Cinema
Fireworks
花火
Takeshi Kitano · 1997
Synopsis
Nishi, a violent-tempered detective, leaves the police after a botched arrest in which a colleague is killed and his partner Horibe is left paralysed, according to AlloCiné. His daughter is dead, according to High on Films, and his wife Miyuki has incurable leukaemia. To pay for her care, he has run into debt with yakuza. He buys a second-hand taxi, repaints it in police colours and robs a bank, then takes to the road with his wife, while Horibe, abandoned by his family, begins to paint.
Context
The paintings attributed to Horibe were painted by the director himself during his convalescence, after the 1994 accident that had paralysed part of his face, according to High on Films. The title means “fireworks”. The film was presented at Venice on 3 September 1997, released in France on 5 November following and in Japan on 24 January 1998. It was not a great commercial success, but its author considered that the Venetian award had led to his being recognised in Japan as a serious filmmaker.
Who it is for
About one hundred and three minutes of silences and sudden violence, around a policeman who wants to give his wife one last journey.
Prizes and reception
Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1997; it was re-released in cinemas in France twenty years later.
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