Fireworks
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Hakuryu, Makoto Ashikawa, Setchin Kawaya, Taro Istumi, Yuuko DaikePrimary Contributor: Kayoko Kishimoto
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-27
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: New Yorker Video
Movie Reviews of Fireworks
Movie Review: One of Kitano's best.
Summary: 5 Stars
Hana-bi (Takeshi Kitano, 1997)
Get a group of Kitano otaku in one place and debate will rage for hours on the subject of which of his films is the best. Eventually, everyone will settle down into three camps-- Kikujiro (which is where you'll find me), Sonatine, and Hana-Bi. All three factions can make strong, valid arguments for their movies, and really it all comes down to personal taste in the end. This is not to say that a person from faction A won't like faction B's favorite movie; all of Kitano's films that I've seen are fantastic (with the exception of Brother, but that's enough brainless fun that it gets a pass), and Hana-bi? is no exception.
Nishi (Kitano) is a cop who's life is really hitting the bricks. His wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto, in the first of her pairings with Takeshi) is dying of leukemia. His partner Horibe (Ren Osugi, who it sometimes seems is in every Japanese film ever made; he made five film and two recurring TV appearances in 2006 alone) has been paralyzed in a bust gone bad. Nishi feels the need to help them both, but to do so would require him to give up his job; what they most need is time. Which brings us to the question: is it possible to do evil things to insure good outcomes?
The one thing everyone seems to say about this movie is that it's gorgeous, and that's certainly the case; Kitano is capable of finding the beauty in just about any location in which he chooses to film. It's almost a trademark. As you should also expect from a Kitano film, the characters are exquisitely drawn, and the action is fast and furious, lending the film's quieter moments just that much more emotion (how do you get the audience to tear up over a man opening a box of painting supplies? Ask Takeshi Kitano. He did it here). At least one critic (Piero Scruffi) has selected Hana-bi as one of the top 1000 films of all time, and it also shows up in the collected and weighted list of the thousand best found at They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?. I believe these accolades are not without merit, though I do think Kitano has done better work (as I mentioned above). Still, a Takeshi Kitano film is better than 99% of the muck you're going to see on DVD or in the theater this year, and Hana-bi is near the top of his output. Strongly recommended. **** ?
Summary of Fireworks
A superstar and cultural icon in his native Japan, Takeshi "Beat" Kitano has conquered more than one medium, but he is best known in the West for his remarkable films. Among those, Fireworks is the clear favorite, a taut and enigmatic noir that fluctuates between perfect stillness and savage eruptions of violence.Kitano plays a cop named Nishi, a determinedly impassive man whose face occasionally ripples with an involuntary tic, hinting at the explosive but contained forces within. Nishi's wife (Kayato Kishimoto) is dying of leukemia, a disease that already killed their child, and he cares for her with a shattering tenderness. While on a stakeout, Nishi takes a break to check in on her, and while he's gone his partner is crippled and another officer is killed. With death hovering at home and a score to settle outside, Kitano's hero sets off on an isolated course to seek justice.
Few filmmakers have understood as well as Kitano has here the irresistible draw of a thriller told with a moody calmness, with an eye toward graceful construction and rigorous composition. The careful, unhurried dispensing of story information also helps keep the focus on Nishi's warrior soul, on his mysterious capacity for the extremes of gentleness and brutality. The story here is the way one man can be the sum of such bold contradictions, and a great story it?is. --Tom Keogh
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