Sonatine
Encyclopedia
is a 1993 Japanese film
by Japanese
filmmaker Takeshi Kitano
. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most successful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base.
yakuza
tiring of gangster life. Along with some henchmen, he is sent by his boss to Okinawa supposedly to mediate a dispute between their allies, the Nakamatsu clan, and the Anan clan. Murakawa openly suspects that the assignment is an attempt to have him removed and even beats up one of his colleagues, Takahashi, who he distrusts, but ends up going with his men. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and while wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, the group's temporary headquarters are bombed and they are then ambushed in a bar, killing several of Murakawa's men.
Fleeing to the seaside, the survivors take refuge in a remote beach house belonging to a brother of one of the Nakamatsu members and decide to wait for the trouble to blow over. Whilst spending time at the beach, the group engages in childish games and pranks and the group begins to enjoy themselves. However, the men's play inevitably has a violent undertone. When two of his men alternate shooting at a beer can on each other's head, Murakawa turns it into a game of Russian roulette
. Putting the seemingly loaded gun to his head, he pulls the trigger on the last chamber. The chamber is revealed to be empty and Murakawa is unharmed.
He later dreams of the Russian roulette game, although in his dream, the revolver is loaded and he is killed. When he wakes up, he walks down to the shore. He sees a car pull up, and a man drags a woman into the sand and proceeds to attempt to rape her. Murakawa stoically watches for a while and then walks past them toward the beach house. When the man realizes Murakawa has been there the whole time and shouts at him, Murakawa headbutts him. When the man gets up, he pulls out a knife and threatens Murakawa, who shoots him dead. The woman joins Murakawa and the gang at the beach house, and comes frequently to visit, spending time with Murakawa.
Later, an assassin disguised as a fisherman appears. He kills several people, including the boss of the Nakamatsu clan, and one of Murakawa's men, in the middle of a Frisbee match. Learning that Takahashi is arriving in Okinawa, Murakawa and two of his surviving men visit his hotel. Unable to find him at first, they unexpectedly run into Takahashi and the assassin in the elevator, which results in a shootout, killing the assassin and Murakawa's men. Murakawa then learns from interrogating Takahashi that their boss had intended all along to partner with the Anan clan and had sent Murakawa to Okinawa in order to kill him and thus take over his turf. He also learns that the boss will be meeting with the Anan that night in a hotel. Takahashi is killed and Murakawa sets off with the only survivor of the group, a member of the Nakamatsu clan, who helps him by rigging the electricity in the hotel to go off at a certain time. Murakawa tells the woman that he may come back, and the woman promises to wait for him.
Later that night while waiting for all the yakuza to arrive, the Nakamatsu member asks Murakawa to take him with him, but admits that he has had enough when Murakawa asks. When the electricity goes off, Murakawa goes into the hotel and kills all the yakuza with a Colt Commando. The next morning, while the woman continues to wait for him, Murakawa drives to a spot near the beach and commits suicide
by shooting himself in the head. The scene then switches to the car and the horizon and slowly fades.
's 1971 Sympathy for the Underdog
, starring Koji Tsuruta
. Plot, location and characters are similar in both movies, even the Okinawan
theme song featured in Fukasaku's Sympathy for the Underdog appears in Sonatine. Since Takeshi Kitano started directing, on Violent Cop
, thanks to Kinji Fukasaku's withdrawal, some believes that Sonatine is an homage to Fukasaku, one of Kitano's masters along with Akira Kurosawa
.
It is also notable that Sonatine shares many thematic qualities with Kitano's 1997 later film, Hana-bi
, which is considered by many to be his masterpiece, since it earned him a Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival
.
Sonatine was showcased in a few small theaters in France where it received lukewarm acclaim from specialized professionals. It was also screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival
. French publisher and notorious movie-goer, Jean-Pierre Dionnet (Canal +/Studio Canal), reported in an interview, that someone convinced Alain Delon
to watch Sonatine arguing that Kitano was a fan of Le Samouraï
. Delon was seriously taken aback, and talking about Kitano's acting, 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". Most professionals around Dionnet had the same reject reaction, but the French publisher was both struck and puzzled by this new genre. He contacted the Japanese distributor in order to buy the license for the exploitation of Sonatine, but his request was strongly rejected. Dionnet had to insist during several months to finally discover that the Shochiku
didn't want to release Sonatine abroad, claiming the movie was "too Japanese" and would not be accepted, nor understood, by western audiences. Eventually Dionnet learned that the distributor didn't want to release the license because of its commercial failure in Japan. Dionnet had an agreement with the Shouchiku arguing that the French audience didn't know Kitano's career and would accept his violent character more easily. He bought Sonatine and three additional subtitled movies, Violent Cop
, Boiling Point
and the latest, Kids Return
, all of which performed poorly in Japan (A Scene at the Sea
and Getting Any?
