Fireworks
Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
Fireworks is the aptly named title for Takeshi Kitano’s 1997
crime thriller, in which Kitano plays the lead role of a man who is attempting
to make sense of life as a detective after his wife is diagnosed with cancer
and his partner is shot. The title
works well because a firework, when unlit, can be calm. It has not feelings, but simply exists, but
has lots of potential when placed in the right conditions. Lighting the firework demonstrates its
amazing abilities to destruct in an irrational way, yet still forms some sort
of pattern, which quickly fades away.
Like that firework, Kitano’s Nishi character is calm and relaxed on the
outside, but inside he is fueled with anger and rage. He is ready to explode at a moments notice as soon as someone
lights his fuse, he will strike with furious anger and then quickly
dissolve.
Fireworks is a relatively quiet film that speaks volumes
with a soft tone. Most of the
information that is given to us comes through visually. We see the action and quickly gain a sense
of the characters. There is a
passionate force behind this type of directing, which obviously comes from
Kitano’s knack for creating characters that we sympathize with. Kitano would gain more recognition the
following year with his sentimental film Kikujiro and also earn more
American respect with his 2000 film entitled Brother, which starred Omar
Epps.
Kitano places moments of
intensity through his films as well, in which situations can quickly become
violent to the point of being disturbing, but he chooses to shoot these scenes
in such a way that it never becomes too glamorous. We are typically set back from the action in a way that makes us
want to reject what we are experiences, yet we cannot strain from the
moment. In Fireworks, the story
is essentially constructed in flashback type of setup where we learn about what
has happened, but at the same time we have Nishi in his present state also
engaging in current activity as well.
The two stories converge at one point, which is brilliant use of
suspense in that we know to some degree what is going to happen, yet there are
still some unknowns about the exact way in which certain events shall play out
before us.
New Yorker has an
excellent catalog of Asian films, this being one of their best. It also reminded me of Palm’s Fulltime
Killer (also reviewed on this site) in both content as well as quality for
the DVD. While the letterboxed 1.85 X 1
image can be soft at times, this is still one of their best-looking DVD’s. Blacks are a shade or two off, while colors
can be subdued, but nothing that totally detracts from the viewing. The biggest setback is the edge-enhancement
that can be seen throughout particularly when there is quick camera
movement. Not only is this one of New
Yorkers better-looking films, but also has an aggressive 5.1 Dolby Digital
soundtrack that no doubt gives this film the life it deserves. While the soundtrack can be subtle at times,
there are also moments where the entire sound field becomes immersed in
sound.
American audiences always
claim to have the best action sequences, but make the mistake of thinking that
action always has to be bigger, louder, more involved, or faster. The point that they are missing is that good
action or action scenes do not need to be involved, but rather can be
interested just by the treatment of the scene as well as the intensity from
which that scene is performed. Scenes
from Coppola’s Godfather still rank as some of the best action scenes
just based on the subtlety of the action and the superb editing and shooting of
these scenes. Kitano has demonstrated
with this film his ability to stage action in a way that audiences are sure to
be attracted to and more American viewers need to see films like this to once
again appreciate the complexity that can be delivered through simplicity.
- Nate Goss.
