Sonatina (1993)

Directed by: Takeshi Kitano | 94 minutes | action, comedy | Actors: Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura, Susumu Terajima, Ren Ôsugi, Tonbo Zushi, Ken’ichi Yajima, Eiji Minakata

Takeshi Kitano rose to fame in the late 1970s as half of the stand-up duo ‘The Two Beats’. After this he went solo and became one of the most popular comedians in Japan. He also hosted several TV shows, culminating in his own wildly successful game show ‘Takeshi’s Castle’. Then he did something unexpected. He directed and starred in a series of violent crime dramas, which deeply divided Japanese cinema audiences and gave him a whole new image. His black-comedic streaks and focus on the Yakuza (the Japanese mafia) would eventually come together in the eye-pleasing, yet fiery ‘Sonatina’ (1993).

Kitano plays Murakawa, a notorious Yakuza leader who has become bored with his criminal lifestyle. He is assigned a task in Okinawa, where he must resolve a dispute between two other clans. His team soon becomes involved in this personal feud, which leaves many dead. Murakawa then decides to retreat with his henchmen to a seaside hideout. On the beach, Murakawa and the other Yakuza members seem to be relaxing. They become obsessed with making jokes and playing physical games. Some of these games are particularly childish, while others are disturbingly violent. Time passes, and life by the sea begins to take on an almost mundane pattern. What exactly were Murakawa and his men doing on Okinawa?

‘Sonatina’ is a classic Takeshi Kitano film. Everything that makes his oeuvre so typical is here in abundance. In addition to Joe Hisaishi’s beautiful score and Katsumi Yanagijima’s lavish cinematography, Kitano provides us with what he invariably conveys in his work: an entertaining mix between humor and violence. In ‘Sonatina’ these two extremes go hand in hand. In this cinematic world you can laugh out loud one minute, and the next you’ll be blasted to your feet by brutal and unfeigned violence. This mixture of emotions is always in balance.

In a collection of playful and humorous scenes, we see Murakawa and his comrades having fun on the beach of their hideout. But we know, of course, that this harmonious state cannot last forever. It is inevitable that they will eventually have to go back to their old lives. Perhaps it is Murakawa who will bring about this disruption. There is always something unpredictable behind his eyes, something that hovers between contempt and sheer indifference. Kitano knows how to convey that impassive attitude masterfully. His character is fascinating from start to finish.

Murakawa is a split character, a kind of lonely anti-hero as we know from the films of the Japanese grandmaster Akira Kurosawa. Only Murakawa isn’t looking for anything like revenge or repayment. He is an anti-hero with no apparent pursuit. This is aptly demonstrated by his attitude to violence. In one of the very first scenes of ‘Sonatine’, Murakawa has the owner of a casino tied to a crane and then submerges the defenseless man incessantly under water. His cronies look on casually, they know better than to contradict him. The criminals chat with each other, after which they completely forget about the man. The man dies, eventually. For Murakawa, however, this is neither personal retaliation nor an act of bestial pleasure. Murakawa is purely ambivalent. And yet, especially during his escapades on the beach, we seem to be able to perceive the tiniest glints of humanity in him. Kitano never gives clear answers about his character.

‘Sonatina’ marked the beginning of Kitano’s international recognition, with a screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. He followed this up with two critically acclaimed films in the previously successful crime genre, ‘Kids Return’ (1996) and ‘Hana-bi’ (1997), before breaking new ground with the comedy ‘Kikujiro’ ( 1999) and the romantic triptych ‘Dolls’ (2002). However, Kitano has never completely shaken off the image he built up with his Yakuza films. Today, the Japanese filmmaker is perhaps even more known internationally as a tough gangster than as a TV comedian. That’s pretty funny, of course, looking at the discord among moviegoers early in his career. How times have changed.