(out of ****)
Sonatine (R) *** Fireworks (Hana-Bi) *** 1/2
Takeshi Kitano is truly the "King of All Media" in Japan, where he has conquered the worlds of film, television, radio, newspapers, even stand-up comedy. However, if American audiences know him at all, it is likely for his villainous role in the putrid cyberthriller Johnny Mnemonic. That could all change with the near-simultaneous stateside launches of two of his writing-directing-editing-acting efforts, Sonatine and Fireworks (Hana-Bi).
Notice I wrote "could" instead of "will" or "should," because Kitano's poetic, meditative brand of filmmaking will probably be as difficult for most mainstream audiences to sit through as it is to describe (at the showing of Sonatine I attended, there were more than a handful of walkouts). These two films fit squarely within a genre (in both of these cases, crime thriller), yet they are made in a stylized, lyrical style more befitting of avant-garde arthouse fare. The resulting works are slow and somewhat difficult, but they prove to be rewarding sits for the more open-minded viewer.
In 1993's Sonatine, Kitano (billed under his acting moniker "'Beat' Takeshi") plays an aging small-time gangster dispatched by his boss to go to Okinawa to help resolve a turf conflict. After an ambush, a double-cross is clearly afoot, and he and his crew of rather immature young men retreat to a seaside cabin. It is during this section that most people departed the auditorium, but it's not for the reasons one may think. Although there are brief bursts of bloody violence interspersed throughout the film, what (for lack of a better word) "offended" was the attention to behavior that would normally be deemed too trivial to be shown onscreen. Kitano spends plenty of time focusing on what these men do to keep themselves from complete boredom, such as staging mock sumo wrestling matches. It sounds kind of boring on the page (and, apparently for some it's boring on screen as well), but the quirky humor of these scenes give what could easily be a tired story an unusual air of freshness and humanity.
As expertly made as it is, what I found lacking in Sonatine was any emotional connection, which diminished the power of the finale. The same cannot be said of Kitano's most recent effort, Fireworks (Hana-Bi). In this film, Kitano, in a nearly silent role, plays a former cop who takes his terminally ill wife (Kayoko Kishimoto) on an extended road trip; at the same time, police tail him for a bank robbery he made in order to pay off a mob loan shark. Much like Sonatine, the film moves at a leisurely pace; there are brief, unsettling bursts of violence; and laughs are derived from quirky situations and behavior. But Fireworks is more richly satifying to the emotions and the senses. Serving as a counterpoint to the main plot is the story is of a crippled former partner (Ren Osugi) who searches for meaning through painting. His paintings (which, not so surprisingly, are actually painted by Kitano himself) are extensively viewed in haunting wordless sequences, which provide the film with a stunning visual framework that grows increasingly ominous as the quietly poignant conclusion draws near.
It is unlikely that the films of Takeshi Kitano will be as widely embraced by American viewers as those of Hong Kong directors. But in Sonatine and Fireworks, Kitano proves to be a gifted cinematic visionary whose truly unique work deserves stateside recognition, even if that recognition comes from a fairly limited, though highly appreciative, audience.
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