Overview
A painter's relentless pursuit of success leads to a journey filled with humor and heart.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- witty
- absurd
- melancholic
- reflective movie night
- Japanese cinema night
What critics said
Available critical evidence is limited, with the film receiving modest recognition and at least one notably negative review.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Machisu repeatedly reinvents his artistic practice and pursues success despite consistent failure and limited recognition.
The film treats Machisu's repeated setbacks as both absurdly funny and deeply affecting, while Sachiko continues supporting him.
Machisu's struggle for success exposes the arbitrary standards and gatekeeping surrounding recognition as a painter.
Machisu's successive artistic experiments provide recurring visual and comedic structures for the film's portrait of creative obsession.
Films like Achilles and the Tortoise, and why
At Eternity's Gate
shared tragicomic artist protagonist, self-destructive ambition, and bittersweet comedy drama
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
shared examination of artistic obsession, social recognition, and the gap between aspiration and achievement
The King of Comedy
shared darkly comic meditation on failure, perseverance, and an outsider's pursuit of creative validation
Movie Details
- Director
- Takeshi Kitano
- Release Date
- 2008-09-20
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (111)
Cast
- Takeshi Kitano
- Kanako Higuchi
- Yûrei Yanagi
- Kumiko Aso
- Akira Nakao
- Mariko Tsutsui
- Masatô Ibu
- Nao Omori
- Ren Osugi
- Aya Enjoji
Common questions
- What is Achilles and the Tortoise about?
- A relentlessly striving painter turns lifelong artistic failure into a darkly comic test of ambition, devotion, and self-worth.
- What is Achilles and the Tortoise like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Achilles and the Tortoise as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Achilles and the Tortoise violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Achilles and the Tortoise.
- What did critics think of Achilles and the Tortoise?
- Available critical evidence is limited, with the film receiving modest recognition and at least one notably negative review.
- Which films are like Achilles and the Tortoise?
- Films with a similar feel include At Eternity's Gate, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, and The King of Comedy.
- How long is Achilles and the Tortoise?
- Achilles and the Tortoise runs 120 minutes.
