Popular reviews

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  Review by Larry ★★★★½ 4

  Next time I'll kill you.

  In just 3 films, Kitano for me has earned a sort of auteurship among other Japanese directors. The strange man whose face is lined with wrinkles and folds that hold thousands of stories is known for conceptualizing unique tales that simply would not work in a Western environment.

  Kitano's films don't really work in Japanese cinema either. In fact, Kitano's films almost belong on their own little island in the sea isolated from everyone else. An island where mobsters sit around on beaches playing Russian roulette, people play baseball games that erupt into violence, karaoke night has at least one beating, and the sky is always alive with the sights and sounds of fireworks. This…

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  Review by YI JIAN ★★★★ 8

  The more films I watch the less I understand about Takeshi Kitano. From the surface he looks just like a rock that occasionally explodes and blinks a lot but spend some time with him and it becomes very obvious that he is indeed a man capable of conveying emotions without having to utter a single word.

  No eye-contact required, his shades alone speak volumes. Was it telepathy? I knew those close-ups were suspicious -- and the way Kitano focuses on the most mundane scenes (fishing, tossing rocks) and rushes through exciting bits, too, somehow effectively brings forth Nishi's depression without so much as a twitch from the actor/director. This entire film is a conspiracy, and it's the little moments of shy laughter, glances between Nishi and his wife that makes it a wonderful one.

  Say cheese.

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  Review by Nick ★★★★★ 17

  No other director understands the inevitable pain of fate better than Takeshi Kitano. In his masterpiece Fireworks, Kitano played an impassive police officer, Nishi, who is a superman capable of everything -- rob a bank, repaint a car, kill a bunch of gang members without hesitation, yet the only thing this superman couldn't do, is save his dying wife from cancer, or bring his long passed daughter back to life. In this pessimistic tale, everybody hurts, and everybody struggles to survive the cruelty of life, by relishing the scarce moments of happiness, even if they are as flitting as the fireworks in the sky.

  Despite its emotionally detached characters and an understated storyline, Fireworks boasts some of the most blindingly…

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  Review by Rod Sedgwick ★★★★★ 19

  My relationship with with the work of Takeshi Kitano began with 'Hana-Bi' in the late '90's with a curious whimper that developed into a much more profound awareness and admiration the more I spent time with his unique artisitic sensibilities. Takeshi Kitano rose to prominence in Japan mainly as a Comedian and Television host before dipping his toes into film with 1989's startling debut 'Violent Cop'. Up until a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1994, Kitano had struggled to get his audience to take him seriously and longed to express the right balance in the duality of his comic and more serious side, which dominated in his early work (1993's 'Sonatine' being the greatest achievement of his early films).

  In 1997,…

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  Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★★★ 15

  Dungeonskramz #5

  Eternal loneliness is probably no different from a sadness which feels that way. Perhaps that's why time is no object in Hana-bi, remaining untied to everything, least of all order. Hana-bi is a slow, heavy movie but one which is far from despairing. The characters seem to exist in the background of their own lives; they're going through life, but just going through it, not enjoying or experiencing what it offers. Yet the film finds small joys later on. Spring blossom, dots of colour, innocent mishaps, single fireworks, silent laughter, seeing snow. Hana-bi is a film of silent conversations, remaining quiet until there's violence. It so lacks what usually makes cinema what it is. There's no convention, barely a story,…

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  Review by josh lewis ★★★★

  a lot of kitano's genre work leading up to this is defined by a sharp contradiction of his more poetic, tranquil filmmaking sensibilities and the frequently ugly realities they are suddenly and painfully interrupted by. there's something different about this one. he's developed his formal control to the point where he's effectively merged the two in an attempt to capture the experience of trying to persevere with those things living inside you simultaneously all the time; constantly aware of the beauty and the horror, the sentiment and melancholy. it's hard not to connect this idea metatextually to kitano's own near-death experience and recovery process via art (the paintings drawn by his injured, suicidal friend are actually his own paintings), and…

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  Review by Christina ★★★★ 14

  the i hate everyone but you trope >

  instead of glamorizing violence, takeshi kitano’s fireworks, depicts it as an emotional abyss and impulse, triggered after losing an individual’s hopes and optimism. in this we watch a highly decorated cop (also played by kitano) spiral down a vicious retirement. trenched in PTSD and frozen in the same event, our protagonist quits the force and devotes what is left of him to his sick wife. 

  less eruptive than the title suggests, the story is another of one kitano’s, that glides at a meditative pace. there is a beautiful sense of stillness to the picture, remaining calm despite the series of tragic misfortunes. it almost meanders over the film’s savagery, never lingering too long.…

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  Review by Ben ★★★★½ 10

  Day #17 of Japanuary!

  Continuing with the theme of watching Japanese films throughout January, I decided to watch a film directed by Takeshi Kitano.

  Hana-bi is a difficult film to describe. It is equal parts brutal and beautiful. There is no shortage of violence, but all of the destruction is balanced out by a number of scenes that convey many of the other complexities and nuances of human emotions and actions. Every scene felt carefully constructed and meaningful, and I was entranced for the whole duration of the film.

  Kitano, through his direction and acting, brilliantly illustrates what some of the possibilities are when a person is caught up in a cycle of violence. Sometimes violent action can lead to…

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  Review by Shea Gallagher ★★★★★ 3

  Helping to ease the pain; painting, fishing, fleeing, creation as healing. Darting like a kite through the wind as death closes in around you. Flowers wilt, fireworks fizzle, but oh what colour and light they can give.

  Takeshi's gentle husky tones, the peerless beauty of Joe Hisaishi's score (the sound of heartstrings) and every moment of tenderness and quiet bliss that carry us along Nishi's journey brought me to tears in a public library. A film that cradles you and shakes you, leaving you paradoxically frozen and free - some part of me is still on that beach. I could stare at those paintings forever.

  Best op-shop DVD find of my life.

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  Review by Graham ★★★★½

  What Nick said. 

  Beautiful
  Violent
  Breathtaking!

  ---
  Japanuary - 17. Takeshi Kitano

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  Review by Hungkat ★★★½

  Listening to Joe Hisaishi's score, I thought I was watching a Ghibli film. Kitano's masterful control of tone, reflective silence, unspoken menace, as well as his juxtaposition of melancholy with brutality, makes Hanna-Bi an unclassifiable tale of crime and redemption. As a film of few words, Hana-Bi lets its haunting imagery - the snow, the waves, the bursts of gore and yes, the fireworks - speak for itself. Make no mistake; it's a Ghibli film for adults.

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  Review by <Todd> ★★★★ 2

  "HEY... it's no use watering dead flowers." - Rock Skipper,

  So many nice little moments.

  Tough men dealing with trauma. This is a film about finding humanity in a world dominated by toxicity and I enjoyed it. The constant contrast between empathy and hyper-masculinity isn't easy to do but makes for a really interesting film. Takeshi Kitano's direction and performance are so effective at creating feeling of loss and grief. The action is shot well. It's just all around a very solid movie.

  That ending... damn! See this.