Violent Cop

Summary

I will never forget the first time that I saw “Beat” Takeshi Kitano on film. I had a VCD off EBay sent to me from Korea of the film Battle Royale which was only playable on my computer. The film would not be fully available in the United States for another few years. In the first scene in which Kitano prominently appears, he coaches some teenagers on the new circumstances of their life. The circumstances are that the children will battle to the death until only one victor remains. Then he uses a remote control to explode the neck of one of the teenagers that gives him a hard time. This was a perfect introduction to Takeshi Kitano. He is incredibly popular in Japan, but has had trouble finding mainstream success in America, despite his best efforts. My guess would be that his films are just a little too abstract or too violent to appeal to the masses. That said, once you get into his aesthetic, there is a lot to enjoy. When I saw that Film Movement was releasing the very first film that Takeshi Kitano had directed, 1989’s Violent Cop, I couldn’t resist purchasing a copy and checking it out.

As the film begins, an old man is beaten by some dumb kids. A violent cop named Azuma (Takeshi Kitano) follows one of them home and beats a confession out of him. The new police boss warns Azuma to be more careful about how he deploys his methods. He doesn’t want to look bad. Azuma gains a new partner, a rookie named Kikuchi. Azuma shows Kikuchi the ropes. Azuma picks up his sister Akari from the hospital. Akari is mentally ill, possibly from drug abuse. She is also promiscuous. Azuma attempts to shield his sister while taking down a drug syndicate. He will be up against a ruthless drug dealer named Kiyohiro and he will face the reality that some of the men on the force are involved in the drug dealing .

First things first – this film is not for the faint hearted. While there are certainly comedic elements to the film, the final third adheres much closer to the realm of tragedy. There is a scene in particular where a violent act is committed against a woman that had me looking at the screen anxious for it to end. Rarely have I been less comfortable while watching a film than during that scene. But maybe that is the point? Should the violent actions that occur in these films be left to subtext or should they be shown instead of implied? I don’t know the answer, but it definitely affected my enjoyment of the film. Therefore, if you are uncomfortable with violence that goes for realism over cartoonish, this film should be avoided.

Okay, if you are still reading, this is Takeshi Kitano’s first directorial effort. It is not perfect, but it displays his very unique voice in full force. There are ample amounts of gallows humor, some excellent action, a good villain, and some tragic elements rolled into a cop flick. What I like about the movie is that Kitano doesn’t try to make films like other people. He is not afraid of silence. In fact, he embraces silence. Some of the most intense scenes in the film have characters staring silently at each other exhausted from the damage they have already inflicted upon one another anxiously waiting to destroy each other. It shows that sometimes less is more. By removing any extraneous dialogue, the film feels like it is written tighter. Even more impressive is that almost the entire film was rewritten by Kitano during filming and much of the dialogue was improvised.

It is almost like Kitano was attempting to slash through every cliche possible on his first film. This film flies in the face of tradition at every turn, while still being a cop film. One aspect of the film worth focusing on is the Kitano’s unique style. Kitano is a natural as far as directing goes. He chooses great ways of shooting the film that fly in the face of tradition, especially action scenes like when Azuma is chasing a perp that killed a cop. In the scene, Kitano is running after him on foot while his partner tries to catch the perp by car. That scene is so well-planned and spontaneous feeling. Scenes like that are steeped in realism due to Kitano’s directing approach where he would tell people roughly what they needed to do and have them wing it. This approach gives a vibrancy and looseness that could not be there otherwise. I will also mention that the score for this film is great. Daisaku Kume gives a great performance musically that amplifiesbthe quirkiness of the proceedings.

Overall, I really liked Violent Cop. I loved it until I hit the scene I mentioned earlier, but that one scene was a bit beyond what I expected. Watching a Takeshi Kitano film is a real experience worth giving yourself, and I am glad to have this in my collection.

Video

Film Movement have provided a brand new 1080p HD transfer that was remastered specifically for this release in 2016 using an MPEG-4 AVC encode. The film is presented in an 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Keeping in mind that this film was relatively inexpensive and produced by a large Japanese film studio, it looks pretty good. Fine detail is good, but the film has a little bit of softness due to the era it was filmed in. The whole transfer has a small amount of grain that is visible, but that lends itself to good detail onscreen. Kitano has an interesting visual approach that definitely benefits from high definition, but this film will probably not register visually compared to action films made now. Overall, I was very pleased with the efforts put in by Film Movement.

Audio

Violent Cop has been given a vey good LPCM 2.0 track. This stereo track boasts the fantastic score by Daisaku Kume. It is such a whimsical score that I can not help but love it. The stereo track remains true to the original source elements and delivers the goods throughout the course of the film. This is a film that relies on silence more than loud noises, so be prepared for that. I was very happy with this track. It is a lot more immersive than you might expect from a stereo track.

Supplements:

That Man is Dangerous: The Birth of Takeshi Kitano – (20:20, 1080p) a short but incredibly enjoyable featurerfe on Takeshi Kitano and Violent Cop’s production. I was blown away to hear that Kinji Fukusaku was originally set to direct. I also was intrigued that Takeshi essentially rewrote the entire script as they filmed the movie and most of the dialogue was improvised. That makes the film an even greater achievement.

Japanese Theatrical Trailer

Violent Cop 2016 Trailer

Trailers for the following:

Boiling Point

Kamikaze ‘89

The Quiet Earth

Sea Fog

Key of Life

The Pillow Book

Film Movement Trailer

Overall scores

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Violent Cop is a fantastic debut film for Takeshi Kitano. Fans of his work will no doubt purchase a copy now that it is available on Blu-ray. This film has one scene that cost it some points from my review, because I wanted to make sure that people read the whole review before they commit to seeing the film. That should serve as fair warning that this film is most assuredly for mature audiences only. I am so glad that Film Movement has released four of Kitano’s films on Blu-ray and look forward to reviewing every single one of them. The lone original supplement is excellent and well worth your time. If you are a fan, do the right thing and purchase this film. If you are not a fan, you may want to start with some of Kitano’s more recent output before you dive into this one. Recommended.