Fireworks Movie Review 1997

Idiosyncratic mixture of drama, comedy, violence, and sentiment. Nishi (Kitano) is a tough detective whose wife, Miyuki (Kishimoto), is dying from leukemia. He's visiting her in the hospital when his partner Horibe (Osugi) is gunned down and paralyzed. Deciding to get justice on his own terms, Nishi quits the force and decides to settle his debts with the yakuza by robbing a bank (which also funds a last trip with his wife). Kitano (who uses his acting alias of Beat Takeshi) is the strong, silent, violent type and a very visual director. Those are Kitano's own paintings in the scenes where Horibe takes up art as his new hobby. Japanese with subtitles.

Distribution

New Yorker Video, 16 W. 61st St., 11th Fl., New York, NY 10023, Phone: (212)645-4600, Toll-free: 800-447-0196, Fax: (212)645-3030, Email: info@newyorkerfilms.com, URL: http://www.newyorkerfilms.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 103 minutes.
Originally from Japanese.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Cops, Marriage, Physical Problems

Screenplay

Takeshi "Beat" Kitano

Cast

Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe

Cinematography

Hideo Yamamoto

Director

Takeshi "Beat" Kitano

Music

Joe Hisaishi

Producer

Masayuki Mori, Yasushi Tsuge, Takio Yoshida, Office Kitano, Milestone Films