Producer: Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.
Kitano Takeshi Studio Office Kitano
TV Tokyo
Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co. Ltd.
Release Date: 1997/11/15 Creator
: Director : Takeshi Kitano Screenplay: Takeshi Kitano Editing: Takeshi Kitano Music: Joe Hisaishi
Starring: Takeshi Kitano / Kashimoto Kashiko / Osugi Ren / Terajima Shin / Tsuda Kanji
Awards: 1997 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Kitano Takeshi
1997 European Film Award (European Film Award) Screen International Award Takeshi Kitano
1999 Japan Film Academy Award Best Music Score Joe Hisaishi
Introduction: Kei Nishi (Take Kitano) is a policeman whose son died unfortunately a few years ago, and now his wife is suffering from leukemia late. His partner, Horibe, was seriously injured during the mission, resulting in paralysis of the lower body. He was abandoned by his wife and daughter and was accompanied by a wheelchair. Later, Xi Jiajing mishandled an arrest operation, resulting in the death of his junior Tanaka. Taking the blame and resigning, he thought about supporting Tanaka's widowed wife, approaching and comforting his old friend Horibe, and wanting to make his wife live happily in the few years left. , All this made Xi Jiajing feel overwhelmed. He decided to take the plunge and robbed the bank. In the end, Xi Jiajing accompanies his wife on a trip with no return. At the seaside, she chooses the way her life ends by herself.
The cliché is over, let's get down to business. I have watched a lot of Japanese movies recently, and the one that impressed me the most should be Takeshi Kitano. Among Japanese directors, there may not be a second director who is so reliant on his own ideas and free-spirited creation. It is difficult to classify his films. The common label is "violence". After all, Takeshi Kitano is also a master of violent aesthetics. But if there is only violence and Takeshi Kitano is underestimated, the warmth in those films, the thinking of life and death, the unique Japanese grief, and even some literature and art can not be summed up in a single sentence of violent aesthetics. "Hana" personally thinks it is a film that best reflects the characteristics of Takeshi Kitano. Fireworks, pronounced hanabi in Japanese, means fireworks. The film, as its name suggests, hints at the splendid moments of life.
Japanese-style violence aesthetics: Kitano Takeshi should be regarded as a relatively versatile filmmaker. The director, screenwriter, editing, and starring can all be competent. His violence can be said to subvert my previous understanding of violence. The aesthetics of violence originated in the United States and flourished in Japan. Swords and swords, flying bullets, and blood gushing seem to be the only manifestations of violence. However, the violence in Japanese movies rarely fights, and often one move determines the outcome. In Kurosawa Akira's "Tsubaki Thirteenth", the two masters faced each other in silence, suddenly drew their swords, and one of them was madly in blood, and the sentence of life and death was decided. This is a classic scene of Japanese-style violence. Kitano's violent films also inherit this tradition. There are no fancy fighting skills, only silent preemptive strikes, and scenes of blood are not deliberately displayed. Even so, Kitano Takeshi was able to use his own divine editing to make the audience feel the impact of the violence at that moment, and the actual fight also proved that this method is the most effective and most vicious.
Tie Han's tenderness and humor: Takeshi Kitano used to be a talented actor, that is, a cross talk talker. At the beginning of his debut, he also performed comedy. Because the old violent master Shinji Fukasaku was too busy with his work, he handed over the film "Ferocious Man" to Takeshi Kitano. However, whenever he does, he will have a good sense of humor. The proper insertion of humor in violent films can relieve the audience's tense nerves, and the violence after laughter can also be more thought-provoking. In the scene of the bank robbery, although I was secretly sweating for Officer Xi, it was very dark and humorous to see him pretending to be a police officer after his resignation and robbing so calmly. Even before the suicide scene, he did not forget to have a little humor. Officer Xi wanted to help the little girl fly a kite, but clumsily did not let go in time, and the kite "broken its wings". The sound of gunshots formed a stark contrast. At the last moment, the music stopped abruptly, only the waves of the sea, and the police officer West finally completed the redemption.
