Meets Kitano Films

It somehow starts wrong: you’ll find this record under »soundtracks«, but it doesn’t have any film dialogues. Music without voices, sounds and, what’s most important to me, editing, I do not call a soundtrack, (but rather music composed for, used in, laid to a corresponding movie.) Apart from Godard, some musicals and other rare exceptions, I often feel ripped-off when buying »film CDs«, (and therefore I don’t!) It would be brilliant to find records with all the different musics, versions, interpretations used in one film. Or, even better, just the dialogues, only the sounds etc… It doesn’t happen for so many reasons (one could refer to a special issue of »les cahiers du cinéma« on music and sounds in films.) Anyway, what we find here is quite interesting if you know something about Takeshi Beat Kitano’s cinema already. At first it’s hard to hear anything like him here, since he also is a master at slicing time and he rarely uses the musical continuity of a piece to make durations unless obviously shown. Timing is the composer’s idea or taste. Not always mine, I should say. Listening to it you might get a picture of Kitano that lacks his physical presence. For that sort of taste you’ll have to copy the soundtracks directly from the films. Maybe the most exciting part of the whole record is the very first piece named »Intro: Office Kitano Sound Logo« (sorry, it lasts 14 seconds only!) A logo stands for an image, a global one, the most significant one possible, and it’s quite globalising here indeed. Give it a try or get the film that goes with it … as well, if you like.