Boiling Point (1991)

Japanese TV star, comedian, and sophomore director "Beat" Takeshi Kitano added screenwriter to his résumé for his second feature, the offbeat story of meek, passive gas station attendant and benchwarming minor-league baseball player Masaki (Masahiko Ono), who finally rebels against the insults and abuse. His timing couldn't be worse, however, for he lashes out against an ill-mannered yakuza soldier. When the local crime boss embarks on a campaign of harassment and beatings aimed at Masaki's coworkers and baseball teammates, Masaki flies off to Yokohama to buy a gun, and falls in with a charismatic but brutal gangster (Takeshi) who has his own score to settle with the yakuza. Perhaps Kitano's most oblique film, Boiling Point is made up primarily of digressions, notably the rambling middle, where Takeshi's disgraced mobster takes Masaki and his pal on a tour of local nightlife, a sequence of pokerfaced gags and dry, ironic humor twisted around Takeshi's brutal, misogynist antics. The film lacks the drive and compelling narrative of Takeshi's other gangster pictures (notably his masterpiece, Sonatine, which revives many of the cinematic ideas first explored in this film), but rises to life in some astounding sequences: a flashforward delivered as an adrenaline rush of images, the chilling yet comic eruption of a bouquet of flowers, and an underplayed apocalyptic climax, followed by a tender coda. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

There is not one for you.

Seemingly lost in his own world, Masaki lives his life in a constant haze. Completely unmotivated, Masaki's friends and colleagues almost have to force him to participate in local sandlot baseball games and his work as a gas station attendant. After one game in which Masaki struck out without even trying to swing the bat, Masaki gets into a scuffle with a yakuza who is a member of the Otomo group. Stating that his man's arm has been broken, the branch boss of the Otomo group pays the owner of the gas station a visit and informs him that he had better make amends with the "injured" yakuza. Learning about the scuffle, the coach of Masaki's baseball team Ishida, a former high ranking yakuza, promises to straighten things out for the younger man. Ishida does in fact beat up the branch boss, but the man's underlings soon beat him up. In order to make amends with his coach, Masaki and a friend make their way down to Okinawa to purchase a pistol. However, they find a bit more than what they bargained for.

After being told to return some money the next day and to cut off his finger, Uehara, Beat Takeshi, takes his frustrations out on a car by repeatedly kicking the door of a car. It is at this time that Masaki and his friend come upon the scene. Uehara, his right hand man Tamagi, and his girlfriend Fumiyo take the two men from Tokyo to a bar where amongst the smoke and karaoke Uehara and Tamagi beat up two men brutally. This is just the beginning of a couple of days of violence.

Considered one of Kitano's lesser films by many, Boiling Point is a slow paced movie that has some explosive bursts of violence. Also this film displays the image of the sea that is a trademark of Kitano's films and like Sonatine, Hana-bi, and much later parodied in Takeshis', the sea is the locale of both play and violence. Also, unlike many of Kitano's other violent characters, Uehara seems to lack the tender core that made characters such as Hana-bi's Nishi likeable in his stony way. However, in this film, Uehara is the type who forces his friend to have sex with his lover and thereafter beats his lover Fumiyo on the head because she should not have slept with Tamagi even though she was told to. Add to this a couple of instances of rape, one male and one female; the total package is a completely unwholesome character. Looking back, Boiling Point is indeed a flawed film, but one can see the elements that would one day make Kitano an internationally acclaimed director. Recommended for fans of Japanese film, highly recommended for fans of Kitano Takeshi.
May 22, 2006

Simple fun, but the ending ruins the whole film

Takeshi Kitano before his epic Sonatine was a very mixed bag of tricks with his filmography. Violent Cop used most of his trademarks lightly, the only one focused on in Violent Cop was the violence and slience. Even though this is a weaker film, it is a step foward for Kitano with his trademark style of violence, humor, silence and subtlety.

But I have some major issues with this film. First off, it's extremely slow. I mean SLOW. It's the slowest film I've ever seen. The first 40 minutes has maybe one or two things that have to do with the plot, it's like Kitano left the film on the cutting floor and took it as it is. Another issue is how shallow the film is, everyone is a negative, unhappy person. Kitano is known for having many different characters in his films that potray all the emotions he should be. But here everyone is gloomy and sad, including the main character.

But those issues are the main problems with the film. One thing I found interesting more rather then entertaining was the use of no music. I mean no music at all, no Joe Hisaishi tunes or simple beats. Nothing, it makes the film feel way more real life and it's interesting to see. Another is the weird editing and camerawork. In one scene a guy in a baseball field runs back and forth trapped in between bases, the camera is on the second base in a first person type image. It's actually funny. I won't go too much into the story, try to read the story rundown elsewhere. But the last thing that interested me was the randomness. Humor and violence come out of nowhere in small doses, and have less to do with the film itself. Fights on the sidewalk, car and motorcycle crashes, shootings, beatings and rape seem to come and go, that also makes the film feel more real life.

But as a Kitano film, it's a huge letdown if you're expecting something like Hana Bi (Fireworks), Sonatine or Violent Cop. It's a simple story told in the Kitano narrative.

Hardly recommended for Kitano fans. July 12, 2004

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Boiling Point is less of a plot driven movie than the summaries indicate... the best way to describe it would be the thick gauze wrap around a severed finger of a plot. A sort of pseudo-revenge epic that contains less gun-fu than the cover would seem to indicate, and about the equivalent of fifteen minutes of plot from a typical action flick. It composes itself with oddball jokes and deadpans, and the moments loosely organized around the plot and their cast of characters, most of whom fall into descriptions ranging from "eccentricly normal", "psychopathically eccentric", and "stereotyped".

If you're familiar with Kitano's penchant oddball gags and Jarmusch-like deadpans, airiness, and genre inversions, you know what to expect here, if you're just looking for a fast paced gangster or action movie, look elsewhere (and please stop writing 1 star reviews). I loved it. September 23, 2003

Not a good movie...

I am a big fan of Japanese and Hong Kong movies. This is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I actually stopped watching it after an hour (if you find scenes of someone walking silently for two minutes interesting this is for you!)

Try "Made in Hong Kong" instead - an excellent film. October 1, 2001

Kept me glued.

A twisting story line and beautiful cinematography. Confused and confusing characters.

Last shot will have you re-think the whole movie and explains the choppy, sometimes inconsistent, narrative and players.

Something different. Loved it. Give it a shot. August 8, 2001

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