Opening my account of BIFF 2013 was the new film from legendary Japanese director and actor 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano. He is probably best known in Australia for acting as the teacher in "Battle Royale" but also for his earlier yakuza films such as "Boiling Point" and "Violent Cop". He has explored different genres over the years but returned to the yakuza subject matter in the 2010 movie "Outrage". This movie is the sequel to that, although I had no idea that it was a sequel to anything beforehand or while watching it (thanks IMDB). The BIFF guide did not mention the film was a sequel and I think looking back now, it might have been pretty handy to have seen the first film. Although this film made total sense on its own when I didn't know there was a previous movie, as it did mention past events, I think seeing both would deepen and enhance the appreciation of the second movie.
As I understand it, Outrage Beyond starts immediately after events in the first film which from my reading seemed to concern rival Yakuza clans the Sanno, Otomo and Hannabishi. There is a new head of the Sanno family and new young upstart 'executives' whose plans for changing the operation and making more money than ever are unsettling the old guard. The Hannabishi have a pact not to start a war with the Sanno. And the Otomo family is no more, with Otomo himself (played by Beat Takeshi) not appearing in the first few chapters of this movie but eventually being revealed to be in prison. But a nosy, possibly corrupt cop seems determined to stir things up again by plotting and setting people against each other while trying to remain 'neutral'. Will he succeed and what are his motives?
Anyone expecting full blown violent yakuza action from the get go could be disappointed with this, as it takes quite a while to set up all the characters and the conflict between them. However, the final third of the movie does suddenly explode into gun battles, stabbings and torture although not as in your face gory as you may expect. There is some very clever use of sound in these scenes. The action is all pretty easy to follow but it does require some concentration in the dramatic scenes to remember who is who when a lot of them involve Japanese men of a similar age in similar black suits yelling at each other in non-descript offices and boardrooms.
I enjoyed the themes of the film in relation to honour, forgiveness, brotherhood and the changing of the guard within the yakuza ranks. This last item provides most of the few humourous moments. However I have to say I didn't totally love it the way I have loved most of his other films I've seen. This I put down partially to the very strange character of cop Kataoka and I think just to not having seen the first film so you are always playing a bit of catch up. However it does work as a stand alone movie with all previous slights and betrayals explained. For those who like serious Yakuza films rather than over the top Japanese craziness, you would enjoy this film.
It's showing again this Friday 15 November at 9pm.
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