Outrage/アウトレイジ (Autoreiji) (2010) - Kitano comeback with hardwired yakuza killer

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Writer/director/star/editor Takeshi Kitano looks tough and deadly on this poster for his Outrage

Rival yakuza families go at each other's throats, when a member of one family accidentally puts the screws on a member of the other.

 

Outrage is written by writer/director/star/editor Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop/Sono otoko, kyôbô ni tsuki (1989)).

He himself plays the bear-like gangster Ôtomo here, who is not about to take orders for humiliating withdrawal from any slick bosses. Outrage is exceedingly violent and death-oriented; Kitano stages the violence with an infectious enthusiasm and often with visual force. Unfortunately the plot or characters never become very affecting, and those audiences with a foot placed in the Western gangster movie tradition will miss this aspect in Outrage.

 

Related posts:

 

Takeshi Kitano: Battle Royale (2000) or, Kill or Be Killed (star) 

Fireworks/Hana-bi/はなび (1997) - Kitano's stoic killer drama 

 

 

Watch a 5-minute clip from the film's Cannes premiere here

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 6 mil. $

Box office: 8.4 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.4 times its cost)

[Outrage premiered 17 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 109 minutes. Kitano wrote the film around the death scenes he wanted to shoot and as an attempt to entertain widely again - after a string of uncommercial features. Shooting took place from August - October 2009 in Japan, including in Tokyo. The film opened #66 to a 6k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it widened to 7 theaters but didn't attain a higher rank, grossing 44k $ (0.5 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. It opened #4 in Japan, where it made 8.1 mil. $ (97.5 %). 2nd biggest was France with 141k $ (1.7 %). The film's budget is regrettably not know. Projected at 6 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. Kitano returned as a filmmaker with Beyond Outrage/Autoreiji: Biyondo (2012), the next film in what turned into his Outrage trilogy, which ended with Outrage Coda (2017). As an actor he first returned in Kikoku (2010, TV movie), Kenji Onijima Heihachirou (2010, TV-series) and theatrically in Dearest/Anata e (2012). Outrage is certified fresh at 80 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Outrage?

Fireworks/Hana-bi/はなび (1997) - Kitano's stoic killer drama

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Takeshi Kitano walks on a blue-colored shoreline with a psychedelic, flowery sun above in a dark suit on this poster for his Fireworks

Police detective Nishi is out on the fringes of sanity, when his family gets enveloped in tragedy, and he goes by sheer gut instinct in a period, where his own life is also up in the air...

 

Fireworks is written, directed and co-edited by its star Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop/Sono otoko, kyôbô ni tsuki (1989)). The original Japanese title translates to 'fireworks'.

It is a very odd and singular film, a pure Kitano! He walks around without speaking and looks menacing and cool and torn, often wearing sunglasses, as he handles business (killing people mainly) in tough ways.

Fireworks is nevertheless a very quiet film, which also works as a showcase for a good deal of artworks made by Kitano. But is it essentially zen-cool as an experience, - or forgotten again very fast? I lean more towards the latter option, although Fireworks undeniably has a strong personality and fascinating force to it.

 

Related post:

 

Takeshi Kitano: Battle Royale (2000) or, Kill or Be Killed (star)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2.3 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 0.5 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain - but likely a flop

[Fireworks premiered 3 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place in Japan, including in Tokyo. Details concerning the film's North-American release or the gross numbers for its many other international markets are regrettably not available online, so the film's theatrical rank cannot be asserted. However Kitano said in a 2003 interview that the film was "not a big success commercially". It was nominated for a César award and won a European Film award, among other honors. Kitano returned with Kikujiro (1999). As an actor, he returned in Tokyo Eyes (1998). Fireworks is fresh at 96 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Fireworks? 

Battle Royale (2000) or, Kill or Be Killed

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A poster for Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale

QUICK REVIEW:

Japanese society has hit a breaking point, and a new division between youths and adults has been established. On a deserted island, the state carries out its 'battle royale'-reform: 42 juveniles are equipped with weapons and neck collars. The only rule: Kill or be killed.

BR is a cool power-movie; very strong, disturbing and entertaining, and difficult to relate to: What does it all mean, (if anything), was my response, as I sat through the mayhem. Subsequently I have read that it is a kind of allegory over the transition from educational life to the brutal realities of the Japanese career world.
BR is a complicated film to understand, - perhaps especially for non-Japanese, - and it both seems to say that life is a game in which only the most ruthless wins; while at the same time it presents this fact sentimentally, e.g. with its bizarre use of classical music.
The film has been banned in many countries and was extremely controversial at its outset for these reasons. It is highly ambiguous and difficult to decipher, and many have consequently called it an aestheticizing of violence and death or worse. It is a fact that youth, - and Japanese culture, - has an often complex play with death based on a fascination that can be problematic, and BR lies surely in this vein.

The film stars Takeshi Kitano and is directed by Kinji Fukasaku (The Rage of Love (1988)), who died of prostate cancer while filming the 2003 sequel, which his son then finished.
Battle Royale is iconographic, morally reprehensible and very skilfully made. It is a highly engaging experience.

Watch the recent Blu-ray release trailer here

Budget: 4.5 mil. $
Box office: 25 mil. $ (only Japan)
= Huge hit

What do you think of Battle Royale?
Do you think it glorifies violence and murder?
Why/why not?