HANA-BI

Tagline : Work is all I've ever known.

Runtime : 103 mins

Genre : Crime Drama

Vote Rating : 7.7/10


Reviews for this movie are available below.

Plot : Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With his wife suffering from leukemia and his business partner paralyzed from a brutal gangster attack, Nishi borrows from a yakuza loan shark and then robs a bank to clear his debt.

Cast Members

Disclaimer - This is a news site. All the information listed here is to be found on the web elsewhere. We do not host, upload or link to any video, films, media file, live streams etc. Kodiapps is not responsible for the accuracy, compliance, copyright, legality, decency, or any other aspect of the content streamed to/from your device. We are not connected to or in any other way affiliated with Kodi, Team Kodi, or the XBMC Foundation. We provide no support for third party add-ons installed on your devices, as they do not belong to us. It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with all your regional legalities and personal access rights regarding any streams to be found on the web. If in doubt, do not use.
DMCA Policy
- Privacy Policy
Kodiapps app v7.0 - Available for Android. You can now add latest scene releases to your collection with Add to Trakt. More features and updates coming to this app real soon.
Tip : Add https://kodiapps.com/rss to your RSS Ticker in System/Appearance/Skin settings to get the very latest Movie & TV Show release info delivered direct to your Kodi Home Screen. Builders are free to use it for their builds too.
You can get all the very release news and updates direct from our Telegram group.
Our Twitter and Facebook pages are no longer supported.

Reviews

Drop Dead. Hana-bi (AKA: Fireworks) is written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. It stars Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi and Susumu Terajima. Music is by Joe Hisaishi and cinematography by Hideo Yamamoto. Yoshikata Nishi (Kitano) is a loose cannon police detective who quits the force after a tragic incident results in his partner, Horibe (Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. His retirement brings him the time to care more for his seriously ill wife Miyuki (Kishimoto). Nishi can find no peace, though, more so as he has borrowed money from the Yakuza to pay for his wife's needs, and they are growing impatient for the repayment... Very early in Kitano's superb slice of Japanese neo-noir there is a piece of graffiti on the wall, it says "Drop Dead", while Hisaishi's music is a devilish accompaniment to the scene. It's ominous and foreboding, setting the tone for what is to follow. Pic is deliberately paced, beautifully so, with the opening nonlinear approach and scattergun shifts in time adding a sort of psychological maelstrom to the impending narrative darkness. Yet to suggest it as a perpetually bleak picture is doing it a small disservice, for Kitano (himself working from a damaged psyche that occurred in real life) has this adroit eye for poetic beauty and human tenderness that marries up with bursts of violence and emotionally shattering passages of play. And it works brilliantly, with stabs of humour also filtering in via the outer frames. Nishi the character is a force of nature and a walking - brooding - contradiction, a man pained behind his sunglasses, his expressionless visage amazingly still saying so much. When he explodes the impact is doubly strong, mainly because dialogue is so sparse, but the interwoven visuals - very much a Kitano speciality - strike an almighty chord for the story. To which we edge towards the finale, which unsurprisingly brings beauty and infinite sadness. Unfussy camera work, sabre sharp editing (Kitano & Yoshinori Oota), elegiacal musical arrangements, art, kites and Kitano's intense performance, this rounds out as film making greatness. In fact, a masterpiece. 10/10

There's greatness in there, for sure, but 'Fireworks' (or, the better title, 'Hana-bi') drags on for too long. I was with it for the first 45-55 minutes, but the final portion of the film really dragged for me; aside from a few moments, it kinda just repeats the same sorta scenes over and over. Like, personally, I got it... needed a bit more to it, in my opinion. There are some very good performances, no doubt. Takeshi Kitano is the obvious star of the show, though I was also impressed by Ren Osugi - who is just as excellent as the aforementioned writer, producer and director of this 1997 flick. The support cast are solid, while everything onscreen looks neat too. I did like this overall, but I can't say it hit me as much as it evidently has for others. Worth a watch, either way.

You wouldn't want to be policeman "Nishi" (Takeshi Kitano). His young child died a few years earlier, his wife is terminally ill in hospital and his partner at work takes a bullet that renders him paraplegic. Unsurprisingly, he hits the skids a bit and his priorities become compromised. When his wife is told she can come home, he is determined to make that happen - but where will the money come from to facilitate her? Well he goes and borrows some money from some unsavoury types he has encountered in his career. With his sole raison d'être now being to spend as much time as he can with his ailing wife, some of his other decisions become more and more dubious and requiring of increasingly dangerous and violent action as his creditors demand repayment - in cash or in kind. This is really quite an effective mix of the romantic and the brutal. It illustrates the vulnerability of even the most robust of human beings when touched by tragedy and despair - and when that person is a cunning and capable killer, these risks for all become ever more exacerbated. There's not a great deal of dialogue here, it's mostly Kitano reacting to and dealing with the scenarios he faces trying to sustain that sense of stability and to deal with his crescendo of guilt and it's quite enthralling at times to watch. It does plod along a little at times, and can also be repetitive but it's a different style of dark drama that shows us an human side of someone not motivated by power, or money, or revenge.

Similar Movies

The Cincinnati Kid

An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game.

The Big Sleep

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Man with the Golden Arm

When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.

Rashomon

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

The Poseidon Adventure

When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

The Hustler

Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.

A Bronx Tale

Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.

Gigantic

The Hamburg friends Walter, Ricco and Floyd take each day as it comes between the estates of tower blocks and fast food restaurants. All three are in their early twenties and are dreaming of another life when Floyd suddenly takes a job on a freighter going to Singapore.

Y Tu Mamá También

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

The Coast Guard

A member of Coast Guard Platoon 23, Private Kang monitors a high-infiltration stretch of beach lined with barbed-wire fencing. Driven by the belief that killing a spy is the highest honor, he waits for a chance to prove his worth.

Clean, Shaven

Peter Winter is a young schizophrenic who is desperately trying to get his daughter back from her adoptive family. He attempts to function in a world that, for him, is filled with strange voices, electrical noise, disconcerting images, and jarringly sudden emotional shifts. During his quest, he runs afoul of the law and an ongoing murder investigation.