Violent Cop

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Tan C @TanZoi Apr 18, 2026 This is the second Japanese live-action film I’ve seen. The first was Love Letter, which first showed me the art of "negative space". It goes further—stripping away narrative itself and using absence as storytelling. Its most striking quality is restraint. Director follows an "iceberg theory" approach: no explanations of motive, no emotional buildup, no dramatized conflict. The final shootout stands out. No flashy staging, no heroics—yet every gunshot hits hard. The composition feels like a path of white light emerging from darkness. Sound is used just as boldly: light music overlays cruelty, while heavy scenes are left without score, only raw sound. I rarely call a film "must-watch," but it is an exception. It shouldn’t suit my taste, yet I place it at the top—because nothing else feels quite like it. See more

Dark D @RT65718715 Jun 28, 2025 In general, its just really weirdly. The film looks spectacular and is fast paced, despite long, artsy panning shots and subdued editing. Its not a typical bad cop breaks the rules for justice narrative. Takeshi is very flawed and causes a lot of harm to innocent people. Interesting tidbits; points: Takeshi has facial ticks and walks funky, but this is before his 1994 scooter accident. Also, its the beginning of his refreshing portrayals of male homosexuality. The score is like a cheap horror movie but fits perfectly. See more

Atlis S @RT92542642 Oct 14, 2024 It's hard to say how I feel about the movie. On a positive note it does a good job of pulling you in. The movie shots tend to linger in front of the viewer before shifting. The movie quickly becomes dark, bleak, and noir-esque. It feels akin to oldboy in the sense the sense of hopelessness you feel for the main character. So it does a good job of pulling it's weight in this regard. Kitano is also just generally good at his craft. But, I tend to steer away from endings that are nihilistic. See more

Aug 20, 2021 Takeshi Kitano's directorial debut is raw, rough around the edges, violent (who'd have thought it) and very bleak. It's not the greatest example of his powers but it provides a vital start point to his career, and the score, despite being at odds with the brutality on screen, somehow works brilliantly, adding a layer of beauty to the dark and disturbing turns the plot takes. See more

Mar 22, 2021 The debut of the legendary Takeshi Kitano Violent Cop is a fun dark crime film about a Dirty Harry style cop trying to take down some drug dealers See more

Feb 2, 2020 The prime opera of Takeshi Kitano as director, tell us the story of Azuma, a heterodox policeman who is immersed in a spiral of crime and corruption because in the course of a investigation discover that Iwaki,a friend of the protagonist is supplying drugs to yakuzas, and after a incident that if i tell it suppose a spoiler, Azuma starts a particular crusade against the yakuzas with a ending that show us the style that will have the rest of the films of Takeshi Kitano. That style is a nihilist conception of the story, a very black humour or a cutting edition of the scenes added to the elipsis is the visiting card of one of the biggest filmmakers from Japan, with a soundtrack signed by Daisaku Kume with jazz touches that recall to noir films from the 40s and the 50s. In conclusion, this film is a vital part of the filmography of Kitano and a must be watched movie if you want to learn about this great nippon artist. See more

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Violent Cop

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