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Fireworks Actors: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto Director: Takeshi Kitano Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 99 minutes Studio: New Yorker Films Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-07-11 Buy from Amazon |
 "fleeting..."I have now watched this film twice in the last two days. The first time I watched it i thought the film was okay but nothing great. However, i also thought that I was missing something when I watched this film, so i decided to watch it again to give it and myself a second chance, and let me say that I am really glad I did. One thing that I do not like is how the film is advertised. It is made out to be something like Charles Bronson films. While there is a great deal of violence it is very comicesque or mangaesque violence with great amounts of blood splattering all over the place. However, the films true beauty is the character Nishi. He is the violent man, he is the one who emptied his gun into a dead man, but he also shows great care and love for his wife. It is quite moving. also the movie is worth seeing just for the junkman and his assistant. "Do NOT read A viewer from Provo, UT's 12/6 Review! SPOILER!"Amazon's description is quite accurate. This movie is rather "artsy" and there is hidden meaning and depth, thus you will garner more meaning from subsequent viewings. This is always nice when purchasing, rather than renting a movie. I hope that THIS review has helped you! "Stunning Beauty Full of Pain and Sorrows"After loosing a son, detective Nishi (Takeshi Kitano) faces more grave pain by learning that his wife is terminally ill and his best friend has just been wheel chair bound by a bullet. He is also running out of money, which he needs in order to help a widow of a partner who got shot in an arrest. Meanwhile, his friend is suicidal and he knows that he has talked about being a painter, but cannot afford starting a new hobby. Therefore, he borrows some money from the Yakuza who want their money back eventually. Many problems begin to accumulate and Nishi becomes more desperate for a solution. Fireworks is a stunningly beautiful film full of pain and sorrows of a poor policeman that will entangle the audience.  "Fireworks all WET - no bang for your buck!"I had high hopes for this film, thinking that it would be in the vein of Pulp Fiction, the Unforgiven, or Resevoir Dogs. Unfortunately it is excruciatingly S-L-O-W & boring, with no apparent moral or justification. Time-shifting is employed in a non-intuative and distracting manner. "Beat" Kitano doesn't say more than 100 words in the entire "movie." As mentioned in other reviews, he "TICS" more than he "TALKS" employing an annoying (was it supposed to be symbolic ??) facial tic. Beat is no Clint Eastwood, or even Charles Bronson. Wooden facial expressions do not an actor make; tics are not technique. When you think that it just can't get any worse, childish artwork is displayed onscreen over and over - must be that inscrutable symbolism again. Obviously an economical production, it is hard to understand why this film is appreciated, even in Japan. It makes me wonder if all the rave reviews for this stinker were written by friends & family (or stock holders) Note that none of the reviewers are "Big Names." If you're still really curious, save your money & RENT this turkey before you buy! There are many better Asian films than this. Look for anything by John Woo, Anh Hung Tran or Jet Li. For true subtle acting see "Shower," "The King of Masks," or "Scent of Green Papaya" "The movie is a masterpiece, but avoid the DVD"The movie is a masterpiece worth 5+ stars, one of Kitano?s best works. But I was totally dissapointed when I so that the subtitles where burned over the film, as a movie lover I consider this outrageous, the film beautifull cinematography is totally ruined by them. The quality of the DVD is not up to the level of the movie. I can?t belive that to this date there are companies creating dvds with subtitles burned over a movie. Please wait and see if Criterion Collection eventually releases "Hanna Bi", they do respect movie lovers. The artwork is lousy, I don?t know why they changed Kitano?s beautifull artwork which is the original to the japanese release. |
