HANA-BI (57)

Directed by: Takeshi Kitano

Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi

The Pitch: A Tokyo cop spirals off into existential crisis after his partner is paralysed in the line of duty.

Theo Sez: Not a whole lot to say about this one, except that (like its title, literally "Flowers-Fire") it mixes violence with beauty - childlike paintings, a delicately mournful score - and seems to think that's enough for a movie ; the result is more satisfying than SONATINE but has even less range, finding its mood early on and pretty much staying with it. Mostly it's very pleasing, with its air of coiled detachment and its combination of understated action and abrupt editing rhythms, grace and volatility ; but it doesn't really go anywhere, and - even worse - you feel that it's just as well. The ingredients seem more adolescent than anything - a fascination with capital-D Death, a hero with the casually invincible air of a comic-book superman and the inarticulate world-weariness of a disaffected teenager - and the characters are too opaque for any real analysis (a reason perhaps why so many of the film's rave reviews fall back on "transcendence"). It's certainly enough to confirm Kitano as a highly original talent ; but anyone who's seen even a little of his previous work knows exactly where this is headed, and you really expect more from a major film-maker.