Violent Cop (1989)

A violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Hisashi Nozawa (original writer)

Stars:

Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takeshi Kitano	...	Azuma (as Beat Takeshi)
Maiko Kawakami	...	Akari
Makoto Ashikawa	...	Kikuchi
Shirô Sano	...	Yoshinari
Sei Hiraizumi	...	Iwaki (as Shigeru Hiraizumi)
Mikiko Otonashi	...	Iwaki's Wife
Hakuryû	...	Kiyohiro
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Nito
Ken Yoshizawa	...	Shinkai
Hiroyuki Katsube	...	Deputy Police Chief Higuchi
Noboru Hamada	...	Chief Detective Araki
Yuuki Kawai	...	Detective Honma
Ritsuko Amano	...	Honma's Fiancee
Tarô Ishida	...	Detective Tashiro
Katsuki Muramatsu	...	Deputy Commissioner Anan

Storyline

Detective Azuma is a Dirty-Harry style rogue cop who often uses violence and unethical methods to get results. While investigating a series of drug-related homicides, Azuma discovers that his friend and colleague, Iwaki, is supplying drugs from within the police force. After Iwaki is murdered and Azuma's sister is kidnapped, he breaks all the rules to dish out his particular form of justice.

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Plot Keywords:

anti hero | gore | violence | drugs | police | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Violent Cop

Filming Locations:

Kanagawa-Shinmachi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,960, 16 May 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Media Department, Shochiku-Fuji Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Takeshi Kitano often clashed with the crew, especially in regards to the visual style. When Azuma (Kitano) is walking to the police station, Kitano didn't want to show his whole head, his face would be partially out of the frame which made it look like the top of his head was chopped off. It was an unthinkable framing in the traditional sense yet Kitano demanded it on the set, this caused tension with the crew and Kitano often met with strong opposition. In the end, Kitano partially managed to achieve the visual style he was aiming for as he and the crew had frequent discussions and yet could not resolve their differences. The end result was an unplanned mixture of scenes shot with the cinematographer, Yasushi Sasakibara's sensibilities, and scenes which Kitano forced the crew to shoot the way he wanted.

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Quotes

Azuma: Turn yourself in tomorrow.
Delinquent Kid: I didn't do anything!
Azuma: You didn't do anything?
[Rams kid's head into the wall.]
Azuma: Well, then I didn't do anything either!

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits beyond the title.

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Alternate Versions

When the film was released in Swedish cinemas in 1992, it was censored with a little more than one minute for violence, the cuts were made in the following scenes:

• The policeman getting assaulted before he gets his head crushed by a baseball bat.
• The scene where Azuma assaults Hazishume on the toilet, and the finger cutting sequence.
• The following cuts are when Azuma assaults the killer in the locker room and a bloody execution scene at the end.

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Connections

Featured in Seven Psychopaths (2012)

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Soundtracks

Gnossienne No.1
(1890)
Main theme is an electronic variation of the above title by Erik Satie

User Reviews

Masterful exploration of nihilistic violence

A shallow description would refer to this as a Japanese version of Dirty Harry. And it does bear some resemblance to that film, but while Dirty Harry broke the rules in order to get a criminal at any cost, Kitano's character Azuma seems to seek vengeance due not only to his lust for revenge but because he's psychotic. There's a sense that Azuma won't rest until he gets his man not out of duty but out of madness. Kitano gives what might be his best performance in this film; he is absolutely riveting. And the film itself is beautifully shot, and the score is especially good. But the best part of this is perhaps the end - the film ends on a perfectly cynical note that couldn't be topped. Seek this out.