Sono Otoko, Kyôbô ni Tsuki (1989)
Genre: Action / Crime
Duration: 103 minuten
Alternative titles: Violent Cop / その男、凶暴につき
Country:
Japan
Directed by: Takeshi Kitano
Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami and Makoto Ashikawa
IMDb score:
7,1 (14.270)
Releasedate: 12 August 1989
Sono Otoko, Kyôbô ni Tsuki plot
Detective Azuma is assigned a new partner who is shocked by his mentor's investigative methods. Assigned to a murder case, they come into contact with the ruthless boss of a drug syndicate.
Actors and actresses
Azuma
Akari
Kikuchi
Yoshinari
Iwaki
Iwaki's Wife
Kiyohiro
Nito
Shinkai
Deputy Police Chief Higuchi
Reviews & comments
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8498 votes
A fine debut from Takeshi Kitano, in which he fortunately does not shy away from violence, just like in most of his other films.
The title Violent Cop perfectly captures what the film is about: a cop who does not shy away from violence. Kitano plays the character himself and does so creditably. He portrays a tough cop who is, in fact, totally unpredictable and, towards the end, doesn't even hesitate to take his own sister's life. In any case, this film features plenty of brutal scenes, something I always appreciate in films like this.
Although the direction isn't consistently tight for the entire running time, the style is beautiful, even though in his later films you can clearly see that Kitano has developed even more. Hana-Bi is very reminiscent of this film, but everything there is just a little bit better and more polished. Still, Violent Cop is simply a pretty enjoyable movie with a few very strong moments. The beginning and end are very strong, and the long chase scene, is also very entertaining.
An above-average film in the genre.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
FillumGek
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- 8987 messages
- 3445 votes
Violent Cop. Although the joker Takeshi is the creator of the hilarious Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle, I still view him as a violent character he has played in various films. The original director had fallen ill, and Takeshi decided to take the chair. In that respect, his directorial debut embarks on a path he would frequently tread in his career: that of a violent bastard.
Violent Cop says it all. Kitano plays a violent cop who does not shy away from any form of violence. With his sadistic methods, he belittles the suspects, which of course does not align with the actions of his colleagues. The film features a few very brutal scenes again, as we have come to expect by now. I also loved those punches in the toilet; it was brilliant how long that went on! It was also nice to see a young Endô.
Visually, the film was disappointing, certainly compared to his later work, and there was no enjoyable soundtrack either. Fortunately, there are a few strong scenes, such as the chase, that keep things interesting. Aside from that, the film is not a standout, but a good start for his later violent work.
Translated from Dutch · View original
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22648 messages
- 5262 votes
Actually, much better than I expected. I had it in my head that because this was the film in which Kitano took over directing from Fukasaku, it would be a fairly straightforward genre film. But Kitano really puts his stamp on this film quite heavily. In the booklet accompanying the Dutch DVD, I read that Kitano edited the script while directing by simply not filming certain scenes.
What is actually filmed is an observational film, which at first appears to be a typical "unorthodox cop who bends the rules but catches crooks with violence" movie, but it is not that simple. The violence of Kitano's character ultimately sets in motion a chain of violence in which he and his sister succumb alongside the innocent, and the drug trade simply continues in the final scene with a few other characters.
The chase scene in the first half is a highlight. The chase isn't heroic but rather clumsy; the music is totally different from normal—no adrenaline-fueled suspense music, but a quiet sax tune that actually slows the scene down instead of the standard speeding up. That makes the scene a tad elusive. Scenes like that, which make the film deviate from what was probably once a truly straightforward genre film, make Violent Cop what it is, and that seems to me to be almost entirely down to Kitano.
It is nowhere near as good as later Kitano crime films Sonatine and Hana-Bi, but you can definitely see a filmmaker being born here.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
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