"Beat" Takeshi's masterpiece. Never been better. Why am I saying this? It's a beautifully photographed and riveting movie unlike I've seen in most Japanese yakuza movies. The plot may sound simple, but believe me it's truly well-conceived with quietly poignant tension. Takeshi wrote, edited, and directed this movie about the detective Nishi who was bitter when he learns that his wife is terminally ill and his partner Horibo (Ren Osugi) was shot and now strapped to the wheelchair. Horibe wanted to become a painter but he had no money for that. Obliging him and the young widow whose husband was shot dead during an arrest he borrowed money from yakuza. After that he bought an old car, painted it as a police car, and dressed in uniform, executed brilliantly by singlehandedly robbing the bank and paid off his debt. With the money he went on a farewell jouney with his wife together while showing his true "tough" image by recklessly assaulting the bad guys who interfered with his plan. Takeshi pulled off the pontentially powerful performance that deserves a wide recognization because he's so brilliant. His portrayal of Nishi is very similiar to "Golgo 13" because he barely talks and kills with absolute no remorse. The violence is VERY realistic and gruesome, so it's not certainly for the squeamish. For those of you who could barely recognize him, he also starred in that P.O.D. "Johnny Mnemonic" (which of course still suck- bad dialogs was great fun to listen to) Unfortunately, "Fireworks" will not see the U.S. shore because there's the lack of distribution of recent Japanese imports here now. So with the success of "Shall We Dance?" why not release the movies I recommended, "Postman Blues" and now this? As far as I know, they were both shown in the other countries now, but still no US release where foreign movies were considered as art house favorites. May I ask.. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE BOTH OF THESE IN THE U.S.! Give them the chance for the American audience to see the works of Sabu and Takeshi Kitano, and they will really appreciate it. They NEED more movies like this! Extreme violence may be a problem, but get used to it. Thanks for listening.
Well, that's all. There won't be any more reviews, but I may be able to infiltrate and crack the review if I had the chance. Harry, sorry about the long-ass reviews and I hope you appreciate for what I'm saying. Hope to see you again at Sundance Festival next year!
Chaos,
Father Death
