "middle aged" artist (played by Kitano) getting his supportive wife to make his art are very long, get progressively cruel (probably part of the point) and could have been cut down a little. The issue of autism isn't directly addressed but the character certainly exhibits symptoms.This is a very good film although a little long. It may not be as good to someone who has no experience with the art world of today. Kitano created all the art in this film, good and purposely bad.