Fireworks

Rating:
Summary: Kurosawa Wept
Review: Technically, the film is "kinetic" (what any film should be), psychologically it is cartoon, intellectually it is deplorable. It is as if Kurosawa had recovered from a terrible head injury and began making films from his spleen. Flashy and uncompelling, Kitano's work is more sophisticated than Woo's, which should get him a lucrative Hollywood contract. What it gets me is a headache. To any of the people who praised this film to the skies, I ask "Are you acquainted with the name Ozu? Mizoguchi? Naruse? Teshigahara? Kobayashi, even?" If the answer is "yes," then you cannot condone the continued irritation of someone like Kitano. And one more question, the one perennially asked of so-called modern art: can the term 'beauty' be redefined by its opposite?

Rating:
Summary: Unnerving and brilliant
Review: "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's bleak masterpiece. Takeshi plays a policeman who simply wants to stick around long enough to take care of his dying wife, but his terrible propensity for violence may undo that. Mostly played in silence and stillness except for when the (anti?)hero's rage unspools. Film is also relatively unique in that it does not attempt to ascribe a specific psychology to the man's behavior but simply stands back and observes him in toto. One of the few "nihilistic" films that is actually ABOUT nihilism instead of simply an indulgence in it, and one of the few movies that uses violence to underscore its story intelligently instead of see it as a kind of mindless contact sport.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film
Review: I'm glad to see that this is film is available (and on DVD, too, best of all). I saw it and really liked it. It's a dark kind of poignant, this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Fireworks on DVD at last!
Review: Nothing is ever going to compare to the experience of seeing this incredible masterwork on film, but this dvd comes close. The colors seemed a trifle muted compared to the theatrical prints that I saw, but the extras make it a must have for all Kitano fans. Best of all is the Gallery feature which has written comments by Kitano explaining the inspiration behind each of his paintings shown. Unfortunately, some of the paintings appear a bit fuzzy, but you can always return to the film and view them there. The Japanese trailer and theatrical poster are very cool, and the featurette gives an interesting glimpse at some of Kitano's working methods. Let's hope that when Kikujiro is released on DVD, it includes Jam Session: The Official Bootleg of Kikujiro, a 95 minute film about the making of Kitano's 8th film.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable!
Review: This is Kitano's best movie! Now we are all waiting for the others masterpieces he directed such as "A scene at the sea" or "Kids return" , his most personal movie. Hey,video editors,wake up!

Rating:
Summary: Bring a box of tissues and a bottle of prozac...
Review: This has got to be one of the most simultaneously beautiful and depressing films of recent memory. We've all heard a great deal about the economic doldrums that Japan has been facing for the last decade or so, but economic statistics mean little to us when the country and its people lie a half world away. It takes a film like this one, and a director like Takesi, to put a human face on these numbers, to paint a terrible portrait of despair as it grips an entire people and a nation. We view this dark world through the eyes of a Tokyo policeman who, pushed over the edge by his seemingly impossible economic circumstances and the senseless brutality of Yakuza gangsterism, concludes that in the end, the only thing that matters to him is to provide a few last days of joy and warmth for his dying, leucemic wife. Her fragile beauty and innocent purity stands in stark and terrible contrast the the ugliness that surrounds her, and there is an almost nihilistic, but nonetheless incontrovertible logic to his decision. It is a dark, violent, seemingly hopeless, but ultimately beautiful film.

Rating:
Summary: I am in awe of this beautiful and harrowing masterpiece.
Review: Definitely one of the decade's ten best films. The most amazing clash of quiet, thoughtful beauty and overt,cold brutality I've ever seen. Each time I show it to a friend or group of friends we stay up nearly all night talking about the amazing reach and depth of this film. VIOLENT COP: Great. SONATINE: Excellent. FIREWORKS: Eternal Masterpiece. KITANO: One bold and brave genius.

Rating:
Summary: Takeshi- san beats all!
Review: An absolutely beautiful movie about a hopeless ex cop and his surroundings. Beautifully shot, written and played by the Kitano, the Clint Eastwood of Japan. This film is full of Yakuza style speeches, killings and ultra violence which are mixed with inner conflicts and struggles of a dirty harry type man whose actions on helplessness,comradeship and pride is unfashinably touching. An ordinary real cinema lover will fall in love with this film just after the opening shots and surely won't easily forget it. sensitivity and bloodshed never fit together that harmonically before. Movies like these makes me to think that there is still hope for the future of cinema as an art which is for all.

Rating:
Summary: Fireworks
Review: How many people have I told to watch this film? Not many, because you need to have a true appreciation for fine film, to enjoy this one. Beautiful, thoughtful, and jolting. And all at a rather teasingly slow pace. Gosh I wish there was more. I have never left a theater more satisfied. WOW! If you have seen Sonatine and havent seen this, you are in for a splendid surprise! If you have seen this and not Sonatine, wait no longer, Sonatine is just as beautiful as Fireworks. Have fun, both of these videos are a must have in any video library.

Rating:
Summary: Bergman meets Peckinpah
Review: That's how I'd describe this film. Truly one of the most brilliant, haunting films I have ever seen. Particularly impressive was the way the picture conveyed the love between Takeshi's character and his wife without resorting to melodrama, cliche, or endless I love yous. I know people who loved this picture but are scared to watch it again, as it is just too harrowing. James Cameron can only wish that Titanic had this kind of emotinal impact.