Sonatine (1993)

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General		Extras
Category	Crime	Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Takeshi Kitano Trailers Trailer-Eastern Eye Promotional Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1993
Running Time	89:50
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Takeshi Kitano
Studio Distributor	Shochiku Madman Entertainment	Starring	Takeshi Kitano Aya Kokumai Tetsu Watanabe Masanobu Katsumura Susumu Terajima Ren Osugi Tonbo Zushi Ken'ichi Yajima Eiji Minakata
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Joe Hisaishi

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes, frequently
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Writer, actor and director Takeshi Kitano is a true genius of Japanese and World cinema. Sonatine is his fourth film and it is a masterpiece. Visually stunning, technically innovative, touchingly beautiful, powerful and violent, sometimes in the same scene, Sonatine can leave you breathless.

     Murakawa (Takeshi Kitano) is an aging Yakuza thinking about retirement. He is a violent man, capable without a second thought of torturing and drowning the owner of a business who refuses to pay him off. When his gang boss Takahashi (Ken'ichi Yajima) asks him to go to Okinawa to settle a dispute between rival yakuza factions he is reluctant, sensing there is more at stake. And he is right: after their arrival Murakawa and his men become the targets of a bombing and an attack by gunmen in a club. With his remaining men Murakawa retreats to an isolated beach house to await developments. There they entertain themselves with games, pranks, fireworks and sumo while Murakawa, despite himself, becomes involved with the lovely Miyuki (Aya Kokumai). When the group are stalked by an assassin it becomes obvious that they have been set up, so Murakawa decides to establish just who is deceiving who.

     Kitano as a filmmaker is sparse on dialogue but long on pure cinema where the vision and music predominate. Kitano's technique does not feature quick pans or jump cuts: instead there are long slow tracking shots, static camera placement, long silences and sharp, brutal action. Sonatine is a film of breathtaking imagery, whether long static takes of the isolated beach and approach road or the enhanced colour palate of bars. The visuals are supported by the sublime score of Joe Hisaishi that won Best Music Score at the 1994 Awards of the Japanese Academy. His music is sparse and minimalist, a perfect accompaniment to the film. Indeed, the film does not feature extended "action" scenes as such - instead there are slow build-ups, with the camera concentrating on close ups of faces, before violence that is quickly over. Perhaps surprisingly, Sonatine on occasion is very funny with a dead pan sense of humour. This gives the film its human moments as the gang members pass their time with games by the sea. It is this humanity, as we get to know the gang members, which gives the sudden violence and the climax its raw power.

     Sonatine is, quite simply, wonderful cinema; a filmmaking master class from a true genius of Japanese and World cinema.

Video

    Sonatine is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced. The print is not perfect; there is an occasional artefact (one very obvious one at 48:12), grain (32:04) and edge enhancement (3:55) but blacks are solid and shadow detail very good. As in other films, Kitano makes use of bright light sources behind the actor which affects the sharpness (for example 2:01, 4:07) but otherwise the film looks fine. The colour palate varies, and Kitano often uses enhanced colours for dramatic effect. None of the items described are overly distracting nor spoil the enjoyment of the film.

English subtitles are the only option. They are in an easy to read yellow font and contain no obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
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Audio

    Sonatine features a Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track that does what is required for a film with long silences. Directional cues are minor but music and ambient sounds in the surrounds are effective and the wonderful score of Joe Hisaishi comes over nicely. Sub woofer use is minimal and does not really support the few explosions. Dialogue is clear, lip synchronisation fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Theatrical Trailer

Takeshi Kitano Trailers

Promotional Trailers

    In Region 1 Sonatine has been released only in a 2 disc set with The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi. It is 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 only and includes interviews with Kitano and an introduction and summation by Quentin Tarantino. However, reviewers do not rate the Tarantino section highly. Other releases in Region 2 and Region 3 (Hong Kong) are not 16x9 enhanced. If you already have The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi stick to our Region 4. In addition, you can purchase three Kitano films (Violent Cop, Boiling Point and Sonatine) in this one box set for less than $40 which represents fantastic value for money.

    Sonatine is, quite simply, a wonderful film. Visually stunning, technically innovative, touchingly beautiful, powerful and violent, Sonatine can leave you breathless. The video and audio presentation is acceptable (and does not seem to be bettered elsewhere at present) with minimal extras. Yet, the DVD is worth it for the film alone: do yourself a favour and see Sonatine. It is a filmmaking master class from a true genius of Japanese and World cinema.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall