Outrage

Outrage is a sort of Japanese Godfather with Yakuza members vying to move up the crime hierarchy by beating, mutilating, killing each other in various vicious ways including a new and creative one involving a rope and a moving car.

It lacks both the depth and the soul of Coppola's classic gangster film of 1972. Also missing here is Marlon Brando's larger than life Don Corleone; none of the actor's here can come close.

The violence becomes repetitive as do the betrayals which bored me, and the editing seemed haphazard, never developing a coherent flow. The overall production is competent with decent acting but in the end I didn't care what happened to anyone from the chairman down the the many Yakuza soldiers. Everyone is corrupt, including the police, taking bribes to the street criminals looking out for themselves.

The screenplay concerns a struggle for power amongst Tokyo's Yakuza clans . As the boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate . Ôtomo (Beat Takeshi , apart from himself, Takeshi Kitano cast no other actor that has been in one of his films before, as per the producer's suggestion) now a free man seek to live his life away from the Yakuza world but during his imprisonment, things have changed . The Sanno family – who destroyed Ôtomo's family – has become too powerful and the old-guard members felt that the young leaders are risking the whole business because of their extreme greed . One wrong move and it's all out war .

The great Japanese director Beat Takeshi returns to the big screen with ¨Outrage¨ dealing with a genre that gave him international recognition and made him one of the best Asian filmmakers , and being Takeshi Kitano's first gangster film in ten years , after Brother (2000) . It is an exciting picture displaying suspense , tension , and interesting gangsters war , though sometimes difficult to follow . There is also a cruel depiction of Yakuza life in the 21st century . The story opens with a striking wide shot of a large group of gangsters dressed in black as their leaders meet , these guys have sworn allegiance to their bosses, but it means little once the bullets start flying . Cold and violent film with a confuse plot , twisted intrigue , grisly killings , thrills , chilling events and colorful images . His stunning long takes can resemble intricate paintings while his characters enjoy little respite from the ruthlessness of the real world . However , it results to be a little bit boring , including with no sense dialogs and some embarrassing situations adding brutal murders . Following a string of unconventional , commercially unappealing films, Takeshi Kitano engineered this film specifically as commercially appealing, going back to the genre which brought him the most success, and going as far as imagining the death scenes first and writing a story around them later .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Takeshi Kitano in his peculiar style , being his first film shot in 2.35:1 format . Since his 1989 directorial debut, Kitano has written, directed, edited or starred in almost a film per year without losing the momentum of his originality and heightened artistic sensibility. The extraordinary success of 1997's Hana Bi confirmed Kitano's place as a leading figure of international cinema , here offered remarkable visions of violence and beauty . Among its numerous awards, "Hana-bi" or ¨Fireworks¨ won Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion and was named Best Non-European Film by the European Film Academy . In 2000 Kitano made Brother (2000), his first film shot outside of Japan. Originally a comedy star on Japanese television, Takeshi Kitano , aka Beat Takeshi , rose to international fame as a director of Yakuza dramas during the 1990s . "Brother", like other Kitano-directed films such as his debut "Violent Cop" , ¨Boiling Point¨ (1990) and ¨Sonatine¨ (1993), centered around Yakuza (gangster) characters. The filmmaker contrasted the violence and action of those films with comedy or tenderness in films like Ano Natsu, Ichiban Shizukana Umi (1991) (US title: "A Scene at the Sea"), Minnâ-Yatteruka! (1994) (US title: "Getting Any?"), Kizzu ritân (1996) (US title: "Kids Return") and Kikujiro (1999). For the first time in six years, Kitano remained strictly behind the camera on Dolls (2002), his tenth film as a writer-director . His last film is this ¨Outrage¨ that most closely resembles 2000's Brother in tone, but it outdoes that picture by remaining unpredictable with constant betrayals , getting a considerable success .

First of all if you're gonna complain about too much violence in a gangster movie. Go watch something like " Sesame street ". This movie has top class acting from almost everybody. Story is excellent and really shows how the big yakuza bosses play mind games all along. My favourite scene of the movie is in that noodle shop where a random customer will find something floating in his bowl of noodles =). If u wanna see a really cool and awesome yakuza movie, this should be it. I can not wait for the second part of this movie. It's suppose to come out anytime in 2012. I am a huge huge fan of the movie " Brother " and another epic Japanese yakuza movie called " Agitator ". If you liked those movies, you will simply love this movie too. give it a shot. 2 thumbs up

A very well-executed movie in terms of directing and acting, and it's a decent watch for anyone who enjoys a good mafia movie, or a yakuza movie as the case may be. However, there is nothing new on display. It blends in with the masses and masses of movies in its genre.

Throughout the entire movie, I kept feeling a sense of lack. This lack was a lack of sympathy you feel for these characters, and the lack of understanding for the system on display. You don't understand what's going on until about an hour into the movie, and by then it's a little too late to care. There's a little too much shooting first, and too few questions asked. I believe Kitano really tried to write a movie that could stand among classics like Scarface and the Godfather in terms of epics, but fell short.

However, I would say the movie is worth a watch, if only to see what the movie could've been.

Viewed at the Festival du Film, Cannes 2010

Takeshi Kitano's return to his familiar stamping ground, the Yakuza, their intrigues, vendettas and highly inventive ways of inflicting extreme unpleasantness on one another, was given less than a stellar welcome by critics at the Festival. A common refrain was that there was nothing new on offer here, no new insights, just a retread of the familiar. Well, they are right, but is that really such a bad thing?

I say no, not when we get tough guys, sharp suits, black humour, extreme violence (you might never want to visit the dentist again), a convoluted plot that is hard to follow but has something to do with rivalry, inheriting the reins of power and inflicting extreme violence on the other team. Oh yes, there's also betrayal and extreme violence.

Outrage is old-school Takeshi Kitano, a (for me) welcome return to his glory days, not that he ever left them behind (I've time for all his films, if not his gameshows). If you like the man, as actor or director, then you won't be disappointed by this film, just as long as you are not expecting something new and different, that is.