This is another one of Takeshi Kitanos films that he wrote, directed and edited but doesn't star in. It's not quite the soft and moving film like Kikujiro, but it's not the tough and violent film like Violent Cop. It's a different kind of Takeshi Kitano film that lands somewhere else on the spectrum. It's the tale of two kids that go to high school together, an the story of how one becomes a gangster, and the other becomes a boxer. It's an interesting tale and certainly tells a story of youth feeling that pressure to succeed, and perhaps doing questionable things to do so.
It starts off as a high school drama, but then slowly turns into a film that is half yakuza drama and half boxing story. The interesting thing is that there are also a few other characters we see throughout that, if i'm being honest, I don't completely know why they are there. I think it's perhaps to emphasize the idea of youths in Japan being pressured to be successful. We see a duo of comedians and a guy who is in love with a girl at a Cafe, and we see little snippets of what they are doing edited in between the main plot. It's interesting and kinda works.
The relationship between the two friends really works. We see their dynamic and when they drift apart, you believe it. You also grow to like the characters, and kinda root for one, if not both of them. The ending is also pretty great, if I do say so myself.
The film isn't quite a masterpiece like Sonatine, but it certainly is up there with his best works. I guess you could say that it could hold its own in the ring of Kitano films.
It starts off as a high school drama, but then slowly turns into a film that is half yakuza drama and half boxing story. The interesting thing is that there are also a few other characters we see throughout that, if i'm being honest, I don't completely know why they are there. I think it's perhaps to emphasize the idea of youths in Japan being pressured to be successful. We see a duo of comedians and a guy who is in love with a girl at a Cafe, and we see little snippets of what they are doing edited in between the main plot. It's interesting and kinda works.
The relationship between the two friends really works. We see their dynamic and when they drift apart, you believe it. You also grow to like the characters, and kinda root for one, if not both of them. The ending is also pretty great, if I do say so myself.
The film isn't quite a masterpiece like Sonatine, but it certainly is up there with his best works. I guess you could say that it could hold its own in the ring of Kitano films.