Kinjite: Desejos Proibidos

It's been a couple days since I watched it, and I just had to let it sink in. Fans of the Bronson/Thompson pairing will know what to get (being no restrictions within a Cannon production), but for some particular reason it didn't hit home for me. Well not straight away. This is probably the pairs' most daring work (yeah more so than "The Evil That Men Do (1984)"), and fittingly the last they would make together in a technically well-made fable. What ruffled a lot of feathers when this came out was the exploitative topics at hand (child prostitution, repressed sexual desire and drug addiction), and the way they were handled and brought across. They are gruelling, stomach churning and sleazily downbeat, but never did it struck those cords with almighty, gut-busting force. The ugliness of these facets definitely creeps in, but the emotional drive while being there, feels quite thin with an uneasy and bitter underbelly taking hold.

Thompson's sufficiently polished direction (though a more raw edge to it would've been better) paints a rotten, grimy and scummy texture through heavy atmospheric vibes than anything visually punishing. Gideon Porath's leering cinematography streamlined the feature. For a Bronson film, action makes little head-way. Quite strange, but its slow going pace lets the basic premise evolve, with its two separate stories eventually interlocking with each other with a neat slice of irony and karma, which made the material not so predictable and largely authentic. However don't worry too much, as Bronson does gets his hands dirty, just the way we like it too. Serving out his 'own' unpleasant justice in few memorable sequences!

Some might say that Bronson in the latter end of his career (mainly through the 80s) made a living out of the same character and motivation. But an earnestly scathing script, helps give Bronson something interesting to work with (even a bit of western and eastern cross-culture differences plant themselves in early, and play a bigger part to story's progression) and makes for a weathered, but righteously hard-hitting performance of a multi-facet character. In support; Juan Hernandez's seedy pimp is a disturbingly slimy portrayal and James Pax's square Japanese businessman with an uncontrollable sexual urge effectively counter-punches Bronson and Hernandez's characters. None of these are clean characters, even though Bronson has the badge. He shows his insecurity, of the subject and uses it to make his actions justified. In the lesser co-starring roles is an exceptional Peggy Lipton as Bronson's wife. Perry Lopez is good in the loyal, but tired cop partner. An imposing Sy Richardson plays one of Hernandez's goons. Amy Hathaway shines as Bronson's on screen daughter and Kumiko Hayakawa impresses with a movingly gusty turn as the young kidnapped girl. As for Greg De Belles' funky music score, I found it sloppy and unsuited instead of sapping bleakness. I just wanted the musical pieces to get under my skin.

The dark, unsparing perverse tone doesn't make it enjoyable entertainment. However it really does linger on the mind, and holds a steady curiosity to it.

Lt. Crowe is a no nonsense aged cop who almost goes over the edge after his daughter is molested by an unidentified Asian male. As he battles to curb his anger and racial prejudices, Crowe knows he must focus on the job at hand, the safe return of a kidnapped child, and the arrest of a child prostitute pimp...........vengeance and duty are about to become an uneasy alliance.

Showing his aged years and looking frazzled around the edges, this is actually one of Charles Bronson's best performances. Casting Bronson as Crowe now looks like an inspired decision, Crowe is a man getting old as the world around him changes its ideals and principals, with Bronson stepping into character and grasping the irony of his career overview. Not that there is anything remotely sad about the work here, it's a Bronson film with Bronson kicking arse, his character's conflicting beliefs allowing Bronson put some emotional blood into Crowe's sinewy veins.

Personally, what i find most engaging with Kinjite is its duality centre, we root for Crowe as he thunders on in pursuit of the vile bastards who exploit children for their own and monetary ends, yet the confusion reigns as Crowe's racist slant towards Asians reaches fever pitch. It's safe to say that a lot of Bronson pictures are beef for beefs sake, but this really isn't an excuse for just throwing punches, or a Bronson working for food scenario. Don't get me wrong here, i would be a liar if i said this wasn't seeping with 80s sweat, it so is an 80s movie, but it's got balls the size of Bronson himself and perfectly captures the point of change for society and leading man alike.

Underseen, undervalued and most definitely worth a look, 6/10.

This thrilling picture titled Kinjite (which means "to forbid" in English) contains suspense , noisy action-packed , intrigue , thrills and lots of violence . The meaning and relevance of this movie's title is that it refers to subjects such as sex, child molesting, prostitution which are forbidden topics in Japanese culture . It deals with the cop Lt. Crowe (Charles Bronson , he was about sixty-seven years of age) who takes on a pimp (Juan Fernandez) and a slimy hoodlum (Sy Richardson) whose speciality is recruiting adolescents including the daughter of a Japanese business man (James Pax). The lieutenant married to Kathleen (Peggy Limpton) has a teenager girl (Amy Hathaway) and is helped by another policeman (Perry Lopez). He then stalks the baddies and takes the law into his own hands , acting as judge , jury and executioner ; searching vengeance on crooks , pimps making the neighborhood safer and bumping off delinquents and street scum.

