Violent Cop

Released By: Film Movement
Released On: October 11, 2016
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa
Year: 1989
Purchase From Amazon

The Film:

Though a film such as Violent Cop seems like a perfect vehicle for a character like Takeshi Kitano, known to most of his North American audience as a man more than capable of laying a beatdown on somebody for talking out of turn, it most definitely wasn't the norm for his already established Japanese fans, who came to know him as Beat Takeshi, a stand-up comedian and television star. Originally intended to be directed by Kinji Fukasaku, the future of Violent Cop was made questionable by conflicting schedules; at which point, the ever-charismatic Kitano stepped in to make it his directorial debut.

Violent Cop gets down to business straight out of the opening credits, showing a homeless man being harassed and bloodily beaten by a gang of unruly teenagers. Watching and waiting in the shadows is the violent cop himself, Azuma (Takeshi), who follows the ringleader to his house. Explaining to the youth's mother that he's a police officer and that there's nothing to worry about, Azuma introduces himself to the teenager in his bedroom, stifling his arrogance with several well placed slaps to the face. Mission accomplished, justice is served as the offender and his friends voluntarily turn themselves in to the police the next day to avoid further conflict with Azuma.

His methods are unorthodox and openly questioned by the top brass, including the new Chief, but few can deny that Azuma gets results. With an eye on reining him in, Azuma is paired with rookie Kikuchi (Makoto Ashikawa), just in time to catch a new case; a drug deal gone wrong that ends in a vicious murder down by the wharf. Balancing his work life and his new partner with his personal life, a sister who is a recently-discharged mental patient, seems to be going alright for Azuma, as he even finds the time to crack jokes at the expense of his new partner, but a lapse in judgement lets a suspect get away after busting a cop's skull open with a baseball bat.

Now more determined than ever to bring the bad guys to justice, Azuma brings his own brand of law enforcement to the table, tracking down the buyers and suppliers to reveal the top dogs... rich and powerful gangsters who utilize corrupt police officers to supply them with narcotics. It's a chain of scum that leads right through Azuma's own precinct, and men who have the power to demand his resignation, and Azuma is going to have to step it up to survive. But where his actions have always been justifiable in the interest of defeating evil, will he meet his match in a man who deals out violence for his own sadistic pleasures?

Violent Cop is, as the title implies, an uncompromising, gritty picture, that despite it's relatively "recent" status, draws more from 70's genre pictures like Dirty Harry and Death Wish than the cop/action flicks of the 80's. This is not a fun, action-filled romp; it's filled with surprisingly dark material and unflinching violence that is more likely to disturb than entertain. The lead character of Azuma seems devoid of human characteristics, despite his occasional sense of humour and obvious affection for his sister; his actions, more understandable as an extension of conditioning found in most American films of that genre (Eastwood's Callahan and Bronson's Kersey), come off as robotic, machine-like. Azuma isn't an emotional cop who has seen too much, it's more like he's driven by violence because that's how he gets things done. As a result, he's not even remotely a sympathetic character, a flaw for most viewers.

But, for the rest of us, what can you say? It's Beat Takeshi, and his personality and mannerisms take most of us further than we'd be willing to go. It's hard to imagine a different actor pulling this off; in the hands of Kitano, the smackdown of a violent young punk in his bedroom might even elicit a chuckle from the viewer. Takeshi, with the stoniest of expressions, chews up scenes like a pro, simultaneously conveying menace and mirth. And even though his extreme approach to dealing with criminals isn't apparent as a righteous cause, well, they're the bad guys. They're drug dealers and murderers, and they have it coming to them. And even though Kitano's wry humour in some scenes might not be enough to completely offset the gruesome reality of physical retribution, that wacky score helps a bit as well. And while Kitano's directorial debut contains a wealth of unconventional shots and some bizarre editing/pacing choices... so much of it seems like "A Day In The Life" with the camera following the actor for long periods of time... hindsight has proven that the WTF? moments his crew experienced in framing that resulted in cutting off the tops of heads have actually created the desired emotions that the new Director was striving for. And as he demonstrated with later films, his approach signaled the arrival of a very competent talent behind the camera.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Film Movement Classics brings Violent Cop (finally!) to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1 AVC-encoded transfer that, while not flawless, blows existing DVD's clear out of the water on all fronts. Though the picture couldn't be described as punchy or crystal-clear, there's a huge amount of detail visible here, and the transfer perfectly carries the muted colour palette of the source material. A lot of grays and off-whites in here, but blacks are solid enough, and no artifacting pops up during darker scenes. The transfer is largely free of dirt and debris, providing a well-rounded viewing experience.

Audio comes courtesy of a Japanese LPCM 2.0 track with English Subtitles, and the track is much like the video for this release; slightly flawed here and there, but not to any detriment. Some scenes had a bit of hiss that would pop in and out, but although it was noticed, it wasn't excessive or unforgivable. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the sound effects (gunshots, etc) provide a necessary pop when appropriate, all balanced nicely around the score.

A new featurette, That Man Is Dangerous: The Birth Of Takeshi Kitano (20:20) provides a look at the man and the film Violent Cop, courtesy of colleagues and contributors to the film. The participants talk about working with Kitano and his unconventional approach to film making, as well as the on-set re-writing of the script. Also discussed is the original intended involvement of Kinji Fukasaku as Director, who would later be better-known internationally for Battle Royale (also with Kitano), and how Takeshi jumped in to take over direction on Violent Cop when scheduling problems arose. With Japanese audio and English subtitles (fantastic, as some audio in this is fairly muffled), this is a decent featurette and a welcome addition.

Two Trailers for the film, the original Japanese trailer and the new 2016 Trailer are included, as are six other Film Movement Trailers: Boiling Point, Kamikaze '89, The Quiet Earth, Sea Fog, Key of Life, and The Pillow Book.

Finally, the liner notes (on the back side of that horrific cover art) feature an essay by Asian film expert, Tom Vick.

The Final Word:

Essential for fans of Japanese Cinema and aficionados of gritty action flicks, Violent Cop will not appeal to everyone; but for fans of the film, this Blu-ray provides a worthy upgrade.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!