The combination of violence and warmth I think is the most moving aspect of this film. "Kiujiro's Summer" can be regarded as one of the few films of Kitano Takeshi's warm line, but the warmth there is touching rather than shocking. The warmth in "Fireworks" has the tragic color of a hero's end. In the section where Officer Xi accompanied his wife on a trip, he was particularly wonderful. Officer Xi accompanied his wife to fish, but his face was always calm and calm. When he saw people from the underworld chasing after him, he said to his wife gently. With the gentle tone of "ちょっといてて" (wait a moment), I never imagined that he would carry out a violent killing next. His wife almost crushed his hand accidentally when he was reversing the car, he just smiled and said that my hand was hurt by your crush; when his wife fell into a snow pit when he saw the snow, he showed a panicked look for the first time and hurried over to help; He made grilled fish for his wife and joked that it was Italian food; set off fireworks for his wife and played poker with his wife. . . He gave everything for his terminally ill wife, and the tenderness made people cry. Of course, his gentleness didn't stop there. When he heard the little boy say he wanted to hear the bell of the temple, he rang the bell for the little boy regardless of the time; Officer Nishi didn't kill him either, but one punch saved him his life; his help in rebuilding Horibe's confidence in life; and his sense of responsibility towards the widow of his dead comrade-in-arms all highlighted the tender side of Officer Nishi, which also made him even more so. aggravated the final death of the heroic. In the end, when the two former comrades in arms finally came to him in order to arrest him, he calmly loaded two bullets into the gun, but the bullets were not shot at the comrades, but at the wife who had a short time, and the burden on the back. Several lives and a bank robbery himself.
Personal understanding of the two-line parallel: This film also has a remarkable point in the screenwriting, that is, the existence of the character Horibe. At first it seemed like a story of two men, one from life to death for redemption, the other from death to life for redemption. But looking at it again, it's actually a man's story. Horibe and Nishi police officers respectively represent two extremes of a person's spiritual level. Horibe thought of death after the separation of his wife and children, but attempted suicide. Later, with the support of Police Officer Nishi, he regained his childhood dream and painted. The West police officer is burdened with debts and a case of self-destruction. But I think Horibe is the reaction of Officer Nishi's spiritual world. Horibe was relieved in the painting that he painted arbitrarily. Officer Nishi also did his best, and finally died with his terminally ill wife, completing the liberation. The accurate use of montage in the film also hints at this. Officer Nishi lit fireworks for his wife and watched the gorgeous fireworks. The two laughed as happy as children. The fireworks in the sky gradually turned into fireworks in Horibe's paintings. The whole family looked at the fireworks with that kind of heartfelt smile. Officer Nishi wiped out the underworld who had been chasing him in the heavy snow. A few drops of blood were splattered on the vast white snow. Slowly, the camera turned to Horibe's painting, with a lot of "snow" written on the paper. "Light" appeared again, and finally the camera moved up, and the whole picture in front of us was two big characters "self-determination" (suicide) in blood red in a snowy field. Here has laid the groundwork for the fate of the West police officer. Although these scenes were used ten years ago, they still look full of personality. The paintings by Horibe are said to be created by Takeshi Kitano himself, and they also add a lot to the film.
