Summary
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Cast
Takeshi Kitano
Yoshitaka Nishi
Kayoko Kishimoto
Nishi's Wife
Ren Osugi
Horibe
Susumu Terajima
Nakamura
Tetsu Watanabe
Junkyard Owner
Hakuryu
Yakuza Hitman
Yasuei Yakushiji
Criminal
Tarô Itsumi
Kudo
Kenichi Yajima
Doctor
Makoto Ashikawa
Tanaka
Yuko Daike
Tanaka's Widow
Tsumami Edamame
Businessman Throwing Rocks
Yûrei Yanagi
Chef #1
Sujitarô Tamabukuro
Chef #2
Tokio Seki
Old Hick
Motoharu Tamura
Chief Detective
Hitoshi Nishizawa
Yakuza Head
Hiromi Kikai
Yakuza Henchman #1
Shoko Kitano
Young Girl Flying a Kite
Yoshiyuki Morishita
Yakuza Henchman #2
Junichiro Asano
Yakuza Henchman #3
Kazuhiro Osada
Yakuza Henchman #4
Manzo Shinra
Man Shot in the Face
Tetsu Sakuma
Yakuza Henchman #5
Riba Matsumi
Maid at the Inn
Miki Fujitani
Florist Clerk
Keiko Yamamoto
Nurse A
Kiyoko Kitazawa
Nurse B
Ai Kishina
Girl in the Junkyard
Banri Nakamura
Kiosk Salesclerk
Masahiro Naya
Detective at Stakeout #1
Takayuki Konishi
Detective at Stakeout #2
Yûzô Yada
Temple Priest
Kanji Tsuda
Man under Interrogation
Yôichi Nagai
Cop Driving an Unmarked Car
Kôsuke Ôta
Bartender
Muhômatsu
Construction Worker
Omiya no Matsu
Restaurant Client
Shiyô Kosuga
Brat #1
Gambino Kobayashi
Brat #2
Al Kitago
Man Selling Taxi
Yûji Aikawa
Woman Walking in Mall (uncredited)
Hiroshi Umeda
Male Bank Clerk #1 (uncredited)
Kenji Yamagami
Male Bank Clerk #2 (uncredited)
Tomoya Naitô
Male Bank Clerk #3 (uncredited)
Katsuya Takamatsu
Male Bank Clerk #4 (uncredited)
Yasufumi Sakamaki
Male Bank Clerk #5 (uncredited)
Atsushi Ito
Male Bank Clerk #6 (uncredited)
Mitsuyo Ishigaki
Female Bank Clerk #1 (uncredited)
Ayako Masuya
Female Bank Clerk #2 (uncredited)
Sumiko Takai
Female Bank Clerk #3 (uncredited)
Mariko Chiba
Female Bank Clerk #4 (uncredited)
Miho Kitahara
Female Bank Clerk #5 (uncredited)
Yoshiko Andô
Female Bank Clerk #6 (uncredited)
Kaoru Sugiyama
Female Bank Clerk #7 (uncredited)
Kikuo Itô
Male Bank Customer #1 (uncredited)
Shûji Ôtsuki
Male Bank Customer #2 (uncredited)
Hidetoshi Kawaya
Male Bank Customer #3 (uncredited)
Koichiro Hama
Male Bank Customer #4 (uncredited)
Masaru Takahashi
Male Bank Customer #5 (uncredited)
Ritsuyo Ono
Male Bank Customer #6 (uncredited)
Yôko Imamoto
Female Bank Customer #1 (uncredited)
Kiyoko Negishi
Female Bank Customer #2 (uncredited)
Saki Kaneko
Female Bank Customer #3 (uncredited)
Kaoru Tomoe
Female Bank Customer #4 (uncredited)
Ayu Nakagawa
Female Bank Customer #5 (uncredited)
Maiko Watanabe
Female Bank Customer #6 (uncredited)
Kazue Fujita
Female Bank Customer #7 (uncredited)
Yuki Iida
Female Bank Customer #8 (uncredited)
Rieko Motohashi
Female Bank Customer #9 (uncredited)
Ryôta Koyama
Grandson Visiting Temple (uncredited)
Takao Toji
Man with Grandson (uncredited)
Matsumi Fuku
Landlady (uncredited)
Crew
Director, Screenplay
Takeshi Kitano
Reviews
John Chard
March 8, 2015
10
Drop Dead.
Hana-bi (AKA: Fireworks) is written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. It stars Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi and Susumu Terajima. Music is by Joe Hisaishi and cinematography by Hideo Yamamoto.
Yoshikata Nishi (Kitano) is a loose cannon police detective who quits the force after a tragic incident results in his partner, Horibe (Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. His retirement brings him the time to care more for his seriously ill wife Miyuki (Kishimoto). Nishi can find no peace, though, more so as he has borrowed money from the Yakuza to pay for his wife's needs, and they are growing impatient for the repayment...
Very early in Kitano's superb slice of Japanese neo-noir there is a piece of graffiti on the wall, it says "Drop Dead", while Hisaishi's music is a devilish accompaniment to the scene. It's ominous and foreboding, setting the tone for what is to follow. Pic is deliberately paced, beautifully so, with the opening nonlinear approach and scattergun shifts in time adding a sort of psychological maelstrom to the impending narrative darkness.
Yet to suggest it as a perpetually bleak picture is doing it a small disservice, for Kitano (himself working from a damaged psyche that occurred in real life) has this adroit eye for poetic beauty and human tenderness that marries up with bursts of violence and emotionally shattering passages of play. And it works brilliantly, with stabs of humour also filtering in via the outer frames.
Nishi the character is a force of nature and a walking - brooding - contradiction, a man pained behind his sunglasses, his expressionless visage amazingly still saying so much. When he explodes the impact is doubly strong, mainly because dialogue is so sparse, but the interwoven visuals - very much a Kitano speciality - strike an almighty chord for the story. To which we edge towards the finale, which unsurprisingly brings beauty and infinite sadness.
Unfussy camera work, sabre sharp editing (Kitano & Yoshinori Oota), elegiacal musical arrangements, art, kites and Kitano's intense performance, this rounds out as film making greatness. In fact, a masterpiece. 10/10
Media
Status:
Released
Original Language:
Japanese
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00
