(Small) picspam of Masaya Kato-related awesomeness

All it took was a trailer (that of Jackie Chan's "Shinjuku Incident", which is out in some areas in Asia and will be out in Japan on May 1, the same day as "Goemon" and Wolverine, dammit!) and an email and video files exchange with a friend to send me back into Masaya Kato (Japanese actor, former model - and still does some modelling on occasion - probably first came to attention in this part of the world with his role in Christophe Gans' "Crying Freeman") frenzy mode and looking for some of his harder-to-find movies and tv series

As a result, I finally got to see the Yakuza flick "Agitator" by Japanese director Takashi Miike (of "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer" fame). It was so much better than what I had hoped for, in particular since I don't even enjoy half of Miike's work (mind you, with an output of 6-8 films per year, that still makes a lot I do like to watch). Actually, it falls just short of being a small masterpiece - although I'm reserving definitive judgement for when I get to see the Japanese cut (the international version is *only* 150 minutes, while the Japanese one is 200!)

I'm actually waiting on that longer version (hopefully it should be in the mail on its way here) to write a full review, but I can already point out of few things. In terms of storytelling, Miike's rarely been so coherent and subtle, and although very realistic, with few scenes of great violence and with none of Miike's fancy 'n' flashy tricks in sight, I found it to be actually much more ambiguous morally - and therefore much more interesting, not to mention, at times, poignant - than most of his more violent and fast-paced stuff. And Masaya Kato is almost unbearably hot in this (btw, as much as I adore Hugh Jackman, I think some actors outside western countries are woefully omitted in these so-called sexiest/most beautiful/blah blah blah lists), although the hotness - luckily! - takes a backseat to his acting abilities: I know the role was supposedly tailor-made for him, but it is also extremely demanding, yet he manages to convey a multitude of nuances, whole emotional landscapes with something as simple at times as a slight nod (typically in the birthday scene in the first few minutes). Also, he and Takenaka (who incidentally, also stars in "Shinjuku Incident") have this great interaction that provides most of the emotional weight to the story (plus Takenaka manages to actually lighten the mood on a couple of occasions)


So here are a few caps I've already taken from Agitator, plus a few others I've taken for a friend who sent me a video of Kato's appearance in Downtown DX (a Japanese tv show) last October (when he was promoting the Samurai 7 stage adaptation).

I think I can smell icons. Yep, I definitely need some Kato icons asap (why I haven't done any yet is beyond me, now that I think of it).....



( Shirtless hotness - but still work-safe - this way )