HANA BI

Hana bi is Takeshi Kitano’s most celebrated work to date. Winning awards and various film festivals, the biggest being the Golden Lion award and the 1997 Venice film festival. And to say he deserved the award would be something of an understatement.

This is by far Takeshi’s most personal film, dealing primarily with grief and suicide. The film has many layers though, dealing with Nishi’s (Kitano’s character) grief of his ex partner being in a wheelchair, which he blames himself for, and the fact that his wife is very ill and has little time left to live. On top of all of this, he owes money to Yakuza loan sharks who are running out of patience. Nishi decides that the only thing to do is to rob a bank, and he does. He buys a stolen taxi from the most insane scrap dealer on earth, and repaints it to look like a police car.

Hana Bi has a far more personal touch than say, Violent Cop or Boiling Point, as the film was born from Kitano’s near death experience when he crashed his moped, scaring his face and leaving him with a permanent facial tick. To me a lot of Kitano’s feelings are brought to the screen through Ren Osugis character, who is paralysed and suffering from depression after his wife and child leave him to fend for himself. But when Nishi sends him a package, which consists of painting tools, his life turns around a little and painting helps him. This is another biographical Kitano scenario, as he himself took up painting while recovering from his accident, many of his works can be seen throughout the movie, they really give the movie its character and charm.

Joe Hisaishi’s music is on top form as usual, full of harmonious sweeping strings and sombre piano melodies that fill you full of emotion. You’ll want to pick up the soundtrack after you’ve seen it.

Most of the familiar Kitano actors are here, Sasumu Terajima and Ren Osugi to name but a few. I’m a fan of the idea of using primarily the same cast for every movie, you always know what to expect as far as acting goes; terrific performances all round. So, get out there and get your hands on Hana Bi, I can highly recommend the UK Region 2 DVD release, which contains a great making of documentary.

BACK TO FRONT