Griffith Maloney [Film Festival 10.18.12] action crime



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Outrage Beyond is a slick shank to the kidneys filled with attitude and feral aggression. This is the bloodstained tale of Japanese gangsters bent on revenge and no one makes better movies about these Yakuza then writer/director/actor Takeshi Kitano. Outrage Beyond surpasses the original Outrage in both style and flow and continues to expand the legacy of the man known as Beat Takeshi. The movie is packed full of Kitano's tendencies turned up to eleven. There's more violence, more intrigue, more style and more old man yelling. If that’s your cup of sake, and its certainly mine, you'll love it.

Outrage Beyond opens up a lot faster then Kitano's previous movies. Something is rotten in the biggest crime family of the region and neither the police nor the neighboring Yakuza are to happy about it. Centuries of tradition and respect prevents any open aggression among the families but something must be done soon. Enter Otomo, who's death at the end of the last movie had been greatly exaggerated. Unaffiliated and bitter, Otomo is the perfect vehicle for everyones revenge and as the action ramps up he sets his eyes on the people who betrayed him.

Honestly Outrage Beyond is a sequel I never expected. The original Outrage, released in 2010, is a near perfect gritty Yakuza film steeped in realism and horrible violence. Its tale of betrayal is wrapped up so effectively that I never even imagined a continuation of the story. However Outrage Beyond does a good job in continuing to explore the themes of honor, betrayal and the changing of the criminal guard and I can only assume that we're going to see the resolution of these themes in the third and final film of the Outrage trilogy. If Kitano can pull it off the Outrage trilogy will go down as the highlight of his career.

Takeshi Kitano, known in Japan as Beat Takeshi is one of the most versatile creators working in modern Japan. His work as a actor, director, comedian, painter and TV host is comparable to very few american directors in scope, David Lynch is the only other artistic renaissance man who comes to mind. All of his work is worth seeing, but his Yakuza movies are some of the absolute best examples of the genre and his performances in them are second to none. It is perhaps his early years as a stage comedian that make him so effective as the cruel and stoic Yakuza boss, his understanding of emotional audience response lends him a special sort of charismatic anti-presence.



In Outrage Beyond a new quality has taken hold of Kitano, weariness. It's hard to imagine him as anyone but the haggard and exhausted Otomo after watching this film. His grim world weariness and cruel demeanor seems so genuine that you could imagine he was pulled straight from the history books of the Yakuza. He is an unstoppable force of tradition. Otomo isn't just one of the old guard criminals tied to his traditions, he is the traditions, representing a way of life so completely he becomes a grim avatar for every ceremony and politeness of Yakuza culture. This remarkable presence of character owes a lot to Kitano's acting but some thanks is also due to his superb direction.

Takeshi Kitano often uses a visual trick that I'm fond of in his movies. He'll show the exterior of a building and play just the audio of the violence going on inside the structure. In most american movies the exterior would show some sort of sign of the action within, windows would be broken by bullet holes or sprayed with blood. Kitano just lets them be, still and placid as if nothing is happening at all. This brutal normalcy is a much more threatening image then any blood stained window. It's this kind of attitude that pervades Kitano's movies and in particular Outrage Beyond, the presence of violence just below the civilized nature of the men. That’s what’ effective about Otomo, the threat of his coiled spring.

This same deft touch of character doesn't always extend to the other actors in the film. What can be frustrating about Outrage Beyond and its predecessor Outrage is the constant, constant yelling and posturing. I know its a genuine part of the Yakuza culture but still listening to a bunch of macho men scream at each other and call each other idiots in every scene can get tiring. Some of the less capable performers will seem as if they only have one mode of acting after a while, they're either yelling or doing nothing at all.

The explosive violence of Kitano's world still dominates this film with brutal and emotionless killings occurring with frightening regularity. Nothing quite as gruesome as the dentistry scene in Outrage but a prolonged batting cage sequence is almost as good. There is however a projected style that was absent from the original Outrage. Outrage Beyond takes just a little bit more time with its shots, each scene is not only believable, it is also strangely beautiful. Kitano has said that he hoped Outrage Beyond would be more accessible to American audiences and if this is what he meant then I’m all for it. There is an artistry here that was missing in Outrage. It is both realistic in its cinematography and beautiful in its stylistic choices, a delicate balance that is deftly handled here.

People who are already fans of the Yakuza genre will find much to like in Outrage Beyond but I'm not sure I would recommend it for anyone who's on the fence. There’s to much confusion in terms of plot and character. It simultaneously banks on knowledge of the first movie and at the same time over explains itself in case you haven't been paying attention. We're constantly reminded of who betrayed who and who has a grudge against who and so on and so on. Coupled with the nameless suited Yakuza who's only purpose is to gun down other suited men someone who’s not paying attention might feel lost.

I'm not sure a sequel to Outrage was necessary, but needed or not Outrage Beyond is a worthy successor to the first film and provides a level of cinematic grace that is far beyond its predecessor. If the third film continues in this vein and ties together all of the character threads and themes together this could very well be the three greatest Yakuza films ever made. I’m eager to see this one through to the bloody end.

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asdf (7 years ago) Reply

I found three typos:
"Yakuza are to happy about it."
"That’s what’ effective about Otomo"
"There’s to much confusion"

Too/To/Two

-TTN

asdf (7 years ago) Reply

Much worse than a few typos, this site's got issues with comment html.

cris (7 years ago) Reply

Are you for real? Cause u just seem slightly insane.

lalapuput (6 years ago) Reply

I've watched this film for free, and this film is very good,
I've seen it in http://moviess.biz/play.php?movie=1724962

even I had to download it there.

I am sure you and your family will love this film,
because this film is the best film I've ever watched,
congratulations watch this film is very good

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