were not licensed). 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 lastly, Sonatine, followed by the three other movies were broadcasted on the French channel Canal+ few months later. Then a couple of years later on the Franco-German public channel Arte
. A video release followed, including a DVD
edition available in Dionnet's collection "Asian Classics".
In 1997, Hana-bi
was premiered in Italy
, at the Venice Film Festival
, where it earned Kitano the first prize, known as the Golden Lion award. The critical success of the movie, led a part of the Japanese audience to reconsider him as a true, important, filmmaker and earn the attention of North American publishers.
As soon as 1995, Takeshi Kitano (credited as "Takeshi") played the role of a yakuza in American director Robert Longo
's SF
thriller, Johnny Mnemonic
. Although in North America Sonatine was released in theaters in April 1998 and, another Kinji Fukasaku enthusiast, Quentin Tarantino
, released a subtitled video edition in 2000 as part of his "Rolling Thunder Pictures" collection. The same year, Kitano was convinced by his producer to go in the United States where he filmed his first (and last) movie outside Japan. Brother
was shot in Los Angeles
with an American crew and local actors including Omar Epps
. In an interview, Kitano self-admitted he was not fully satisfied with the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood" adventure which was supposed to bring him a broader audience with a higher exposure. Kitano confessed he had no intention of shooting outside Japan anymore.
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
filmmaker Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most successful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base.
Plot
Kitano plays Murakawa, a TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
tiring of gangster life. Along with some henchmen, he is sent by his boss to Okinawa supposedly to mediate a dispute between their allies, the Nakamatsu clan, and the Anan clan. Murakawa openly suspects that the assignment is an attempt to have him removed and even beats up one of his colleagues, Takahashi, who he distrusts, but ends up going with his men. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and while wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, the group's temporary headquarters are bombed and they are then ambushed in a bar, killing several of Murakawa's men.
Fleeing to the seaside, the survivors take refuge in a remote beach house belonging to a brother of one of the Nakamatsu members and decide to wait for the trouble to blow over. Whilst spending time at the beach, the group engages in childish games and pranks and the group begins to enjoy themselves. However, the men's play inevitably has a violent undertone. When two of his men alternate shooting at a beer can on each other's head, Murakawa turns it into a game of Russian roulette
Russian roulette
Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger...
. Putting the seemingly loaded gun to his head, he pulls the trigger on the last chamber. The chamber is revealed to be empty and Murakawa is unharmed.
He later dreams of the Russian roulette game, although in his dream, the revolver is loaded and he is killed. When he wakes up, he walks down to the shore. He sees a car pull up, and a man drags a woman into the sand and proceeds to attempt to rape her. Murakawa stoically watches for a while and then walks past them toward the beach house. When the man realizes Murakawa has been there the whole time and shouts at him, Murakawa headbutts him. When the man gets up, he pulls out a knife and threatens Murakawa, who shoots him dead. The woman joins Murakawa and the gang at the beach house, and comes frequently to visit, spending time with Murakawa.
Later, an assassin disguised as a fisherman appears. He kills several people, including the boss of the Nakamatsu clan, and one of Murakawa's men, in the middle of a Frisbee match. Learning that Takahashi is arriving in Okinawa, Murakawa and two of his surviving men visit his hotel. Unable to find him at first, they unexpectedly run into Takahashi and the assassin in the elevator, which results in a shootout, killing the assassin and Murakawa's men. Murakawa then learns from interrogating Takahashi that their boss had intended all along to partner with the Anan clan and had sent Murakawa to Okinawa in order to kill him and thus take over his turf. He also learns that the boss will be meeting with the Anan that night in a hotel. Takahashi is killed and Murakawa sets off with the only survivor of the group, a member of the Nakamatsu clan, who helps him by rigging the electricity in the hotel to go off at a certain time. Murakawa tells the woman that he may come back, and the woman promises to wait for him.
