Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) A yakuza and his clan are profiting in an affluent business turf . Their greedy boss sends them to Okinawa to end a gang war ... But when they arrive they learn there's no gang war to begin with . The yakuza are suspicious of their boss because his last assignment led to several members being slain , and the patterns are repeating again during their new mission . They decide to lay low on the beach and enjoy some peace time in their everyday violent lives .The beginning of Kitano "poetic art-house" movies

Leofwine_draca Well this is the third and final film in the 'Beat' Takeshi trilogy that I picked up on DVD, the first two being VIOLENT COP and BOILING POINT. SONATINE is the best of the trilogy, the most mature and the film with the best atmosphere. Despite the violent shenanigans of the film's plot, involving rival gangsters killing each other, for the most part this is a tranquil outing shattered only by bursts of extreme violence. It's also a film with a lot of humour, most of it utterly surreal (such as when two wrestlers become toys thanks to some sped-up camera effects). For most of the film, it's simply a bunch of guys having fun at a beach house, by pulling pranks on each other and playing games. Despite that the film never becomes boring because there's a simmering undercurrent of violence that you know has to erupt at some point.Once again the presence of 'Beat' Takeshi lifts the movie another level and the whole film hinges on his outstanding performance. This time he's a typical gangster, plagued with a hidden desire to kill himself. Takeshi has mastered the Japanese 'cold face' well yet it's also a pleasure to see him in some warmer moments as I get the feeling he isn't such a nasty character this time around – certainly not like the rapist he played in BOILING POINT. The supporting cast is very good indeed and the photography on the film is excellent. The violence, in the form of bloody shoot-outs, is nothing new, yet executed with a certain level of finesse that makes it stand out. Watch out for the shoot-outs where time (and the characters) literally stand still as fates are meted out. Add lots of bizarre stuff going on, Japanese humour, and a great twist ending, and you have what amounts to a nice, unusual little film.

polysicsarebest "Wow." All I could think of after this was over. Few movies have ever made my jaw drop, yet this is such a powerful, haunting, unbelievable masterpiece of a film. I can't even put it in to words. The whole thing is perfectly acted and directed, with minimal, hypnotic, haunting music and quick bursts of ultraviolence. This is not your typical action film at all; most of the running length of this film isn't spent with people shooting guns, it's spent with people playing around on the beach. Also, no character ever seems to really show emotion. Very deadpan. It may seem slow and awkward to most people upon their first watch, but give it a chance. It blew me away...

vandino1 Takeshi Kitano, rank amateur actor and filmmaker, has his fans, as does anyone who creates the inexplicable and leaves it to the audience to figure out. The phonies out there enjoy their air of superiority by claiming they've found the depth and vision of a film that others can't find. To them this movie is "rewarding" in its Zen-like slowness, not just a dull slog. Kitano directs with "controlled intensity" rather than simple incompetence. The story is "moving and different" rather than sleep-inducing and non-sensical. Well, intellectual hacks, enjoy your ennui... while the rest of us with common sense move on to films NOT made by talentless eccentrics.Simply put, this is a badly written, badly directed zombie-gangster movie. It's mostly aimless Yakuza nonsense with the majority of it consisting of a bunch of dull thugs wandering around a beach on Okinawa waiting for orders. I say zombie-gangster because most of the characters, especially non-actor Kitano, stay stone-faced throughout, even during action scenes. When on occasion there actually is some gun play, the actors are directed so badly that it is risible. For instance, a sudden burst of gun fire inside the tight confines of an elevator elicits nothing more than a bored reaction from an actress positioned inches away from bullets flying. But there's not that much action so Kitano is on steadier ground with long scenes of actors, including himself, aimlessly walking around. A director with the gift for boredom. Enjoy! It even comes with a grim ending.