Review of Sonatine (1993) by Michael L — 30 Mar 2008

Quite simply stunning. "Beat" Takashi Kitano's Yakuza lieutenant spends his last days in hiding with the remnants of his gang; survivors of a bloody barroom gun battle that erupts during a turf war between two warring factions of Yakuza on the island of Okinawa. Having been sent to the island to mediate this conflict, Kitano and his men are aet up by their boss, who wants to take full control of their territory for his own.

During this downtime, he and his men kill time by chilling out on the beach and playing childish games with each other against a breathtakingly serene and unspoilt beach backdrop.

Kitano's character is a man who has seen so many acts of cruelty and viciousness in his life that he has reacted by shutting himself out from the world around him. Throughout the movie, he acts very much in the manner of a man who is observing the events of his own life from the outside. Maybe because of this detachment, he finds no anxiety or fear in his predicament once he realises that, in all liklihood his boss has betrayed him and that the chances are neither him nor any of his men will be getting back to Tokyo alive. Having accepted this, he sets about making these last days as much fun as possible, and takes great delight in all kinds of simple distractions such as beach sumo wrestling and firework battles.

Beautifully shot, warm in the middle (though the end is predictably bleak) and with a wonderful soundtrack, this is probably the most enthraling movie I have ever seen. 5 out of 5 without a doubt.