[quote]i just saw this film, fuckin great, i recognized alotta the actors from fireworks, i guess kitano likes the people he works with.  i dunno which one of the two i like better, parts of the film are really similar.  i really liked the night scenes, the way it was lit and the colors were just really cool.  btw bullet, how is boiling point and violent cop compared to kitano’s other movies?  are they pretty similar in style or just completely different?[/quote]
Great to know you liked the film. And others here you’ve also taken a likeing to Kitano’s style and films.
I’ve gained more love for Sonatine recently then I did with Hana Bi in the past month or so. They’re both amazing films. But Sonatine was funnier and moves at a better pace then Hana Bi does. On the other hand, Hana Bi has better cinematography, acting, drama and music (I love the haunting soundtrack a wee bit more then Sonatine’s) when it comes to violence, Sonatine I liked more for the showdown in that yakuza office and those bar room shootings, but Hana Bi is violenter then Sonatine, it just pulled some of the violence off in the wrong ways like the flashback and the ending.
As for Boiling Point and Violent Cop. I can’t say that they’re different Kitano’s films. But I can say they have a different “feel”. Violent Cop’s feel is kinda like the feel that I got from Brother, a laid back, easy going feel. It’s very, very violent at the end, and a bit shocking as well. It used the less humor I’ve seen in Takeshi’s films but does have a share of it mixed either with violence or slience.
Boiling Point’s much different. It’s Kitano’s weakest film. But I found it very enjoyable. There’s not much in it. Basically a bunch of random happenings mixed with a simple plot and simple characters. It’s a funny film for it’s simple humor and weird situations. It’s not that violent, it has a more brutal feel though (kinda like Pulp Fiction). There’s about 6 deaths in the film. And the ending is really bad.
Any theory on the ending of Sonatine could be true. I happen to think that he did it out of utter nilihism and he knew that nothing could ever help him. But you guys did make some good points.