What else happened this year? On a Personal level, I was working in Georgia (the country) and met some very interesting people, some of whom I’m still friends with. On a global level, there was… the Olympics in London, and an election for Obama, whoo!
What is the plot - in one sentence? We follow a conflict between two yakuza gangs after some meddling from a policeman.
I don't have time, just spoil it for me? An alliance is formed between a gang from Osaka and a new gang which is formed from old enemies [It seems that these two enemies were the focal point of the first movie, this is a sequel]. They work to get rid of a Toyko clan which has wronged them before. When everything seems settled, the police betray one of the new gang leaders, and the last man standing kills the policeman behind all the scheming – he’s a sort of Iago figure, and some of the other detectives are evidently unimpressed by him, too. The last man standing is Takeshi Kitano, so it’s no surprise.
What is the meaning of the title? This is a sequel to a movie called ‘Outrage’ and so it goes ‘Beyond’ what has happened there. I’m not sure exactly what the original outrage was in the first one, but I’d genuinely be interested in finding out what it was.
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| So the guys shooting are part of Takeshi's gang and are assassinating some enemies. However, each enemy needs like, 14 bullets to the chest before they die. It's a bit weird, and it happens a few times. |
Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? There are two women in the movie, one is a prostitute with some yakuza tattoos, one is a gangster’s moll who sees her man get shot up. This is an old-fashioned man’s movie. This is already a decade old, and because it’s so sleek, I think the only thing which may age it are the overblown gunfights.
Any thoughts? It’s a Yakuza movie, so it’s nothing but settling old scores and not much else. The detective who is seeking to play all the gangs off each other, is one of the main villains of the movie, and his partner, a - tall guy seen in a lot of movies (he’s the guy who helps edit the videos in Ringu, for example), plays a concerned but confident policemen very well.
There’s political
wrangling, assassinations, and even some interesting plot details – a
particularly odious little guy is killed by a baseball pitching
machine, for example, though the whole thing could have done with a little more of the trademark Takeshi's flights of fancy and humour inside the violence.
Would you recommend this? Yeah, I would. The plot never really goes beyond – we have to kill our enemies - but it’s shot deliberately, the action scenes are good, it’s undercut by an effective yet minimal soundtrack. Importantly, the details of the plot are complicated but not convoluted. I’ll try to watch the original and the sequel if possible
Final thoughts? Takeshi directs this, and plays a couple of the ‘coolest’ scenes: he helps drill a guy to death, and shows a cool and detached nonchalance to proceedings; his allies and underlings (who just appear as a gift from the Osaka gang) seem to be everywhere, and though the bullet fighting seems a little overblown (see the notes on the picture above) this really kicked ass.
Why am I posting so many today, you may ask? I haven't been able to log on, but... happy to say, I'm very nearly done now. Keep your eyes peeled and check back here to see the others as they come up.
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