Hana-bi (1997)
Front Cover Actor
Takeshi Kitano Yoshitaka Nishi (as 'Beat' Takeshi)
Kayoko Kishimoto Miyuki, Nishi's wife
Ren Osugi Horibe
Susumu Terajima Nakamura
Tetsu Watanabe Tesuka
Hakuryu Yakuza Hitman
Yasuei Yakushiji Criminal
Taro Istumi Kudo
Kenichi Yajima Doctor
Makoto Ashikawa Tanaka
'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
Movie Details
Genre Crime; Drama; Thriller
Director Takeshi Kitano
Producer Masayuki Mori; Yasushi Tsuge
Writer Takeshi Kitano
Language Japanese
Running Time 103 mins
Country Japan
Color Color
Plot
The ideal starter movie for those who wish to familiarise themselves with the work of the paradoxical Japanese auteur, Hana-Bi (the word means "fireworks" in Japanese) is an echt example of "Beat"'s Takeshi Kitano's distinctive brand of existential crime thrillers. Like Violent Cop, Boiling Point, Sonatine or his LA-set Brother, Hana-Bi juxtaposes shocking bursts of violence with reflective moments of lyricism, setting up a slap-caress-slap rhythm that's as disquieting as it is addictive.

Kitano himself plays weary Tokyo cop Nishi, an impassive-faced detective in hock to yakuza mobsters, toughened by a career in violence (at one point he takes out an attacker's eye with a chopstick, an assault so swiftly edited one barely has time to register it). Nishi's Achilles-heel is his love for his wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto) who is dying of cancer, following their late daughter to the grave. When Nishi leaves a stakeout to attend to her in hospital, a colleague, Horibe (Ren Osugi) is paralysed in the ensuing shootout. Nishi, guilt-stricken, goes on the run with Miyuki, taking her to beauty spots to enjoy simple pleasures like kite-flying and picnics before she dies, although the yakuza are never far behind. Meanwhile, Horibe takes up painting, and discovers in the process a calming new vocation (the na&239;ve, disturbing and strangely beautiful images are by Kitano himself, painted after he had his own near-fatal experience in a motorcycle accident).

The cumulative effect is a profoundly moving and enigmatic movie, one that discreetly withholds many of the narrative crutches--backstory, motivation--you would expect from a conventional Hollywood movie with the same story. It's not surprising Kitano is so drawn to characters teeming with contradictions, given that his own career seems so bi-polar on paper: he started out a television presenting clown, and his move into glowering policiers represented an image volte-face as surprising to Japanese audiences as it would be if Dale Winton had started making Scorsese-style gangster movies. His comic sensibility shines through in spots in Hana-Bi, even more so in the broad comedy Kikujiro. Considered by many critics Kitano's best film, Hana-Bi^'s power is augmented by Hideo Yamamoto's lapidary cinematography, and Jo Hisaishi's lush, string-laden score. --Leslie Felperin

Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 12
In Collection Yes
Product Details
Format DVD
Region Region 2
Release Date 2004
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
Extra Features
PAL
Links
Internet Movie Database