The Blue of Takeshi Kitano: I have watched a lot of Takeshi Kitano's films, and I must be deeply impressed by the use of colors in his pictures. That is - blue. Cool, deep blue. The base color of the promotional poster of "Fireworks" is blue, and the red fireworks are particularly dazzling on it. Maybe. Only the deep and broad color of blue can carry the stories told by Takeshi Kitano with deep philosophical thoughts about life and death; only blue can match his violent aesthetics that explodes power in silence; only the sea and sky Only kind of blue can set off the feelings of such a kind and righteous man. This story can be told in a terrifying and touching way, but the director did not do it. What the police officer did for the people around him was expressed in a very restrained way, even with very few lines. Of course, the charm of silence becomes pretentious if it is not brought into play. Fortunately, Takeshi Kitano used silence to create a kind of heart-piercing pain, but it was extremely cold. Finally, in the silence, the wife of the police officer in the west and the west said her only line in the film "ありがとう, ごめんね" (thank you, sorry). In the context of the whole restraint, these two simple and unpretentious words became extremely touching. Police Officer West's stiff face began to twitch, and finally he hugged his wife tightly. Not everyone can appreciate Kitano Takeshi's stern affection, which requires the audience to experience it quietly and have a certain understanding of Japanese culture. In his "That Summer, The Most Tranquil Sea", he simply played the story of two deaf and dumb people without dialogue, but I was more impressed by its silent tragic and male restraint.
Those images that are always throbbing: the beach, the sea, fireworks, blood, gunshots, grudges, are always the theme of Kitano Takeshi, the gentleness and innocence of Kitano Takeshi. Not only "Hana", these images are looming in many of Kitano Takeshi's films, such as "Sonata", "Sonata" is a thoroughly Japanese gangster film, which also shows the loyalty between brothers, the cold warmth of men, and the life. The splendor and the romance of death. That boundless sense of fate is already very close to "Hana", but the bloodless violent scenes are not as skillful and shocking as "Hana", and the gang's rivalry may not have a tough policeman who has to accept the ruthless. Fate is even more sad. I think this film is more like a prelude to "Hua Huo". All the factors are ready, waiting for a better story and more skilled skills to better express the director's thinking.
"Hana-bi" is written on the poster of "Hana-bi". I think it was the director's intention to separate the two images of "flower" and "fire". Flowers are warm, gorgeous, and tender in the film. Fire, is burning, fighting, is the violence in the film. The unifying feature of flowers and fire is that life is short and gorgeous. This characteristic is very in line with the Japanese aesthetics. They like cherry blossoms just like this. When they open, they are like a tree. Once they open, they will burn their own lives. This is a dead attitude, and this is a life without regrets.
Samurai Towards the Dead: The previous paragraph mentioned a cultural trait of the Japanese. Here, let's talk about what kind of culture has created a director like Takeshi Kitano and a movie like "Hana". Before Heidegger came up with the concept of "living to death", the Japanese samurai had been silently implementing it for a long time. The so-called Bushido, what is left after removing some of the Confucianism and Buddhism that the Japanese learned from China? I think it's this kind of death consciousness. Regarding the meaning of death, the Chinese would say "heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather". We are taught by Confucianism, and the feelings of family and country will never be discarded in our hearts. However, in Japanese history, there has never been a family that can trigger family The vast territory of national sentiments. The samurai are directly affiliated to the daimyo. The so-called "dead country" may not be a big deal in the eyes of the Japanese. What they value is to be loyal to the lord. This lord may go against the trend of history and may only have a small land, but the samurai As long as you are loyal, as long as you die beautifully, you can go down in history. There should be no other suicide method in the world that is more complicated and painful than abdominal cutting. The Japanese who commit suicide in this way obviously care not about the fact of death, but the attitude of death. Takeshi Kitano himself has written a book called "Death ぬための生きfang", which is translated as "Living to Death", and wrote about his thoughts on the hospital bed after he almost died in a car accident. And the several films that established Takeshi Kitano's status in the international film circle are also his works after the car accident. It is conceivable that the car accident that was in close contact with death triggered the unique Japanese thinking about life and death in the director's soul for a long time.
