Sonatine

The most critically highly-regarded (at least in the West where he has cult status, rather than Japan where his pop cultural alter ego, Beat Takeshi, is more appreciated) of Takeshi Kitano's yakuza trilogy (the other two being Violent Cop (1989) and Boiling Point (1990) Sonatine will probably mean more to audiences familiar with his iconoclastic style than those who have come to this expecting a straightforward gangster movie.

Once again giving himself the lead role, Takeshi plays, Murakama, a minor yakuza boss who finds himself set up as a target in a gangland war. After a few skirmishes he retreats to a beach-side hide-out with his gradually diminishing cadre of henchman.

At once comedic, violent, absurdist and contemplative, distinguished by the director's flair for striking imagery and disregard for the conventions of mainstream cinema, for those so inclined Sonatine will be savoured more for its tone and emotional texture than its narrative exposition.

 

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