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. The film's score was composed by Joe Hisaishi in his fourth collaboration with Kitano. is the Japanese word for "fireworks."

''Hana-bi'' won the Golden Lion at the 54th Venice International Film Festival and helped to establish Kitano as an internationally acclaimed filmmaker.

Plot

Yoshitaka Nishi is a violent former police detective who had to retire after a tragic accident during a botched arrest in which a detective, Tanaka, was killed by the suspect while two others, Nakamura and Horibe, were severely injured. Becoming unemployed, Nishi spends most of his time taking care of his sick wife Miyuki, who has terminal leukemia. To pay for his wife's care, Nishi borrows money from the ''yakuza'', but is having difficulty repaying them.

Meanwhile, Horibe, who becomes paralyzed after the incident, experiences a deep depression after his wife and daughter leave him. 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 the necessary materials. After a botched suicide attempt, Horibe receives art supplies mailed to him by Nishi. He then takes up painting and creates surreal works of art, and later in a pointillist style.

Nishi buys a second-hand taxi cab and repaints it in police colors. He arms himself with a revolver and robs a bank dressed as a policeman. Using the money, he pays off the ''yakuza'' and gives some to Tanaka's widow. Nishi then leaves with his wife for a road trip. Nakamura learns from Tanaka's widow about the gift and advises her to keep the money. He also learns about the paints for Horibe and soon realizes who committed the robbery. Nakamura and his partner attempt to reach Nishi, eventually tracing his route as he and his wife embark on their trip.

Meanwhile, even though Nishi has paid his debt to them, the ''yakuza'' deduce Nishi committed the robbery and attempt to extort additional money from him. The ''yakuza'' track down and confronts Nishi, but he kills them all in a violent shootout. The next day, Nishi and his wife are at a beach when they are found by Nakamura and his partner. They prepare to arrest Nishi, but Nishi asks Nakamura to spare him a moment of time and lies alongside his wife on the beach. The couple comforts each other before the camera pans away towards the ocean before two gunshots are heard in the distance.

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
* Taro 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.

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, and is used on all Japanese licensed products, including theatrical posters, video covers and OST covers.

Soundtrack

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

Track listing

''All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.''
# "Hana-bi" – 3:42
# "Angel" – 2:41
# "Sea of Blue" – 3:29
# "...and Alone" – 2:29
# "Ever Love" – 2:15
# "Painters" – 5:57
# "Smile and Smile" – 2:55
# "Heaven's Gate" – 4:59
# "Tenderness" – 2:31
# "Thank You... for Everything" – 7:09
# "Hana-bi (Reprise)" – 3:41

Credits

*Bassoon – Shinkichi Maeda
*Clarinet – Tadashi Hoshino
*Composer, arranger, performer – Joe Hisaishi
*Flute – Takashi Asahi, Takeshi Shinohara
*Harmonica – Nobuo Yagi
*Oboe – Hiroshi Shibayama
*Strings – Yuichiro Goto Group

Reception

Although it was not a big success financially, ''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; his prior films had been looked at as just the hobby of a famous comedian.

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. 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." Jaime N. Christley of ''Slant Magazine'' gave the film a perfect four star rating. 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.

The film is included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

References

External links

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''Hana-bi''
at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
''Hana-Bi''
at Rotten Tomatoes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hana-Bi
1997 films
1997 crime drama films
Japanese crime drama films
1990s Japanese-language films
Japanese neo-noir films
Yakuza films
Films directed by Takeshi Kitano
Golden Lion winners
European Film Awards winners (films)
Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners
Films scored by Joe Hisaishi
1990s Japanese films