VIOLENT COP

Takeshi stars as dectective Azuma, a cranky old bastard who really hates crime, although he really doesn't care too much for the law either. Takeshi goes around beating the holy fuck out of criminals, eventually running afoul of the local Yakuza, which is never a good thing.

Det. Azuma is portrayed as an unlikeable bum. He borrows money from friends, gambles, lies about his job and disrepects his boss.

Violent Cop is filled with very long periods of silence, substained shots, which are frequently shattered by bursts of violence, a technique that would become Kitano's trademark as shown in his later films Sonatine and Hanna-Bi.

The scenes of violence aren't overly graphic, but disturbing nonetheless. Azuma corners a pusher in the mens room at a nightclub and proceeds to smack him in the face for about 10 minutes. If you really look closely, you can see the actors face turn red! In another scene, while a Yakuza thug tries to kill Azuma, an innocent bystander is shot, her brains blown all over a poster for an Emanuelle movie.

The Yakuza end up kidnapping Azuma's mentally handicapped sister, who they get hooked on heroin. After raping her, Azuma comes in blasting. After shooting everyone, he finds that his sister is hooked on heroin, so he shoots her, and then, he gets shot. Don't you love happy endings?

The story is simple, but Takeshi almost makes a tired police flick into an art film. The long static shots may put some people to sleep, but they all have their purpose. The long stretches of silence and inactivity make the violence more shocking and effective. Violent Cop may not be for everybody, but it is an exellent film, and an alternative to John Woo-style Asian action.