Later that night while waiting for all the yakuza to arrive, the Nakamatsu member asks Murakawa to take him with him, but admits that he has had enough when Murakawa asks. When the electricity goes off, Murakawa goes into the hotel and kills all the yakuza with a Colt Commando. The next morning, while the woman continues to wait for him, Murakawa drives to a spot near the beach and commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by shooting himself in the head. The scene then switches to the car and the horizon and slowly fades.
Cast
- Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
as Murakawa - Aya Kokumai as Miyuki
- Tetsu Watanabe as Uechi
- Masanobu Katsumura as Ryoji
- Susumu TerajimaSusumu Terajimais a Japanese actor who has appeared in over 100 films, 15 television commercials, three PVs, and numerous television dramas in a career spanning over 20 years. He rarely is the star of the films he is in but he is widely respected for taking every job seriously and diving into his work,...
as Ken - Ren ŌsugiRen Osugi, born , is a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival...
as Katagiri - Tonbo Zushi as Kitajima
- Ken'ichi Yajima as Takahashi
- Eiji Minakata as The Hit Man
Soundtrack
The CD soundtrack was released in 1999 by Milan Records, too.- "Sonatine I (Act of Violence)"
- "Light and Darkness"
- "Play on the Sands"
- "Rain After That"
- "On the Fullmoon of Mystery"
- "Into a Trance"
- "Sonatine II (In the Beginning)"
- "Magic Mushroom"
- "Eye Witness"
- "Runaway Trip"
- "Moebius Band"
- "Die Out of Memories"
- "See You..."
- "Sonatine III (Be Over)"
Fukasaku's influence
Sonatine was highly inspired by, and explicitly refers to, Kinji FukasakuKinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
's 1971 Sympathy for the Underdog
Sympathy for the Underdog
is a 1971 Japanese yakuza film, directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Koji Tsuruta and Noboru Ando.This film was director Kinji Fukasaku's last film featuring Koji Tsuruta as the main character...
, starring Koji Tsuruta
Koji Tsuruta
was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 260 feature films.-Career:Born in Shizuoka Prefecture as Eiichi Ono, Tsuruta was studying at Kansai University when he was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Navy. After the war he joined Kōkichi Takada's theater troupe and made his film debut at Shochiku...
. Plot, location and characters are similar in both movies, even the Okinawan
Okinawa Prefecture
is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...
theme song featured in Fukasaku's Sympathy for the Underdog appears in Sonatine. Since Takeshi Kitano started directing, on Violent Cop
Violent Cop
is a 1989 Japanese film directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. It was Kitano's directorial debut, and marked the beginning of his career as a filmmaker.-Synopsis:...
, thanks to Kinji Fukasaku's withdrawal, some believes that Sonatine is an homage to Fukasaku, one of Kitano's masters along with Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
.
It is also notable that Sonatine shares many thematic qualities with Kitano's 1997 later film, Hana-bi
Hana-bi
, released in the US as "Fireworks", is a 1997 Japanese film written, directed and edited by, and starring Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. The film's score was composed by renowned Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi. This was their fourth collaboration...
, which is considered by many to be his masterpiece, since it earned him a Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
Local and international reception
The film's theatrical release in Japan was a commercial failure as Kitano was only perceived as a highly popular gagman, and the audience was not prepared, nor capable, to accept him as a credible gangster noir character. However with Kitano not yet famous abroad, the movie would later benefit of this different situation especially in the European market.Sonatine was showcased in a few small theaters in France where it received lukewarm acclaim from specialized professionals. It was also screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival
1993 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :* Louis Malle * Claudia Cardinale * Inna Churikova * Judy Davis * Abbas Kiarostami * Emir Kusturica * William Lubtchansky * Tom Luddy * Gary Oldman * Augusto M...
. French publisher and notorious movie-goer, Jean-Pierre Dionnet (Canal +/Studio Canal), reported in an interview, that someone convinced Alain Delon
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon is a French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 was already being compared to French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot...
to watch Sonatine arguing that Kitano was a fan of Le Samouraï
Le Samouraï
Le Samouraï is a 1967 French crime film directed by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Alain Delon.- Plot :The story follows a perfectionist free-agent hitman, Jef Costello , who religiously adheres to a strict code of duty...
