infinito2345

Well first of all kitano started a new genre of movie making with sonatine…….I would like to propose a takeshi kitano trilogy to anyone new to his movies……First would be violent cop(directed in 1989)…….then comes sonatine(directed in 1993)…then comes hana-bi(directed in 1997)……..Well the greatness about kitano's movies is that they show the state of his mind…they are truly personal…..violent cop being his earliest effort is very raw……hana-bi being a later effort was extremely well polished and complete…but sonatine was directed at a time when kitano was contemplating suicide……It shows the disturbed state of his mind…..It is like a modern version of Samuel Beckett's "waiting for Godot"….minimalistic dialog philosophical long shots and bursts of violence…….I think it depicts the state of a mind driven to an edge......You watch this movie when you are happy you perceive it differently…you watch it when you are sad you will perceive it differently…….It remains in your memory long after the final scene……..It is a visceral experimentation with a subject which movies rarely touch, suicide…………It is kitano at his best and according to me the one of the greatest movies of the nineties……And the background track from Joe hisashi mesmerizing……..All in all if someone cannot appreciate this movie then they it means they cannot appreciate art……..Their minds are so consumed by the commercial formulaic jargon(manufactured emotions and exaggerated relationships) coming out of the stables of large film industries like :- Hollywood, hong Kong(martial arts wi-fi flicks) etc. that they cannot appreciate true gems like this one…….

Finally this movie was a commercial failure in Japan (even Japanese themselves find it hard to appreciate Kitano)……..But when it was shown to famous French film critic Alain Delon , He was taken aback by kitano's acting and is quoted to have said :- "what's THAT? [...], this is not an actor [...], he only got three facial expressions and he almost doesn't talk on top of this". At the same time he was both fascinated and puzzled by this new genre of movie making. Finally In 1995, Sonatine entered the 13th Festival Du Film Policier De Cognac (Thriller Film Festival of Cognac) in France, where it was critically acclaimed and got some recognition it truly deserved…….

I would give this movie a ten on ten……thank you……..

Violence and emotion never get along together...... The one complaint i have is that viggo mortenson is depicted to be a superhuman being who seems to even dodge bullets and mutilate people.... Maybe they could have depicted the scenes in a more realistic manner.... Also I don' mind excessive violence(i really loved kill bill).But i was not able to sympathize with Mortenson's character.I mean i couldn't understand if he was good or evil...he seemed to be a little of both.... Or maybe that is where the greatness of the film lies..i think you can decide for yourself...

It is a fast paced and entertaining movie..but it is too short to form any solid character sketches.Also the sex scenes were completely unnecessary...they seemed to be put to simply attract the audience....

For example look at taxi driver...there we can sympathize with de niro's character and the cause for violence is justified...but here causes are blurred and characters are blurred....

Highly recommended for entertainment and performances.....But the film seems to lack something...a soul.

Or what i mean to say is if the film depicted reality then i think i am better of dead.It left me disturbed.

I had an opportunity to read the novel "jarhead:the marine chronicles" ....while in the novel the complete psychological breakdown of anthony swafford is depicted in a brutally realistic manner,The film omits most of these portions.It abruptly stops at a certain point and leaves a lot to be desired.It starts off in a very promising fashion and holds your interest for about ninety minutes but slacks off towards the end.Somehow i was slightly disappointed.....

However maybe by fine tuning it a little bit more sam mendes could have created a masterpiece surpassing apocalypse now....His previous venture American beauty is a masterpiece of all sorts.....

Even though the movie does not have long drawn out battle scenes like saving private ryan or taegukgi....it does manage to deliver the psychological punch with it's use of visceral profanity and realistic depiction of the lives of marines....

But i would not even think of putting it alongside great war movies like full metal jacket,platoon,deer hunter,SPR,taegukgi etc......

And i was pleasantly surprised with jack gyllenhal's performance..he is one actor we should watch out for.

All in all recommended viewing for great cinematography,visuals and realism..but there is something lacking,The film will leave you asking for more...it falls short of the expectations which it sets for itself....