Achilles and the Tortoise

Achilles and the Tortoise (2008) is a Japanese tragicomedy from Takeshi Kitano that you can watch online on iFILM. Kitano himself plays Machisu, an aging painter who has spent half a lifetime chasing recognition that always stays one step out of reach.

Machisu has drawn since boyhood, and almost everything in his life falls apart because of it. He copies his idols, then breaks every rule — pouring paint over canvases, setting them alight, throwing himself in front of a car to capture a "real" image — while gallery owners just shrug. His wife Sachiko, played by Kanako Higuchi, endures all of it and believes in his talent longer than he does. The title borrows Zeno's paradox: Achilles forever gains on the tortoise and never catches it.

This is the closing chapter of Kitano's autobiographical trilogy about making art, screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival. He mocks his own reputation as a genius and the whole notion that art owes anyone anything. Dry, sometimes absurdly funny, it rewards viewers who like auteur cinema with no consoling ending. Stream Achilles and the Tortoise (2008) online on iFILM.