THE PLOT THUS FAR
Writer, director and actor Takeshi “Beat” Kitano returns to his roots in this gripping gangster drama that details the intense rivalry between two powerful yakuza syndicates and the efforts of a small crew to prevent all-out war from erupting. Packed with unpredictable characters and volatile confrontations.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Recognizable stylistic origins of earlier Kitano’s genre works are in Outrage almost entirely abandoned. In this movie we do not come across the hardened criminals with a humanistic line, ready to dispose of weapons and far away from everyday underground enjoy relaxation in the infantile pastime. World of meditative yakuza characters filled with elegiac lyric is replaced in Outrage with world of one-dimensional techno-gangsters filled with blood of unstoppable brutality. Slow poetics of existential doubt is substituted with the stereotypical characteristic of gangster genre – ruthless struggle for power and money.
There is little flourish in the direction such as to immerse the viewer into the dark, banal existence of its characters. The one scene that brings a sense of relief with sunlight streaming through the trees on a backstreet, is colored darkly by seemingly innocent activity that is actually quite sinister for the individuals involved. This is a welcome and long overdue return for Kitano to the yakuza genre which he abandoned a decade ago for a trilogy of felliniesque introspective autobiographical films. There are no experimental sequences or absurdist imagery as in his previous films. As a consequence, Kitano is no longer held back with meditative musings, instead giving the viewer an unfiltered take on the corruption, lies, and phony existence of the individual in an artificial society – that any person in any social situation is merely part of an inauthentic social contract.
The Blu-Ray comes with interviews, featurettes and trailers. The A/V Quality is pretty impressive with a flawless 1080p transfer and a suitable DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track. Magnolia is really coming into their own with their handling of Asian Cinema titles. It’s far better than the standard Weinstein scissorhanded approach that resulted in bastardized cuts of Asian cinema classics. Plus, you get remarkable HD presentation that blows away most usual presentations. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to any fan of Beat Kitano.
RELEASE DATE: 01/31/2012
