Hana-bi (1997)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Takeshi Kitano (written by)

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Nishi is a cop whose wife is slowly dying of Leukemia. One of his partners gets shot on the job and...

Plot Keywords:

Leukemia | Guilt | Police | Gangster | Suicide

Awards:

21 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kitano	...	Yoshitaka Nishi (as 'Beat' Takeshi)
Kayoko Kishimoto	...	Miyuki, Nishi's wife
Ren Osugi	...	Horibe
Susumu Terajima	...	Nakamura
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Tesuka
Hakuryu	...	Yakuza Hitman
Yasuei Yakushiji	...	Criminal
Taro Istumi	...	Kudo
Kenichi Yajima	...	Doctor
Makoto Ashikawa	...	Tanaka
Yuuko Daike	...	Tanaka's widow
Edamame Tsumami	...	Businessman Throwing Rocks
Yûrei Yanagi	...	Chef #1
Sujitarou Tamabukuro	...	Chef #2
Tokio Seki	...	Old Hick
Motoharu Tamura	...	Chief Detective
Hitoshi Nishizawa	...	Yakuza Head
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Setchin Kawaya	...	Male Bank Customer #3
Shoko Kitano	...	Girl Who Flies Kite (as Shoko Matsuda)
Kiyoko Kitazawa	...	Nurse B
Takayuki Konishi	...	Detective B
Rinko Morikawa
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Hoodlum B
Shûji Ôtsuki
Kanji Tsuda
Keiko Yamamoto	...	Nurse A

Directed by
Takeshi Kitano

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takeshi Kitano		written by

Produced by
Kazuhiro Furukawa	....	co-producer
Hiroshi Ishikawa	....	co-producer
Kouichi Miyagawa	....	associate producer
Masayuki Mori	....	producer
Hideto Osawa	....	associate producer
Yasushi Tsuge	....	producer
Shigeru Watanabe	....	associate producer
Yoshito Yamazaki	....	line producer
Takio Yoshida	....	producer

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Hideo Yamamoto

Film Editing by
Takeshi Kitano
Yoshinori Oota

Art Direction by
Norihiro Isoda

Set Decoration by
Tatsuo Ozeki

Costume Design by
Masami Saito

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hiroshi Shimizu	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Senji Horiuchi	....	sound
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Hitoshi Takaya	....	gaffer

Music Department
Suminobu Hamada	....	music mixer
Shinichi Tanaka	....	music mixer

Production Companies

• Bandai Visual Company
• Office Kitano
• TV Tokyo
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.

Distributors

• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czech Republic)
• Atalanta Filmes (Portugal)
• Channel Neko (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Dendy Films
• Gativideo (Argentina) (VHS)
• Herald Film Company (Japan)
• Líder Films (Argentina)
• Madman Entertainment (2002) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Maywin Media (CIS)
• Maywin Media (Estonia)
• Maywin Media (Latvia)
• Maywin Media (Lithuania)
• Milestone (1998) (USA) (subtitled)
• Momentum Pictures (2001) (UK) (all media)
• Prem'er Video Fil'm (Russia) (VHS)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Shu Kei's Creative Workshop Ltd. (Hong Kong)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2005) (Slovenia) (all media)
• Warner Bros. Finland (Finland)

Other Companies

• Aoi Studio  
• Big Shot  
• Carstunt Taka  
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Daiichi Isho  
• Ito Jidosha  
• K&L  
• Keihan Shoukai  
• Kodak Japan  
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nicker Colour  art cooperation
• Nikkatsu Studio  
• Nippon Shomei  
• Oshitani Lighting Service  
• P2  
• Popeye Art  
• Takatsu Soshyoku Bijutsu  
• Tokyo Genzosho  
• Wonder City  
• Yoshikawa Casting Office  casting

Also Known As:

Fireworks (International: English title)
Hana-Bi (UK)
Flores de fuego (Argentina) [es]
Fogo de Artifício (Portugal) [pt]
Fogos de Artifício (Brazil) [pt]
Hana-Bi - tulikukkia (Finland) [fi]
Hana-bi (Poland) [pl]
Hana-bi - Feuerblume (Germany) [de]
Hana-bi - Fiori di fuoco (Italy) [it]
Hana-bi - Fuochi d'artificio (Italy) [it]
Hana-bi - feux d'artifice (France) [fr]
Hana-bi. Flores de fuego (Spain) [es]
Havai Fisekler (Turkey: Turkish title) (festival title) [tr]
Pyrotehnimata (Greece) [el]
Tüzvirágok (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:16 | France:U | Czech Republic:12 | South Africa:16 | Brazil:16 | Israel:16 | Austria:16 | Hungary:16 | Ireland:18 | Mexico:B15 | Italy:T | Poland:18 | Iran:18+ | Romania:I.C.-14 | Taiwan:PG-12 | USA:R (cut) | Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:R-15 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Australia:MA

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The paintings that appear throughout the movie were painted by Takeshi Kitano himself after his near-fatal motorcycle accident in August 1994.

Quotes:

Yoshitaka Nishi: Next time, I'll kill you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cure (1997)

A masterpiece!

'Hana-bi' is one of the most impressive movies I've seen in the last ten years. Writer/director/star Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano) is best known in Japan as a comedian and TV personality, so this movie is even more astonishing to outsiders like myself. Takeshi has a very laconic and charismatic screen presence, and is no slouch as a director either. It's difficult to describe the feel of this movie, and its poetic use of violence. Peckinpah's brilliant and misunderstood 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia' comes to mind, as does Cassavetes' 'The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie', Ferrara's 'King Of New York' and 'Bad Lieutenant'. 'Hana-bi' reminds me of those movies but Takeshi adds his own unique voice to the material. I was knocked out by it, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to movie fans who are fascinated by the relationship between art and violence. I don't think calling this movie a masterpiece is an exaggeration. Absolutely essential viewing!