"Actor: Tetsu Watanabe"

• Hana-Bi | DVD | (19/02/2001) from £13.59   |  Saving you £6.40 (47.09%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The ideal starter movie for those who wish to familiarise themselves with the work of the paradoxical Japanese auteur, Hana-Bi (the word means "fireworks" in Japanese) is an echt example of "Beat"'s Takeshi Kitano's distinctive brand of existential crime thrillers. Like Violent Cop, Boiling Point, Sonatine or his LA-set Brother, Hana-Bi juxtaposes shocking bursts of violence with reflective moments of lyricism, setting up a slap-caress-slap rhythm that's as disquieting as it is addictive. Kitano himself plays weary Tokyo cop Nishi, an impassive-faced detective in hock to yakuza mobsters, toughened by a career in violence (at one point he takes out an attacker's eye with a chopstick, an assault so swiftly edited one barely has time to register it). Nishi's Achilles-heel is his love for his wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto) who is dying of cancer, following their late daughter to the grave. When Nishi leaves a stakeout to attend to her in hospital, a colleague, Horibe (Ren Osugi) is paralysed in the ensuing shootout. Nishi, guilt-stricken, goes on the run with Miyuki, taking her to beauty spots to enjoy simple pleasures like kite-flying and picnics before she dies, although the yakuza are never far behind. Meanwhile, Horibe takes up painting, and discovers in the process a calming new vocation (the na&239;ve, disturbing and strangely beautiful images are by Kitano himself, painted after he had his own near-fatal experience in a motorcycle accident). The cumulative effect is a profoundly moving and enigmatic movie, one that discreetly withholds many of the narrative crutches--backstory, motivation--you would expect from a conventional Hollywood movie with the same story. It's not surprising Kitano is so drawn to characters teeming with contradictions, given that his own career seems so bi-polar on paper: he started out a television presenting clown, and his move into glowering policiers represented an image volte-face as surprising to Japanese audiences as it would be if Dale Winton had started making Scorsese-style gangster movies. His comic sensibility shines through in spots in Hana-Bi, even more so in the broad comedy Kikujiro. Considered by many critics Kitano's best film, Hana-Bi^'s power is augmented by Hideo Yamamoto's lapidary cinematography, and Jo Hisaishi's lush, string-laden score. --Leslie Felperin

• Hana-bi (Fireworks) | Blu Ray | (11/01/2016) from £17.05   |  Saving you £2.94 (17.24%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Nishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.

• Cold Fish | Blu Ray | (27/06/2011) from £15.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (25.02%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop. His second wife Taeko does not get along with his daughter Mitsuko and this worries him. One day Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a grocery store. There they meet a friendly man named Murata who helps to settle things between Mitsuko and the store manager. Since Murata also runs a tropical fish shop Shamoto establishes a bond with him and they become friends; Mitsuko even begins working for Murata and living at his house.

• Himizu | Blu Ray | (06/08/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Set after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, all 14-year-old Yuichi Sumida (Shota Sometani) wants to become is a regular boy and live a decent life. His environment though repeatedly drags him into the mud. He runs his parent's rental boat business, which is located next to a nondescript lake. His mother frequently comes home with different men and soon she leaves him entirely. His father only comes around looking for money. Whenever Yuichi's father is drunk he tells Yuichi I wish you were dead.Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaido) is a classmate of Yuichi Sumida. She harbors a severe crush on Yuichi. Keiko's home life isn't much better than Yuichi's. Her mother builds a gallows with a noose in place for Keiko to take her own life. Her mother believes her life would be better off without Keiko.Under these circumstances, Keiko pays a visit to Yuichi's home. A group of people are lingering nearyby who live in make shift tents on the property. Keiko tries to befriend Yuichi, but she is berated and even physically assaulted. She doesn't get deterred though and sticks around.One day, the yakuza come by Yuichi's home. They look for Yuichi's father who is nowhere to be found. The men then tell Yuichi that he has to come up with 6 million Yen by tomorrow to pay off his father's debt. Yuichi already heartbroken by his mother's abandonment and abuse from his father nears a tipping point. A string of incidents then occurs that brings Yuichi's world to a screeching halt. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Yuichi?

• Sonatine | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £14.93   |  Saving you £-1.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Takeshi is Murakawa an established and ruthless Yakuza sent outside his usual turf to intervene in a gang war on the tropical island of Okinawa. Things go badly wrong and he and his gang get caught in the crossfire. Forced to retreat to a seaside hideaway they kill time and fool around on the beach but then their enemies start picking them off one by one. Murakawa decides to go on the offensive for a final and breathtaking showdown... Contrasting lyrical scenes with shocking burs

• Cold Fish | DVD | (27/06/2011) from £10.78   |  Saving you £4.21 (39.05%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop. His second wife Taeko does not get along with his daughter Mitsuko and this worries him. One day Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a grocery store. There they meet a friendly man named Murata who helps to settle things between Mitsuko and the store manager. Since Murata also runs a tropical fish shop Shamoto establishes a bond with him and they become friends; Mitsuko even begins working for Murata and living at his house.

• Himizu | DVD | (06/08/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Set after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, all 14-year-old Yuichi Sumida (Shota Sometani) wants to become is a regular boy and live a decent life. His environment though repeatedly drags him into the mud. He runs his parent's rental boat business, which is located next to a nondescript lake. His mother frequently comes home with different men and soon she leaves him entirely. His father only comes around looking for money. Whenever Yuichi's father is drunk he tells Yuichi I wish you were dead.Keiko Chazawa (Fumi Nikaido) is a classmate of Yuichi Sumida. She harbors a severe crush on Yuichi. Keiko's home life isn't much better than Yuichi's. Her mother builds a gallows with a noose in place for Keiko to take her own life. Her mother believes her life would be better off without Keiko.Under these circumstances, Keiko pays a visit to Yuichi's home. A group of people are lingering nearyby who live in make shift tents on the property. Keiko tries to befriend Yuichi, but she is berated and even physically assaulted. She doesn't get deterred though and sticks around.One day, the yakuza come by Yuichi's home. They look for Yuichi's father who is nowhere to be found. The men then tell Yuichi that he has to come up with 6 million Yen by tomorrow to pay off his father's debt. Yuichi already heartbroken by his mother's abandonment and abuse from his father nears a tipping point. A string of incidents then occurs that brings Yuichi's world to a screeching halt. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Yuichi?

• Sonatine | DVD | (11/05/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Takeshi is Murakawa an established and ruthless Yakuza sent outside his usual turf to intervene in a gang war on the tropical island of Okinawa. Things go badly wrong and he and his gang get caught in the crossfire. Forced to retreat to a seaside hideaway they kill time and fool around on the beach but then their enemies start picking them off one by one. Murakawa decides to go on the offensive for a final and breathtaking showdown... Contrasting lyrical scenes with shocking bursts of violence laughter with gunfire 'Sonatine' is Takeshi at his best.

• Prisoners of the Ghostland (Steelbook) | Blu Ray | (16/11/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A