Outrage

I'm fairly familiar with Kitano's work, though I've not seen his most famous works, Brother and Zatoichi. However, Boiling Point and Sonatine are decent mobster films, so I was looking forward to Outrage. And it is also decent; an exercise in vicious, shrug-of-the-shoulders, cold-blooded gangster slaughter. The film focuses on the top-level decisions of the Yakuza which all starts with an orchestrated mistake at thug level. From there it spirals out of control towards the end, and towards the very top of the hierarchy. The film works, obviously, as Kitano is somewhat a master of Yakuza films, but it lacks emotion, is rather uninvolving, and despite being called "Outrage", not once does anybody come remotely close to being angry. Despite that, I do look forward to Beyond Outrage. There is something appealing about Kitano and his style. He does not sugarcoat the atrocities of a Yakuza lifestyle, and he also revels in its machismo. He is like the De Niro and Scorsese of Japan rolled into one. His films have not yet wowed or excited or moved me, but I do very much enjoy his output.

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