Sonatine (1993) on Netflix
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tired of gangster life, is sent with his men to Okinawa to mediate between two allied clans. He suspects the job is meant to remove him.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.4/1024,396 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
Murakawa works as an enforcer in Tokyo and has had enough of gangster life. His boss sends him to Okinawa with a few of his men, saying the purpose is to settle a quarrel between the Nakamatsu and the Anan, two allied clans. Murakawa says openly that he thinks the trip is a way to get rid of him, and he hits a colleague, Takahashi, before going along with it. In Okinawa the quarrel between the clans turns out to matter very little. A bomb destroys the group's temporary base, and an ambush in a bar leaves several of Murakawa's men dead. Those who survive flee to the coast and stay in a remote beach house that belongs to the brother of a Nakamatsu member.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Sonatine (1993)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Japanese distributor Shochiku refused to sell Sonatine for release abroad, telling French publisher Jean-Pierre Dionnet the film was "too Japanese" and would not be understood by western audiences; he insisted for months before learning the real reason was its commercial failure in Japan.
SPOILER
Takeshi Kitano conceived Sonatine around only four scenes — yakuza being sent to Okinawa, arriving there, the machine-gun shootout and the main character shooting himself in the head — and let the film fill in the space between them, calling his shooting technique spontaneous.- The title Sonatine comes from the musical term sonatina; Kitano said sonatinas are the point where a piano learner must decide whether to go into classical, jazz or popular music, marking the crucial decision facing the character Murakawa.
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