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Hana-bi, 1997
Violent police officer Nishi (Takeshi Kitano, who also wrote and directed) leaves the force after an apprehension goes horribly wrong and results in the death and injury of several other officers. Nishi's wife, Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto) is terminally ill. One of the injured officers who is now paralyzed, Horibe (Ren Osugi) struggles with serious depression. Nishi sets out on a series of dangerous schemes to earn money.
After watching several films with an emphasis on the cyclical nature of life, it was interesting to arrive here, at a film that instead shows a character moving toward a decisive ending. This isn't a film about someone going out in a blaze of glory, but rather a film about someone making deliberate choices knowing that his career and his marriage have come to an end.
So many movies about angsty police characters turn that energy inward. A man is angry, and he often vents that anger at whatever bad guys cross his path. What is really engaging about this film is that so much of Nishi's energy is turned outward, toward the people he cares about. This is a film that sort of manages to have its cake and eat it too--we get cool, violent showdowns with yakuza enforcers, with the no-holds barred dynamic of a man who does not care, but we also get long, meditative stretches focusing on Nishi's relationship with his wife and the emotional recovery of Horibe.
Horibe, in fact, becomes a very interesting foil to Nishi's character. Early in the film, Nishi gifts Horibe with some art supplies, and Horibe finds a way to express himself through art. It is a beautiful counterbalance to the more fatalistic path on which Nishi and his wife find themselves. The film takes its time in showing us Horibe's work and the way that it evolves. The title of the film, which translates or is alternately titled as fireworks, gives a nice bridge to the two stories. Horibe often paints in a pointillist style, and in the film we see Nishi's wife watching fireworks. She and Nishi are out to enjoy all of the beauty that they can.
Normally in a film like this, the crime/yakuza plot would be like 70% of the run time. Here, those proportions are flip-flopped. Most of the movie leans on the drama, with the crime/yakuza stuff popping up to add momentum to the narrative.
I really enjoyed this film, and I don't think it was on my radar. Thanks to whoever nominated it!
Hana-bi, 1997
Violent police officer Nishi (Takeshi Kitano, who also wrote and directed) leaves the force after an apprehension goes horribly wrong and results in the death and injury of several other officers. Nishi's wife, Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto) is terminally ill. One of the injured officers who is now paralyzed, Horibe (Ren Osugi) struggles with serious depression. Nishi sets out on a series of dangerous schemes to earn money.
After watching several films with an emphasis on the cyclical nature of life, it was interesting to arrive here, at a film that instead shows a character moving toward a decisive ending. This isn't a film about someone going out in a blaze of glory, but rather a film about someone making deliberate choices knowing that his career and his marriage have come to an end.
So many movies about angsty police characters turn that energy inward. A man is angry, and he often vents that anger at whatever bad guys cross his path. What is really engaging about this film is that so much of Nishi's energy is turned outward, toward the people he cares about. This is a film that sort of manages to have its cake and eat it too--we get cool, violent showdowns with yakuza enforcers, with the no-holds barred dynamic of a man who does not care, but we also get long, meditative stretches focusing on Nishi's relationship with his wife and the emotional recovery of Horibe.
Horibe, in fact, becomes a very interesting foil to Nishi's character. Early in the film, Nishi gifts Horibe with some art supplies, and Horibe finds a way to express himself through art. It is a beautiful counterbalance to the more fatalistic path on which Nishi and his wife find themselves. The film takes its time in showing us Horibe's work and the way that it evolves. The title of the film, which translates or is alternately titled as fireworks, gives a nice bridge to the two stories. Horibe often paints in a pointillist style, and in the film we see Nishi's wife watching fireworks. She and Nishi are out to enjoy all of the beauty that they can.
Normally in a film like this, the crime/yakuza plot would be like 70% of the run time. Here, those proportions are flip-flopped. Most of the movie leans on the drama, with the crime/yakuza stuff popping up to add momentum to the narrative.
I really enjoyed this film, and I don't think it was on my radar. Thanks to whoever nominated it!