. Delon was seriously taken aback, and talking about Kitano's acting, 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". Most professionals around Dionnet had the same reject reaction, but the French publisher was both struck and puzzled by this new genre. He contacted the Japanese distributor in order to buy the license for the exploitation of Sonatine, but his request was strongly rejected. Dionnet had to insist during several months to finally discover that the Shochiku
Shochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...
didn't want to release Sonatine abroad, claiming the movie was "too Japanese" and would not be accepted, nor understood, by western audiences. Eventually Dionnet learned that the distributor didn't want to release the license because of its commercial failure in Japan. Dionnet had an agreement with the Shouchiku arguing that the French audience didn't know Kitano's career and would accept his violent character more easily. He bought Sonatine and three additional subtitled movies, Violent Cop
Violent Cop
is a 1989 Japanese film directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. It was Kitano's directorial debut, and marked the beginning of his career as a filmmaker.-Synopsis:...
, Boiling Point
Boiling point
The boiling point of an element or a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid....
and the latest, Kids Return
Kids Return
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Meet Again" 5:02#"Graduation" 1:07#"Angel Doll" 2:21#"Alone" 1:15#"As a Rival" 1:29#"Promise... for Us" 5:08#"Next Round" 1:28#"Destiny" 3:31#"I Don't Care" 2:18#"High Spirits" 2:03#"Defeat" 2:29#"Break Down" 3:46...
, all of which performed poorly in Japan (A Scene at the Sea
A Scene at the Sea
is a 1991 Japanese film written and directed by Takeshi Kitano.This movie was a break from previous Kitano fare in that it features no gangsters or police...
and Getting Any?
Getting Any?
is a 1995 Japanese film, written, directed, edited, and starring, Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano.Yatteru is the colloquial form for yatteiru , yatteru coming from the Japanese verb yaru, which is an informal word meaning 'to do', and has become slang for sexual intercourse.Getting Any? is best...
were not licensed). In 1995, Sonatine entered the 13th Festival du Film Policier de Cognac
Festival du Film Policier de Cognac
The Festival du Film Policier de Cognac is an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 .The festival was disbanded after an extraordinary general meeting in December 2007...
(Thriller Film Festival of Cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
) in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where it was critically acclaimed, and lastly, Sonatine, followed by the three other movies were broadcasted on the French channel Canal+ few months later. Then a couple of years later on the Franco-German public channel Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
. A video release followed, including a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
edition available in Dionnet's collection "Asian Classics".
In 1997, Hana-bi
Hana-bi
, released in the US as "Fireworks", is a 1997 Japanese film written, directed and edited by, and starring Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. The film's score was composed by renowned Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi. This was their fourth collaboration...
was premiered in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, where it earned Kitano the first prize, known as the Golden Lion award. The critical success of the movie, led a part of the Japanese audience to reconsider him as a true, important, filmmaker and earn the attention of North American publishers.
As soon as 1995, Takeshi Kitano (credited as "Takeshi") played the role of a yakuza in American director Robert Longo
Robert Longo
Robert Longo is an American painter and sculptor. Longo became famous in the 1980s for his "Men in the Cities" series, which depicted sharply dressed businessmen writhing in contorted emotion.-Early life and education:...
's SF
SF
SF may refer to:* San Francisco, California, United States* Science fiction-Sports:* Small forward, a position in basketball* Stade Français, a French rugby union team based in Paris* Superleague Formula, a motorsport racing series...
thriller, Johnny Mnemonic
Johnny Mnemonic (film)
Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk film, loosely based on the short story "Johnny Mnemonic" by William Gibson. The title character, a man with a cybernetic brain implant designed to store information, is played by Keanu Reeves. The film portrays Gibson's dystopian view of the future with the world...
. Although in North America Sonatine was released in theaters in April 1998 and, another Kinji Fukasaku enthusiast, Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
, released a subtitled video edition in 2000 as part of his "Rolling Thunder Pictures" collection. The same year, Kitano was convinced by his producer to go in the United States where he filmed his first (and last) movie outside Japan. Brother
Brother (2000 film)
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Drifter... in LAX"#"Solitude"#"Tattoo"#"Death Spiral"#"Party "#"On the Shore"#"Blood Brother"#"Raging Men"#"Beyond the Control"#"Wipe Out"#"Liberation from the Death"#"I Love You, Aniki"#"Ballade"...
was shot in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with an American crew and local actors including Omar Epps
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...
. In an interview, Kitano self-admitted he was not fully satisfied with the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood" adventure which was supposed to bring him a broader audience with a higher exposure. Kitano confessed he had no intention of shooting outside Japan anymore.
External links
- Sonatine at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...