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| "TAKESHI KITANO IS MASTERFUL AS A TOUGH YAKUZA LEADER IN SONATINE." |
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Sonatine
DVD/APPROX. 90 MINS/2005/JAPAN MA15+
DVD/APPROX. 90 MINS/2005/JAPAN MA15+
As a yakuza tale of things being all fucked up, Sonatine is pretty fucking good. Not great, but good.
Murakawa (actor-director Takeshi Kitano) is a yakuza bad-arse, but one who’s possibly on the way out – and one who certainly seems to want
out, but on his own terms. On the way to Okinawa to act as judge between two rival factions, he’s set up by some other yakuza bosses, who
want him to go down. This isn’t like, say, Infernal Affairs, or Election in terms of being a great action-crime film – it’s a hell of a lot grittier, hard-
edged and personal. That’s the Kitano way: there are no broad brush strokes here, everything’s reliant on the small detail.
The only annoying fact to do with this film is that in the incredibly protracted beach sequence, quite broad humour is addressed – not particularly
successfully to my mind – and it kind of detracts from the whole experience – it kind of takes away from the dramatic “oomph” the film otherwise
possesses. Plus the fact that the whole thing kind of meanders towards the end, which is annoying, to say the least. I like my action films more
dynamic than this.
As in all of Kitano’s films, the violence is sharp, brutal, up-front and shocking, if somewhat sporadic, but that’s what keeps it realistic. Never has a
semi-submerged rope looked quite so sinister – you know the scene I mean…
Kitano is Japan’s answer to Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. His craggy, haggard head should be chiselled onto the face of Mount Fuji, all those
presidents on Mount Rushmore. His take on mob boss Murakawa, while not iconic (unlike his other work in Hana-Bi or Blood and Bones) is still
worthy of note, although never coming near the heady heights of Dirty Harry or Death Wish.
There’s one scene of vengeance towards the end, which reminded me of Rorsharch from The Watchmen, when he’s asked to stop killing villains, his
answer is a note with the word “Never!” stabbed through the heart of a bad guy, so here, a bunch of bad dudes taken down as an answer to a
yakuza threat to Murakawa. And as for the gun-fight in the lift scene – bloody hell…
As always from Madman Entertainment Eastern Eye (region 4), an entertaining flick, if not an essential one. Sonatine is, like thrash metal icons
Exodus told us in the 80s, good, violent fun.
Extras: They’re not even really extras – a theatrical trailer, a promo trailer and a bunch of theatrical trailers for other Takeshi Kitano films: Violent
Cop, Boiling Point and Hana-Bi. I think Eastern Eye could have done a bit better, considering they have before over a range of their titles.
Murakawa (actor-director Takeshi Kitano) is a yakuza bad-arse, but one who’s possibly on the way out – and one who certainly seems to want
out, but on his own terms. On the way to Okinawa to act as judge between two rival factions, he’s set up by some other yakuza bosses, who
want him to go down. This isn’t like, say, Infernal Affairs, or Election in terms of being a great action-crime film – it’s a hell of a lot grittier, hard-
edged and personal. That’s the Kitano way: there are no broad brush strokes here, everything’s reliant on the small detail.
The only annoying fact to do with this film is that in the incredibly protracted beach sequence, quite broad humour is addressed – not particularly
successfully to my mind – and it kind of detracts from the whole experience – it kind of takes away from the dramatic “oomph” the film otherwise
possesses. Plus the fact that the whole thing kind of meanders towards the end, which is annoying, to say the least. I like my action films more
dynamic than this.
As in all of Kitano’s films, the violence is sharp, brutal, up-front and shocking, if somewhat sporadic, but that’s what keeps it realistic. Never has a
semi-submerged rope looked quite so sinister – you know the scene I mean…
Kitano is Japan’s answer to Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. His craggy, haggard head should be chiselled onto the face of Mount Fuji, all those
presidents on Mount Rushmore. His take on mob boss Murakawa, while not iconic (unlike his other work in Hana-Bi or Blood and Bones) is still
worthy of note, although never coming near the heady heights of Dirty Harry or Death Wish.
There’s one scene of vengeance towards the end, which reminded me of Rorsharch from The Watchmen, when he’s asked to stop killing villains, his
answer is a note with the word “Never!” stabbed through the heart of a bad guy, so here, a bunch of bad dudes taken down as an answer to a
yakuza threat to Murakawa. And as for the gun-fight in the lift scene – bloody hell…
As always from Madman Entertainment Eastern Eye (region 4), an entertaining flick, if not an essential one. Sonatine is, like thrash metal icons
Exodus told us in the 80s, good, violent fun.
Extras: They’re not even really extras – a theatrical trailer, a promo trailer and a bunch of theatrical trailers for other Takeshi Kitano films: Violent
Cop, Boiling Point and Hana-Bi. I think Eastern Eye could have done a bit better, considering they have before over a range of their titles.
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