Outrage

Takeshi "Beat" Kitano's OUTRAGE plays like a response to the misinformed archetype of the cool American gangsters that has been so pervasive in recent, bad, American cinema. It has no illusions about living the life, for everyone who's involved in the film is buried under constant fear. How do you know who to pledge allegiance to when the strongest, toughest man in the room changes every six minutes, when severing your fingers with a blunt knife to express apology is laughed at? There are a lot of characters in OUTRAGE, each one of them singling themselves out how they would have to in the real world of the yakuza (the Japanese form of the mafia). At the beginning of the film, I was admittedly confused at who everyone was, but then I came to know each and every one of them. Of course, I would look at the screen, and recognize Otomo, for instance. How could I forget him? He just used a drill to take Murase's gums out! But this is a great strength of OUTRAGE, and it furthers that notion of singling yourself out, to the necessary reality of a changed allegiance, and then the process of making yourself blend in. You kill a man one day and he was the enemy, now he was the new boss' friend and your head's got a target on it. Beyond this, OUTRAGE is kinetic, surprising, and carries a sublime sense of dread. It's a ton of fun, but doesn't let you forget the glamour its breaking down. Kitano's due to come out with OUTRAGE 2 this year, so that he can make sure that you know, anyone who lived at the end of the first one, is no true survivor.

★★★★ out of Five