"Her brother's coming... and since you saw fit to rape his sister, you're all going to back me up... We're all going to kill one another... "
Some of the final lines in Kitano's directorial debut, Violent Cop. I guess outta context must seem overblown and pompous but when you're such a thorough and poetic filmmaker, you earn that sort of hyperbole.
As I'm writing this, I'm struggling about what else I can say about Beat Takeshi, that I haven't already said, despite the fact that I really enjoyed his films- Violent Cop is very similar to Hana Bi, the film of his is watched in January. It's about a detached policeman with problems at home and a bad habit of excessive violence in the workplace. It's also persistently funny in that desperately deadpan Kitano way. He sorta like an Asian Shane Black in that way except he doesn't have to rely on a Clapton/Kamen soundtrack of the emotional moments and violence in Kitano's movies is deadly serious and solemn. I don't know why but it never feels gratuitous. I think because it's almost like a release from the tension. Yeah, Kitano uses comedy and violence as a breather after the obstensively moody and tense double crossings and police corruption.
I mean, in American fare, as the protagonist detached further from society and submitted to his dark predilection for violence, he would be finally given redemption and called a hero. Takeshi has no interest in that- he loves let the main men he plays for wild and maim but redemption is not on anyone's docket. The best they can hope for is the peace in death...
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