For two decades, the directorial career of Takeshi Kitano has been in gradual decline - most notable for the greater-than-its-parts "Outrage" trilogy and some self-effacing comedies that failed to leave much lasting impression. "Broken Rage", his latest, sits somewhere between the two, mixing cops v yakuza power struggles with an innate desire to poke fun at himself, in a film with the self-aware randomness of "Getting Any?" (1994).
'Mouse' ('Beat' Takeshi, as ever) is an ageing man who frequents a coffee shop to collect orders and payments from the faceless 'M' for yakuza hits. Efficient and unassuming, he is successful, but is caught by the police, who agree to strike a deal with him to bring in the yakuza head.
The scenario then plays out again, only this time, where Mouse was good at his work, he is now a bumbling idiot, prone to slapstick errors and miscalculations. From here on in, the cool of the first half becomes a stream of quick-fire visual gags and blunder, as Kitano once again plays with the dualities of his inner mind.
"Broken Rage" feels like a better execution of Kitano's ambitious, but flawed, "Takeshis'" (2005), where the violent director and actor is contrasted by an everyday failure. Though this never gets too serious. It is very much latter-day Kitano, with the aesthetic of "Outrage", in a quite dull and colourless world. Shinya Kiyozuka's soundtrack is playful, however, and dances across the scenes, though again reflects that Kitano hasn't been the same since moving away from working with Joe Hisaishi.
But first and foremost, this is fun, and the cast of Kitano's old friends all join in with glee. Takeshi's face is perfect for deadpan humour, meeting absurdity with a stoney face. Tadanobu Asano and Nao Omori play the detective duo putting Mouse up to undercover work, and play it with an air of fun that both are easily capable of. There are also some trademark Kitano cut-aways, but largely its visual gags and silliness.
Short and sweet, there's a feel that Kitano made this purely because he felt like it, and everyone was up for joining in. But where previously, the likes of "Getting Any?" and "Glory to the Filmmaker" (2007) were self-indulgent, with jokes purely for Kitano's own ends, here we feel a bit more in on the gag, with better execution.
Kitano certainly isn't the arthouse director of the Nineties anymore, and that doesn't hang over "Broken Rage" as much as previous efforts. For two decades, he'd been on the decline, but that feels to be accepted now, and so he is free of the shackles of his early career. Not for art, not for violence, not for self-indulgence, just for a bit of entertainment.
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