Violent Cop

Yes, it´s true: all the real great movies of the 1990s seem to be produced in the land of the rising sun! This dark cop thriller is no exclusion, because "Violent Cop" is suspense-packed, dramatic, sinister - and the actors don´t say a word too much! The dark poetry often reminded me on the films of Paul Schrader or Abel Ferrera as well as the visual brilliance and the excellent cinematography this Japanese gem contains! And, of course, main actor Takeshi Kitano is the new God of Eastern cinema! Masterpieces like "Brother" or "Hana Bi" blew my mind, and his performance of the emotional broken cop is powerful and amazing! A highly recommended film!!!

The first 10 mins of the film already tell you what Takeshi Kitano is up to - we see a homeless man eating peacefully and enjoying the foods beside his make-shift home in a park. Suddenly his bowl is hit by a football, and then a gang of teenagers rough him up, giggling while beating up the man mercilessly until he loses conscious. Then all the kids return to their safe middle-class homes.

Kitano, the "violent cop", sees the whole thing, but he doesn't stop the kids right away. Instead, he follows one to his home, shows the kid's mother his police ID, walks up to the kid's room and starts kicking and snapping him, demanding the boy to give himself up to the police tomorrow. To me, the movie more or less ends there. The plot then moves on to the usual good-cop corrupted-cop routine, involving a sub-plot on Kitano's retarded sister. To sum up, the storyline is actually very predictable and fails to create any suspended and dramatic tension.

This is where "Violent Cop" departs from other movies of the same genre - Kitano's violence is raw and real, and he wants to show you in yer face. Unlike the highly stylized and cartoonish violence of John Woo (anything who knows a bit about guns can tell you that you cannot fire a few rounds of bullets from two guns with both hands at the same time when you're jumping off a car), for example, Kitano shows the essence of violence and how it actually affects people, both physically and psychologically.Violence, in the world of Kitano, can come suddenly, aimlessly and randomly, and no one is safe!

"Violent Cop" is an excellent movie on all counts, and Kitano (in both directing and acting) can only go above it in, IMHO, Hana-Bi.It's kind of sad (as a big fan of Kitano) to see him going back to making new movies like "Brothers", a replica in spirit (if not in actual storylines) of his early stunning successes like this one and Hana-Bi. He's actually very good in "Gohatto", and fans like me want him to know that he should try more new things.

This is Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut, and damn, it's a good way to open a directing career. Violent Cop is a film about, well... look at the title. While it may not be 100% in the style that Kitano's later films are, you can see many aspects of his later films were started.

Kitano plays a cop who goes above and beyond when it comes to the kind of wild things that Dirty Harry did. He's an even looser cannon than Harry, and that's saying something. Kitano plays the role well, doing his usual stoic face act. He comes across as quite scary and threatening. All the other side characters do a good job too.

Visually it does a lot of the things that Kitano is known for. Long shots, close ups, interesting editing, etc. You can see the foundation of Kitano's later films within this one. Now since this was his first attempt at directing, it can occasionally feel a bit slow. When I was about half way through, it felt like I had been watching for longer. Also the plot can be a bit confusing at times. Scenes occur that sometimes feel like they didn't have a lot to do with the main plot, or characters appear that you aren't exactly sure if you have seen briefly before or not. Kitano's later films tighten up the plot for sure, so I understand that this one is a little bit more rough since it's his first directing gig.

Over all, it's an interesting tale of a loose cannon cop. If you're a fan of Kitano and haven't seen it, check it out. Also watch it if you are in the mood for an unique Japanese film or a movie that shows that late 80's/early 90's vibe, because this movie certainly has that.

Just the way the Takeshi's character comes across?

I think he crosses the line from being a rogue cop who pushes the boat out to get results. He comes across as not being able to communicate well with any other characters in the film (much like De Niros sociopathic turn as Travis Bickle).

Something about his constant borrowing money with no intention of paying it back and seeming lack of fear almost makes him seem suicidal.

I think that and the general bleak tone of the film, the fact that there's something inherently depressive and explosively violent about Takeshi's character just reminded me of Taxi Driver.

Anyone else?

A shallow description would refer to this as a Japanese version of Dirty Harry. And it does bear some resemblance to that film, but while Dirty Harry broke the rules in order to get a criminal at any cost, Kitano's character Azuma seems to seek vengeance due not only to his lust for revenge but because he's psychotic. There's a sense that Azuma won't rest until he gets his man not out of duty but out of madness. Kitano gives what might be his best performance in this film; he is absolutely riveting. And the film itself is beautifully shot, and the score is especially good. But the best part of this is perhaps the end - the film ends on a perfectly cynical note that couldn't be topped. Seek this out.