Takeshis'

No, it's not a misprint. The title of Takeshi Kitano's splendid new film is indeed in the plural, and does indeed denote possession without indicating what is possessed. The working title was Fractal, which suggests the kind of ideas in play: this is a splintered narrative, densely populated with doppelgängers and tripelgängers, which explores alternative realities and possibilities. Insofar as it has a centre, it centres on two Takeshi Kitanos, one a successful TV star, the other a bum who accidentally discovers his resemblance to the star and trades on it by trying for a career on the fringes of showbiz. But these two are surrounded by many other doubles and triples as the multiplying storylines fracture into a world of infinite chances and choices. And the only fixed points in this dizzying illusion are, ironically, two iconic figures who combine alternative possibilities and identities within one body: Japan's most famous female-impersonator chanteuse Akihiro Miwa (formerly Maruyama, friend of Mishima, the original Black Lizard) and her younger confrere Daigoro Tachibana (the transvestite geisha in Zatoichi). In short, Kitano has responded to the global success of Zatoichi by making his most 'experimental' film yet: a sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice.