Sonatine

A somewhat boring film with an ending that doesn't help its case either.

Underwhelming. Characterisation is mixed and the main protagonist(?)'s arc I found a bit unclear. There isn't a lot of plot in this, but in spite of that, the highlight for me was where everything stood still and the characters laid low at the beach. It didn't feel like there was enough development to cash in for the finale though. Hisaishi scores this but it's a bit of a disappointment. Very 90s; often competent, sometimes intrusive.

One of Kitano's best and most whimsical of movies. It mixes violence, manhood, love and tenderness in a seamless way. It also has one of those tragic poetic endings that Kitano has made a trademark of his. Lovely, fun, exciting and poetic. And very violent, but in an ascetic kind of way. As if Buster keaton made action movies. Great film

Great

Not my favourite film but still an arlight watch. The silent scenes are really tense.

This Japanese, would be scarface ends on a note that's more "huh?" than anything I would ever care to see again. Why not have him go over the next hill.

beautiful minimalistic film, poetic phrases and quick bursts of dry violence all in Kitano's style. this is not some normal gangster movie, but it develops the 'human' side of the gangsters. very endearing and it'll remain as one of my favorite unconventional gangster flicks

Although many Kitano crime films contain a humourous streak, I was not quite ready for the irreverent mix of laugh out loud comedy with coldly executed violence. Having said that, the film does feature some excellent tense sequences- in fact I would say that the atmosphere created, while deliberately inconsistent, works very well. Not as touching and beautiful as Hana-bi, nor as outright brutal as Violent Cop, this is a strange mix, a gangster thriller/comedy in the truest sense.