A good movie

I think it must be at least 10 years since I saw a movie directed by Takeshi Kitano for the last time. It is a real shame because he was definitely one of my favorite directors in the 90’s. In fact, I wasn’t the only one who loved his work and, eventually, his international status became so important that he got the opportunity to make this movie in the USA, the first and only movie he would direct outside of Japan. I remember it very well, there was quite some hype around this movie before it was released but, eventually, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that, I’m afraid. I mean, it was still a solid gangster flick coming from this master but this mix between his unique style and the American way of making films was rather often really awkward. Above all, I think it would have been much more interesting if he could have worked with some really good American actors instead of the rather weak cast he ended up with . Eventually, Kitano himself didn’t like this experience at all and he decided to never ever make another movie outside Japan. To conclude, even though the whole thing didn’t live up to my expectations, I thought it was still fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Takeshi Kitano’s work.