Hana-bi

Hana-bi
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Takeshi Kitano
Produced by	Masayuki Mori Yasushi Tsuge Takio Yoshida
Written by	Takeshi Kitano
Starring	Beat Takeshi Kayoko Kishimoto Ren Osugi Susumu Terajima
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography	Hideo Yamamoto
Edited by	Takeshi Kitano Yoshinori Oota
Production company	Bandai Visual Office Kitano Tokyo FM TV Tokyo
Distributed by	Nippon Herald Films
Release date	September 3, 1997 (1997-09-03) (Venice Film Festival) January 24, 1998 (1998-01-24) (Japan)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	$2.3 million[1]

Hana-bi (はなび, HANA-BI), released in the United States as Fireworks, is a 1997 Japanese crime drama film written, directed and edited by Takeshi Kitano, who also stars in it.^[2] The film's score was composed by Joe Hisaishi in his fourth collaboration with Kitano. Hana-bi (花火, Hanabi) is the Japanese word for "fireworks."

The unexpected international success of Hana-bi, coupled with Sonatine's critical acclaim, established Kitano as one of the foremost Japanese filmmakers of his time.

Synopsis

Yoshitaka Nishi (Takeshi Kitano) is a violent police detective who had to retire from the police after a tragic accident during a detention: another detective, Tanaka, was killed by the suspect, while two other detectives, Nakamura and Horibe, were severely injured. Becoming unemployed, Nishi spends most of his time taking care of his sick wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto), who has leukemia. The film moves at a deliberate pace and devotes much time to exploring their relationship. Miyuki also suffers after the death of their child. To pay for his wife's needs, Nishi borrows money from the yakuza, but is having difficulty repaying them.

Meanwhile, Horibe, whom the accident left in a wheelchair, experiences a deep depression. His marriage quickly breaks up, so now he lives alone. In a conversation with Nishi, Horibe hints he considered committing suicide, while adding that he would like to paint but cannot afford to buy himself necessary materials. Nishi buys a second-hand taxi cab and repaints it in police colors. He arms himself with a signal revolver and commits an audacious bank robbery dressed as a cop. He gives money to Tanaka's widow and buys inks and papers for Horibe, who takes up painting and creates surrealistic works of art. Nishi then starts a journey to historical sites with his wife; both of them know they will not return.

Nakamura learns about the gift for Tanaka's widow, advising her to keep the money. He also learns about the paints for Horibe and soon understands who committed the robbery. Meanwhile, guessing who may be behind the robbery, the yakuza thugs chase Nishi to extort money from him, allegedly for storage. Eventually, the gangsters find Nishi, but he kills them all in a violent shootout. At the same time, Nishi is found by Nakamura, who wants to arrest him for the robbery. Nishi asks Nakamura to spare him a moment of time and sits down on the beach next to his wife, who suddenly says to him, "Thank you...for everything". Two gunshots are heard off camera, but the film doesn't reveal who was shot.

Cast

• Takeshi Kitano as Yoshitaka Nishi
• Kayoko Kishimoto as Miyuki, Nishi's wife
• Ren Osugi as Horibe
• Susumu Terajima as Nakamura
• Tetsu Watanabe as Tesuka
• Hakuryu as Yakuza Hitman
• Yasuei Yakushiji as Criminal
• Tar Itsumi as Kudo
• Kenichi Yajima as Doctor
• Makoto Ashikawa as Tanaka
• Yūko Daike as Tanaka's widow

Production

Horibe takes up painting in the pointillist style in order to compensate for his paralysis. In reality, these paintings were painted by Kitano himself, whilst in recovery from an infamous motorcycle accident in August 1994 that left half of his face paralyzed.^[3]

Kitano's daughter and former singer, Shoko Kitano, makes a cameo appearance playing a nameless girl flying a kite in the film's closing scenes.

The film's title is sometimes listed as "Hana-bi", "hana-bi" or "Hanabi" on the covers of international DVD releases and other references to the film in the West. However, the official title is actually HANA-BI, fully capitalized,^[4][5] and is used on all Japanese licensed products, including theatrical posters, video covers and OST covers.^[6]

Soundtrack

Hana-bi
Polydor cover
Soundtrack album by Joe Hisaishi
Released	January 1, 1998
Genre	Soundtrack, modern classical, downtempo
Length	42:14
Label	Polydor, Milan Records
Alternative cover
Milan Records cover

The soundtrack CD was first released in 1998 and 1999 by Milan Records,^[7] then reissued by Polydor.

Reception

Although it was not a big success financially,^[8] Hana-bi received critical acclaim and won the Golden Lion award at the 54th Venice International Film Festival and numerous other accolades. Kitano himself said it was not until he won the Golden Lion that he was accepted as a serious director in his native Japan; prior his films were looked at as just the hobby of a famous comedian.^[9]

It also won the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of 20 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 8.3 out of 10.^[10] American film critic Roger Ebert rated it three stars out of four, citing its unusual approach toward serenity and brutality, calling it "a Charles Bronson Death Wish movie so drained of story, cliché, convention and plot that nothing is left, except pure form and impulse."^[2] Jaime N. Christley of Slant Magazine gave the film a perfect four star rating.^[11] David Stratton of The Movie Show called Hana-bi "an unclassifiable film" and "quite extraordinary," with co-host Margaret Pomeranz stating "I was ultimately so moved by it. It did what cinema is meant to do, for me anyway, and that's take me on a journey that is mine, that ultimately ends up inside me, in my heart." Stratton concluded that Hana-bi is "hard to describe to audiences, but all I can say is: Go and see it. It's great." The duo both awarded the film five stars out of five.^[12]

References

External links

• Hana-bi on IMDb
• Hana-bi at AllMovie
• Hana-bi at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Hana-Bi at Rotten Tomatoes