Customer Reviews

Outrage: Way of the Yakuza

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"When Mr. Murase and I were in prison together we made a pact over saké." After the head of a Yakuza family learns of his henchman's betrayal to a drug dealing family he starts a war that changes everything. This is a very good movie that is equal parts tense, bloody and dramatic. The only problem is that the flow seems off. Going from scenes of murder and finger cutting to long sequences of nothing happening makes it hard to get fully engrossed. On the other hand it is also a movie that forces you to keep watching in order to find out which family will ultimately win out. I did enjoy this but this is not a movie for everyone. A movie with no real good guy and leaves you watching not sure who to root for. I like movies like that. Overall, a good but slow movie that is almost an updated Japanese Godfather. I give it a B.

This is a Japanese gangsta flick from the directorial hand of Takeshi Kitano. It is a full throttle story of the Yakuza and the various families (or crime syndicates) that control the Kanto region. It is full of intrigue and double plotting but the one thing that runs as a vein throughout this film is violence. Good old fashioned, medieval, nasty violence.

The Uber crime Lord is called Mr Chairman and actually does dress like some despotic ruler of a `democratic republic' like say North Korea. Even his servants wear the same white tracksuits - even when they are serving dinner, I think you will find that Debretts classes that as a massive faux pas, but hey these are Japanese Mafiosi types and so probably aren't well read.

He discovers that two of his under lords have made some sort of pact to be `sworn brothers' whilst both serving time in one of Japans 1 star detention facilities. This he does not like and so demands that a sort of insult be done to prove that not all brothers do get along. Well one thing leads to another and as face is lost, and a few other bits - like fingers-, the retaliations ramp up. The land and powere grabs all come at a price and the fortunes of each change with the rapidity of a guns magazine being emptied.

This is acted, directed and filmed in a stylish and no holds barred way. It just roars along, and keeps the shocks coming. There are some well inventive ways of dealing with your enemies and some brutal violence that made me squirm. The Japanese codes of honour and rampant disrespect to your underlings are heavily in evidence. This is just naked greed meets unfettered ambition in a tsunami of double crosses and violence and I thought it was excellent.

This is not one for the squeamish but all lovers of extreme Asian cinema will find a place for this in their collections. In Japanese with a smidgin of English, this is not that short a film but just flew by for me - highly recommended.

Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano made a name for himself with idiosyncratic crime dramas about the Yakuza, characterized by long static shots, creative editing, bursts of graphic violence, and deadpan humor. Though Kitano has since expanded his oeuvre to include comedies and art films, his latest export, Outrage, finds him returning to his roots, chronicling a Yakuza power struggle during a time of societal transition. After a handful of creative departures over the past decade, Kitano stated that he intended Outrage purely to be entertaining, and he succeeded. Screened in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2010, and it's already got a sequel slated for this year. If you're a fan of Kitano's work, particularly his mob films like Fireworks or Sonatine, chances are you'll probably enjoy this film.

My preconceived notion that there is honor among thieves especially with the Japanese yakuza has now vaporized. Director, star and writer Takeshi Kitano returns to deliver this incoherent mess of rival gangs killing each other off, much to the delight of the sadistic Mr. Chairman. I gave up trying to keep track of which thugs belonged to which boss and which underboss controlled each gang. It really doesn't matter much. What we know is that for no good reason I could discern, the head of the mob known as Mr. Chairman, orders a number of "hits" on various wings of his empire.

The violence begins with some good old fashion ass-whipping but escalates to some hard core killings by the end of the film. Maybe it's just a cultural thing but it didn't make much sense to me why you would want to decimate your top lieutenants and some up-and-coming thugs, especially when business is good. For the life of me why would anyone want to engage in this line of work? Even honest mistakes will cost a lot of cash and a finger or two. There's a goofy subplot involving a diplomat from some African country that seems to be tossed in to kill time. In the end, everybody is a bad guy so who cares if they all die. There is no investment with any character. The twist at the end can be spotted early on for interested viewers.

The technical aspects of the movie are first rate. Crisp editing, excellent sets and a consistent flow. The Blu ray transfer looks good and sounds even better in DTS HD Master Audio.

