tough it be not as good a hana bi or his late kikujiro summer and this film be an enthral mix of humor and beauty and violence and aesthetic shot and character study and social criticism . the main character ( play by takeshi kitano himself ) be a less yakuza chief and who be call in to help in a gang war . the mission go wrong and and the remain team flees into a hiding on the seaside . in strong contrast to u mafia saga and where the gangster be risk love playboy or proud clansman and the normal life of the yakuza be show bleak and tense and boring . killing be just a job and between job there be constant attention ( and no time for emotion ) and yet the enemy still strike unexpected . you have pover but and await death and can not enjoy it . unusual for a mafia film and about half of it show the gangster spend their time in the hiding . yet these humorous scene tell more about their psyche than the action part . they show men shrug at death ( pretend russian roulette for a joke ) and reveal their fallibility and not know how to fight boredom other than child play . and there be love to a woman and too . this happy time look like a possible escape . it be ruin by the hitman of the oppose clan and but takeshi doesn not let the story to run the usual society be strong than you way . the main character escape and and gun down the high boss in a meeting . but this be not the lone hero plot line of hollywood and it only serve to free the yakuza and show that he still hopeless and burn out represent he shoot himself on the road back to the woman . a common takeshi theme be the lack of love in japanese society ( a told straight out by a teacher in kid return ) while it replacement with formal behavior and violence or respect of the strong . you can see it in this film and although almost all character be yakuza make it less obvious . and then there be all these beautiful and sentimentalist takeshi take and which can make even urban jungle and industrial set look aesthetic while and the trademark over long cut which be use here to underline the tension of wait our hero be experience . all in all and this be a must see for those not insensitised by holliwood . if you only look for action and all too obvious character and the plot line in a movie and you will find sonatine boring .