This standard Bronson movie is full of action , thrills, and disturbing scenes . Bronson in his usual stoic acting displays efficiently his weapons such as ¨Harry the Dirty¨ and killing mercilessly nasties . This is the last movie Charles Bronson made for Cannon Films and it represents the tenth and final of ten teamings between producer Pancho Kohner and star actor Bronson . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Lt. Crowe Bronson's side . Disagreeable scenes and loathing theme as abuse of children with terrible end . Screen debut from Baywatch's Nicole Eggert as a teen prostitute and Danny Trejo as an inmate in a final brief appearance -almost extra- . Unappropiated and anti-climatic musical score composed by means of synthesizer .

The fare was badly directed by J. Lee Thomson , in his last one , he previously had a nice track record in the English cinema from 1950 until 1961 , directing good Western (McKenna's gold , White Buffalo) and all king genres as Sci-Fi (Conquest and Battle of planet of apes), terror (reincarnation of Peter Proud, Eye of the devil), adventures (Flame over India ,Kings of the sun, Taras Bulba , Tiger Bay) and Warlike (Guns of Navarone, Von Braun , Chairman , The passage) . His two biggest successes turned out to be ¨Guns of Navarone¨and ¨Cape Fear¨. Thereafter , the filmmaker's career subsided in a morass of slickly realized but middling films . He moved into the field of international spectaculars , at which point his filmmaking seemed to lose its individuality . J. Lee Thompson working from the 50s in England, finished his career making Chuck Norris (Firewalker) and Charles Bronson vehicles (Caboblanco, Evil that men do , Messenger of death, Death Wish 4 : Crackdown, Caboblanco, St Ives). Rating : Below average . Lousy results for this disagreeable thriller that has many depressing failures.

When great director/actor combinations are talked about the team of J. Lee Thompson and Charles Bronson is not usually mentioned. Probably because the output of nine joint ventures between the two of them runs the gamut from the really good action entertainment to the mediocre. Unfortunately Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects falls in the latter.

That's sad because Kinjite could have been a whole lot better. But for the life of me I don't understand why it was necessary to make the father of the missing Japanese girl, a guy used to getting some cheap jollies because the romance in his marriage has run out. That might have been good for another film altogether, but it served no purpose here.

A straightforward cop drama with Charles Bronson as a vice cop who's seen a bit too much in his line of work and has a strong prejudice against orientals. That part could also have used a little explaining as well. But he's going to have to overcome it if he and patient partner Perry Lopez are going to locate a captured Japanese school girl.

Bronson's time in the vice squad have told him exactly where to look for the kidnapper. A stylish, murderous pimp played by Jaime Fernandez is the guy and he and Bronson have some history. In fact in the film's best scene, Bronson made him eat an expensive rolex watch and set his car on fire.

At one point Fernandez happens to spot Bronson and Lopez in an all night delicatessen and this being after his rolex snack, he sprays the place with an Uzi killing everyone, but Bronson and Lopez. I really think that little incident would have had more than a couple vice cops from the LAPD after Fernandez. But that's another terribly big hole in the plot.

Still there is a very rough justice in the end for Fernandez. I wish the whole film had been better though. This was the last film of the Bronson-Thompson team and J. Lee Thompson's last as a director. He should have gone out with something better.

This is the last movie that Charles Bronson made before the death of his second wife, actress Jill Ireland. At 68 and with a string of mediocre action thrillers littering his 1980s output, this sleazy cop movie turned out to be one of his better efforts of the decade. Bronson plays vice detective Crowe, a racist veteran of the force who has grown weary of seeing the scum of Los Angeles dragging innocent children into prostitution and drugs. A parallel storyline follows visiting Japanese businessman Hiroshi Hada (James Pax) who struggles to adapt to American values and soon after arriving loses his young daughter to slimy pimp Duke (Juan Fernandez). Crowe has already had run-ins with Duke, so when he is assigned to find Hada's daughter, the stories merge with tragic results. Bronson is still trim and performs well as Crowe, with several good action sequences. Largely maligned as an actor because he underplayed his leading roles, Bronson always fit this type of role because you could believe that he actually does the things he is portraying. There is a nice little scene involving an ethnic event where Crowe vents his frustration on some startled Japanese that speaks volumes about character motivation. Juan Fernandez is exceptional as Duke and makes his character truly evil. Veteran British director J. Lee Thompson does a fair job of keeping the movie plugging along and has a great set piece at the end of the movie involving a crane and crashing automobiles. The subject matter isn't as exploited as it could have been, but it's still pretty rough and loaded with nudity and violence. Bronson fans won't be disappointed and even non-fans (like my wife) enjoyed it.