Takeshi Kitano's work has always interested me and I have seen several of his movies, Sonatine and Fireworks (Hana-bi) come to mind. I like Outrage although at times it seemed a bit slow moving and perhaps could have been better edited. One aspect of the movie I particularly liked besides the usual violent Yakuza story was seeing the beautiful, traditional Japanese movie sets that were used for the Yakuza boss headquarters. If that's really how they live then they are lucky indeed. Lovely traditional Japanese gardens and interiors. Despite their seeming love of all things violent, the top heads of the family have good taste in how they lived in this movie. The ending was surprising. Not sure if they do a sequel how it will evolve given how many people were killed off in Outrage.

This movie isn't for everyone. It's an art film, not an action blowout, but the action is there, it just builds tension and so when it comes it has more impact. If you're a fan of Takeshi Kitano's "Brother" you're going to love "Outrage".

I was really waiting to see this movie but after watching it I was so let down. It's just a bad gangster movie filled with stereotypes. There is noting groundbreaking about it at all. Unless you like the cast, you are related to the director or you have a deep rooted fear of the Yakuza there is no reason to get it IMO. Everyone knows the Yakuza have a finger fetish and if you get this movie you might cut your own finger off for getting it :)

Two yakuza families that were once able to co-exist thanks to a pact made by their bosses while the two were in prison soon find themselves at each other's throats after there are a few hiccups in the drug trafficking side of the business. The Ikemoto family and the Murase family are in the middle of a war as the chairman the two crime syndicates answer to continues to pull the strings. Sekuichi (Kitamura Soichiro), the boss of the Sannokai, tells his right-hand man Ikemuto (Kunimura Jun) to put the Murase family in line. Since Ikemuto and Murase (Renji Ishibashi) are still under their pact at this point, Ikemuto passes the assignment onto his subordinate Otomo (Takeshi Kitano), who takes matters into his own hands with his own gang.

I probably have a fairly limited amount of knowledge when it comes to Takeshi Kitano's films since I've only seen a handful and have yet to see his most prestigious films. With that said, I've seen enough to know who the guy is, admire his work, and at least look forward to his upcoming projects. When it came to Outrage, it seemed like an undiscovered gem right from the start. Another yakuza film made and starring Beat Takeshi? It sounds like the type of movie you'd willingly pay whatever price for without blinking an eye. That isn't really the case though as Outrage fails to really leave a lasting impression.

Walking away from Outrage, you'll probably only be left with its bloody violence and not much else. Everybody was chopping off their fingers left and right to apologize. It was amazing so many of these guys still had any appendages left at all. But the violence gets pretty vicious at times; a box cutter to the face, countless people getting shot to death, chopsticks being used in a fairly unique way, and it even features one of the worst ways a dental appointment could go. Other than the brutality though, all of the events that transpired felt very underwhelming due to them being similar to most other gangster and yakuza films out there. Nothing was shocking or unpredictable; it all felt very safe. Most of my yakuza film watching experience falls under Takashi Miike's filmography. Miike is able to make a film about anything and take it in a direction you're not expecting while adding his own trademarks to it. While Outrage felt like a Takashi Kitano film, it didn't really seem like anything he hadn't already accomplished before. It almost felt recycled from both his films and other films similar to Outrage. The film also lacked any sort of supporting female character as most women in the film were used as props or were disposed of rather quickly. It's incredibly disappointing as well as Outrage had loads of potential, but was never really able to push anything past that mediocre barrier. Its use of perspective is intriguing at times, but doesn't make up for a film that comes off like it isn't willing to take any risks.

It's not so much that Outrage is a bad film because it isn't. It's actually a fairly solid crime film. Its biggest issue is that it fails to live up to expectations given the cast and Takeshi Kitano's reputation for being a part of films that are generally a lot better than this. Outrage tends to feel very familiar. If you've seen a gangster or yakuza film before, then you know what to expect with Outrage. With its explosive use of violence and rather eye-catching cinematography, Outrage isn't the type of film you should make a high priority to go out of your way to see but is generally pretty decent once you do finally get around to it.

A fair amount of well executed (so to speak) violence in a well made but routine yakuza film. Takeshi Kitano makes so many movies they can't all be great. This one isn't - but it's not terribly bad, either.