Fresh
Sleek, punchy and altogether captivating.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Sonatine
A ferocious man sleeps here.
1993 · 1h 34m · R
Action, Crime, Thriller
Directed by
Takeshi Kitano
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Sonatine
Overview
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
93%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Gross and trite as the material is, Kitano shows again that he is an ingenious, purposeful filmmaker.
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
Fresh
It shows how violent gangster movies need not be filled with stupid dialogue, nonstop action and gratuitous gore.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
Kitano's haunting elegy to the gangster way of life.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Rotten
Eliminates the one virtue American action films can legitimately claim -- vitality -- and replaces it with fake- existential claptrap wrapped in an inept narrative.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
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