Not much here as far as a story goes. It's a standard dirty cop movie that's got the requisite Yakuza flick blood, blood, more blood, guns, drugs and gang rape. There isn't a single character or situation that doesn't have a well-worn precedent the Dirty Harry or HK Triad genres. The ending is quite bleak. Of course, Kitano had nothing to do with the cookie cutter script and this was his first effort directing.
That said, it's really interesting to see it because it was Takeshi Kitano's first time directing. It was a pleasant surprise to see the way that Kitano handled the scene where his character confronts a crooked vice cop who was once a close friend. Instead of impassioned, cliched speeches we can all recite by heart, Kitano shows them sitting down together at a restaurant for a confrontation. We see them through the windows, from across the street. There is a sense of time passing as cars flash by and the camera lingers on their impassive faces. They might be saying the words we all know - it's just not necessary for us to go through it again. Instead Kitano makes the moment personal for them by backing the camera out the window and across the street, as though respecting their privacy. By showing the two at ease like that, Kitano probably created a much stronger sense of a broken past between the two men than if he had shown them shouting about who had `changed' since they were kids or something.
There are choices like that made throughout the film. It's interesting to watch for Kitano's style in such an unoriginal movie. Particularly his sense of how long tension can last.
Also, I happen to think that Kitano's acting is almost always worth watching. He's fun and always full of potential. Like Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction or O'Toole in almost anything - you never know when he's going to say or do something utterly insane. Violent Cop is so by-the-numbers that it's not too hard to figure out what's coming next, but he has some moments. Or maybe I just like seeing him slaughtering people like in Gonin.
That said, it's really interesting to see it because it was Takeshi Kitano's first time directing. It was a pleasant surprise to see the way that Kitano handled the scene where his character confronts a crooked vice cop who was once a close friend. Instead of impassioned, cliched speeches we can all recite by heart, Kitano shows them sitting down together at a restaurant for a confrontation. We see them through the windows, from across the street. There is a sense of time passing as cars flash by and the camera lingers on their impassive faces. They might be saying the words we all know - it's just not necessary for us to go through it again. Instead Kitano makes the moment personal for them by backing the camera out the window and across the street, as though respecting their privacy. By showing the two at ease like that, Kitano probably created a much stronger sense of a broken past between the two men than if he had shown them shouting about who had `changed' since they were kids or something.
There are choices like that made throughout the film. It's interesting to watch for Kitano's style in such an unoriginal movie. Particularly his sense of how long tension can last.
Also, I happen to think that Kitano's acting is almost always worth watching. He's fun and always full of potential. Like Christopher Walken in Pulp Fiction or O'Toole in almost anything - you never know when he's going to say or do something utterly insane. Violent Cop is so by-the-numbers that it's not too hard to figure out what's coming next, but he has some moments. Or maybe I just like seeing him slaughtering people like in Gonin.