I saw a film review before, and there was a paragraph that I liked very much, what would happen if the beginning of the wife's serious illness, the child's early death and the friend's injury, designed by "Hua Huo", happened somewhere else, the film review said, "If this is the Another beginning of "Crazy Flowers", then our protagonist will justly choose to survive, he will drive a car, whizzing through the entire west, so that the photographer can shoot the sunrise from the mountains of the Yadan landform or the Danxia landform. The beauty of the rising hills, and finally he will be shot into a hornet's nest on the edge of the Grand Canyon in the music of "Bei Jiu", if this is a 20 episodes of CCTV's police and bandit drama (actually this opening is blocked every three days. A review of Hong Kong movies and our TV series), then he will be assigned to the small police station to register his household registration, and with the help of his confidantes, he will tirelessly track down the truth until he gets the black coat, who has entered the political circle, the boss of the underworld. I was sent to the police car.” It can be seen that the place where this story takes place can only be Japan, a small country surrounded by the sea with constant disasters, there is no place to escape, and it is also affected by the emptiness and impermanence of wabi, sabi, and mourning since ancient times. Emotional infection. When our protagonist meets a cruel fate, it is inevitable that the only choice is a battle, and a magnificent death. The characters under the lens of Takeshi Kitano should be said to be courting death.
In the end, when Officer West committed suicide on the beach with his wife, he had no regrets in his life. He is cherry blossoms and fire. All love, hatred, justice, evil, killing, and escape have been experienced. There is no need to continue to live. Then, like a samurai, die dignifiedly and respectfully die. Takeshi Kitano has well expressed the Japanese philosophy of life and death in the film, and has been recognized internationally. This may give us some inspiration, the national talent is the world.
Hisaishi Joe's God Score: When Hisaishi Joe and Kitano Takeshi met, it was like an apple smashed into Newton, Red Four and Red One Army joined forces. . . The metaphor is not very appropriate, but I can't think of another word to describe this perfect pairing. Needless to say, the quality of Joe Hisaishi's music really adds to the film. I really like the last song "Thank You for Everything". After Officer Xi and his wife committed suicide, the music stopped abruptly, leaving only the sound of the ocean, adding a tragic and impermanence. The rest of the movies, such as "That Summer, The Sea of Tranquility", would not have been possible without the soundtrack of Joe Hisaishi. The protagonists of this film are two deaf and mute people, so some people even commented that it was Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack that saved the film. Movie. Regardless, Hisaishi's soundtrack is a big factor in the film's success.
Narcissistic Uncle Facial Paralysis: Having said so many good things, it is still necessary to criticize. If you don't want to systematically study Takeshi Kitano, then three of his films are enough. The three are: "Fireworks" - look at violent aesthetics; "Kijiro's Summer" - look at warmth and humor; "Bad Boy's Sky" - look at cruel youth. Others are likely to get bored after watching too much, because Kitano's personality is so distinct that the styles of the films are so similar. When I first watched it, I thought this uncle was really cool. He didn't speak in a fight, and he would hurt people when he shot. His expressionless face was only twitching at the corners of his mouth. Later, I found out that he had that iconic expression because half of his facial nerves were necrotic in a car accident. But it just so happens that this uncle is more narcissistic. He has directed and acted in many films. Every time he sees the same theme, the same style, the same way of expression, and even the same face of the leading actor, he will gradually get tired of it. This is very similar to Gu Long's novels. He has been telling his own stories in the same way, and he will get tired of reading too much. Moreover, Takeshi Kitano also has a flaw in the narrative. His personal emotions are too heavy, the narrative is protracted, and there are many unnecessary long shots. It takes a long time to perform a long shot to show him walking around alone. He also seems to be insufficient in dealing with complex narratives, and he always fails to grasp the memory when expressing it, which makes the audience feel very confused. After reading the books written by Takeshi Kitano, I personally feel that his cultural heritage is not profound. There are several of his books, but none of them are as powerful as Akira Kurosawa's "The Oil of Toads". It is more about showing a bottom culture or even "やくざ culture" (gangster culture). This cultural difference also determines that his films can only go so far. After that, he experimentally made films such as "Long Live the Director" and "Two-Face Takeshi Kitano", but they were not successful.
"Fireworks" is the most beautiful despair.
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