Boiling Point (1990)

Two disquieted junior baseball players seek revenge on the local yakuza for attacking their coach.

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Takeshi Kitano (screenplay)

Stars:

Takeshi Kitano, Yûrei Yanagi, Yuriko Ishida

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takeshi Kitano	...	Uehara (as 'Beat' Takeshi)
Yûrei Yanagi	...	Masaki (as Masahiko Ono)
Yuriko Ishida	...	Sayaka
Taka Guadalcanal	...	Takashi Iguchi (as Takahito Iguchi)
Duncan	...	Kazuo (as Minoru Iizuka)
Eri Fuse	...	Fumiyo
Makoto Ashikawa	...	Akira
Rasshâ Itamae	...	Takuya (as Hiroshi Suzuki)
Tsumami Edamame	...	Saburou (as Takahiko Aoki)
Bannai Matsuo	...	Naoya (as Kenzo Matsuo)
Rakkyo Ide	...	Hajime (as Hiroshi Ide)
Meijin Serizawa	...	Makoto
Kengakusha Akiyama	...	Gas Pump Attendant
Naoko Shinohara	...	Sumiyo
Etsushi Toyokawa	...	Okinawa-Rengou Kumichou

Storyline

Two members of a Japanese junior baseball team get mixed up with the local yakuza. After their coach is severely injured by the gangsters, the two boys set off to Okinawa to purchase a gun in order to get revenge. While in Okinawa they get befriended by a psychotic yakuza outcast who is planning a revenge of his own.

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Plot Keywords:

thug | friend | bespectacled man | bartender | customer | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

19 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Boiling Point

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,471

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Shochiku-Fuji Company, Yamada Right Vision Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite being top-billed, Takeshi Kitano doesn't appear on screen until 48 minutes in, exactly halfway through the film.

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Connections

Featured in Okinawa Days: Kitano's Second Debut (2016)

User Reviews

It's about change.

A lot of the comments have been about the film's relationship to the nature of violence, and it's true that it is a violent film. However, that's not the point of the movie. The film starts showing a young man sitting in the dark. He comes out into the light and walks slowly to where the action is taking place. He is dull, uninvolved, uninterested in what's going on. In the beginning, events happen to him. It is only after he is attacked by a hoodlum that he begins to take action himself. He volunteers for the mission to buy a gun and while on that expedition he is exposed to a wide variety of experiences that force him to become a more active personality. After his return he shows himself to be a take charge guy. The symbolism of the butterfly eggs is one of metamorphosis. The title "Boiling Point" has a meaning of change, the point at which water turns to steam. Finally, the last scene is of him in the same darkness as he was at the beginning, but this time when he emerges his movements are quick and jaunty. He is a different man.