Sonatine 
by Takeshi Kitano (1993)
An old and weary gangster named Murakawa is forced by his boss Kitajima to undertake one last mission to end a war between rival gangs.
Quote
“…𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯…𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯!”
“𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦?”
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺…!”
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺.”
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨…”
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵.”
(𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐰𝐚 & 𝐌𝐢𝐲𝐮𝐤𝐢)
SAME BEACH, SAME SEA
Death cannot be avoided, desired, or deceived. And life is its inevitable consequence.
The characters in this film know this well, members of the yakuza (Japanese mafia) sent on a suicide mission to the island of Okinawa.
Murakawa, the cold and cynical protagonist, knows it even better. So disillusioned with everything and everyone, so apathetic and insensitive to the reality around him, with his almost mocking grin conditioned by a partial facial paralysis.
There are no grand schemes; nothing seems to really matter. Everything appears as a passive acceptance of the end.
There is only the beach, the place to always return to after every mission.
The place where one regresses to childhood, where they play, joke, and dance with the illusion of stopping time, even for just an instant, to try to ease the grip and escape from that terrible anguish caused by the pain of living.
**Considerations**
Takeshi Kitano, a famous Japanese TV comedian, here in his fourth directorial effort, directs and stars in what is his first masterpiece.
A film that made him known in Europe (it arrived in Italy only in 2000) and goes beyond its reference genre.
A story where the sparse and basic plot serves only as a pretext to delve into deep reflections on human nature and also a severe critique of a society that seems to have lost all sense and value.
A perfect, varied, total work: profoundly realistic, raw, and relentless when needed, but also poetic, moving, and, in some sequences, even comic.
The ending of Sonatine is a gut punch, hard to forget, but also extremely true and inevitable.
A special mention also goes to the soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi: brilliant, effective, and essential enough to perfectly complement the images on the screen.
Sonatine is a must-see film, absolutely, at least once in a lifetime.
