Sonatine (1993) Film Review

Japanese director Takeshi Kitano does it again in this amazingly scripted and filmed mafia movie. Kitano is well known in Japan for his violent crime dramas and is apparently perceived to be Japans very own John Woo. Mr Kitano did not only direct "Sonatine", he also wrote the script and even and played the lead role as a Yakuza leader (Murakawa) sent to stop a turf war in Okinawa. Very early on after arriving in Okinawa things go wrong and bullets start flying. Kitano a man of his word and honour wishes to leave the mafia lead lifestyle behind but he knows that certain circumstances make that impossible. After the flying bullets come to a halt Kitano leaves the carnage with a few of his men hiding in a seaside villa. While there they enjoy their last days on a beach.



Kitano unlike many other action genre directors focuses on the reaction to violence;
He uses a static camera in nearly every scene while using the landscape backdrop for the violent deaths of his goons. These deaths are seen to be very abstract as the victims barely flinch in reaction to their own deaths. The near ending of the film is an extraordinary; it is presented in the real Takashi style. Kitano is seen entering a hotel where his bosses are having a meeting with an M-16 assault rifle. The camera remains on the street looking up at the top floor of the building, later flashes of gunfire is seen through the windows.

By Aris Sahin