Sonatine (1993)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Takeshi Kitano (written by)

Release Date:

10 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

He's Japan's best kept secret - unleashed on America for the first time.

Plot:

Several yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.

Plot Keywords:

Beach | Yakuza | Assault | Gang War | Punch

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Takeshi Kitano	...	Aniki Murakawa
Aya Kokumai	...	Miyuki
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Uechi
Masanobu Katsumura	...	Ryoji
Susumu Terajima	...	Ken
Ren Ôsugi	...	Katagiri
Tonbo Zushi	...	Kitajima
Ken'ichi Yajima	...	Takahashi
Eiji Minakata	...	The Hit Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rome Kanda	...	Gangster
Houka Kinoshita	...	A member of kitajima-gumi
Kôta Mizumori
Yuuki Natsusaka	...	Murakawa-gumi kumiin
Kanji Tsuda
Kanta Yamazaki	...	Waiter
Romu Kanda	...	Rapist (uncredited)

Directed by
Takeshi Kitano

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takeshi Kitano		written by

Produced by
Masayuki Mori	....	producer
Hisao Nabeshima	....	producer
Kazuyoshi Okuyama	....	executive producer
Takio Yoshida	....	producer

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Takeshi Kitano

Art Direction by
Osamu Sasaki

Set Decoration by
Hirohide Shibata

Makeup Department
Takashi Oda	....	special makeup effects artist
Kyôko Toyokawa	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Kenichi Kanda	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Toshihiro Tenma	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Senji Horiuchi	....	sound

Special Effects by
Masami Kobayashi	....	physical effects
Takashi Oda	....	dummy effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Takeshi Nakasu	....	assistant gaffer
Hitoshi Takaya	....	gaffer

Production Companies

• Bandai Visual Company
• Shouchiku Co.
• Shôchiku Eiga
• Yamada Right Vision Corporation

Distributors

• Rapid Eye Movies (1998) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Channel Neko (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Des Films (France) (DVD)
• M.I.B. (Germany) (DVD)
• Manga Films (Spain)
• Miramax Films
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Primer Plano Film Group Video (Argentina) (VHS)
• Primer Plano Film Group (Argentina)
• Rolling Thunder (1998) (USA) (subtitled)
• Second Sight Films (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (France) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• Imagica  film processing
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• NK Tokki  grip equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Sanwa Cine Equipment  camera equipment supplied by
• Tomida Editing Room  editing facility
• Wonder City  music production
• Wonder Station  music recording studio
• Yoshikawa Casting Office  casting

Also Known As:

Sonachine

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody shootings, language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-12 | Ireland:18 | South Korea:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:R-15 | Norway:15 | Germany:16 (cut) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Okinawa, Japan

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Quotes:

Maeda: Fancy something to drink?
Bald Yakuza: No. My stomach still hurts from when you stabbed me.

Movie Connections:

References Pierrot le fou (1965)

Hardboiled men's return to childhood freedom and innocence

Sonatine is the last film in Takeshi Kitano's yakuza related trilogy. The first two films are Violent Cop and Boiling Point. Sonatine is, in a way, a combination of these two films, and it is the greatest in this outstanding trilogy, and Sonatine ranks also to the top in Kitano's filmography with Hana-Bi. Sonatine tells the story of middle aged yakuza boss Murakawa (played by Kitano) and his gang's trip to Okinawa to settle some yakuza wars and return the peace to the criminal underworld of Japan. However, they are assaulted many times there and they are forced to go to beautiful beach location and spend some days there and wait for orders from Tokyo, from the higher yakuza authorities. What follows is all the unique elements from both Violent Cop and Boiling Point and totally stunning and breath takingly beautiful piece of art.

There are all the Kitano elements as beautifully present as possible. The scenes are often without too much dialogue, and the film is very symbolical and calm. The faces are among the most important elements in Kitano's films, as there are so many things to be read from characters' faces. Kitano has created this very personal element and it is always there in his films. The setting at the naturally beautiful and uncorrupted seaside has been captured with the camera as brilliantly as we can expect from Kitano; this film is a result that would be born if Kitano had script in which read only one word: Beauty. Similarly beautiful film is his Hana-Bi and Boiling Point has also these elements.

The elements of beauty among others are flowers, firecrackers and colors in general. The scenes at the beach as the gangsters play and have fun are so full of life and certain positivism, it is easy to feel a need for crying during those scenes, and I must say that at least equally powerful experience is the mentioned Hana-Bi, translated to Fireworks in English. The theme of Sonatine is that those brutal and violent humans return to the time when they were still innocent and free of all the wickedness of the world. They play so emotionally and devotedly that it is clear they know there is a better place to be than this world. The girl that is raped is perhaps only person in the film who would not hurt anyone and is like angel here. She knows and has learnt many things about life by the end scene, and make sure you watch the film thoroughly and the end credits, too, as there is more imagery after the credits.

The music in Sonatine is outstandingly beautiful and sad, and is among the greatest musical experiences I've had the pleasure of hearing. The composer is the same as in Brother and Hana-Bi, and the work is as masterful in those more recent films, too. Violence in Sonatine is as sudden and irrevocable as in other Kitano films, and his films really show the real results and face of violence as a weak souls' tool of communicating. If someone considers Kitano's films gratuitously violent, they miss the whole point of the films; these film analyze and tell more about violence than most Hollywood films have ever done, but to admit this, one has to be able to interpret movies and really understand the abilities and power of Cinema. Kitano's films are far too difficult for many to understand, so it is no use trying to show his films to mainstream audience and people who see (if see!) in films only what is explained and said with easy means. If someone says without arguments or understanding to this art form some Kitano film is bad, stupid, gratuitously and excessively violent, unexplained or something else of the usual statements, it is no use taking those "opinions" seriously or consider them noteworthy because people who say so see exactly things that are NOT there.

Sonatine is one of Kitano's most masterful pieces of cinema, and is among the reasons why Japanese (and Orient) cinema is so unique. Sonatine gets 10 out of 10 rating from me, and makes Takeshi Kitano one of the most sensitive, symbolic, stylish in every sense and remarkable film makers of our time, and his films will live as important pieces of history of Japanese and world cinema.