Violent Cop

Kitano taking a page from Clint Eastwood in his directorial debut – this plays as a Japanese spin on DIRTY HARRY and all that that implies; far less cartoonish, but not without some moments of droll side-eye, this becomes considerably darker and more twisted as it develops, and we see the murky depths of Kitano’s one man vigilante, as he turns to completely unhinged savagery. Its tendency to be a grim and unrelenting portrait of violence and ugliness makes it tough to take at times (and I’m not sure Kitano quite sticks the landing as either actor or director), but as a classy genre piece, it works fine.