What is black and white and red all over? Takeshi Kitano's latest Gangster flick, Outrage! From the seemingly auspicious opening scenes where all the characters are dressed in every manner of $5,000 black suit and handmade white dress shirt (they look like they just stepped from the pages of GQ Magazine except perhaps for their "war torn" complexions), to endless processionals of black high-end luxury automobiles which impressively fill the screen. Kitano's film does not disappoint, unless of course you are looking for a solid story line with any meaning besides ostensibly senseless violence, hence the red.
It seems the film's title would have been more fitting if it were called "Power". The only thing I could surmise in the plot to be outraged about was the very first "slight" from one arm (or finger) of the family overcharging another for the services of a call girl, an apparent set up. Or perhaps the outrage is the continual retribution for slights and gaffes occurring between families. I wonder how any of them were still alive prior to the meal portrayed in the opening scene since it seems the slightest accusation will get you killed.
Attempting to find meaning in Outrage, leaves one with more questions than answers. Drugs and the incorporation of that "business model" is an ongoing theme in famous gangster movies we love like The Godfather, Scarface and Goodfella's, and it also plays a small part in Outrage so Kitano is following the recipe anyway. I think Kitano's sly irreverence could be poking fun at himself and gangster movies but he does it with a visual elegance that is completely watchable. The lush Japanese scenery, gardens, luxury and beach homes seem to contrast with the shots (literally) of the gangsters which Kitano keeps front and center. The mies en scene of Outrage guides the viewer between peaceful lovely visuals and violent mid to short shots of the "players". Is Kitano contrasting good and evil and making a point that everyone even the sociopath among us provides a perverse balance to life and death?
It seems the film's title would have been more fitting if it were called "Power". The only thing I could surmise in the plot to be outraged about was the very first "slight" from one arm (or finger) of the family overcharging another for the services of a call girl, an apparent set up. Or perhaps the outrage is the continual retribution for slights and gaffes occurring between families. I wonder how any of them were still alive prior to the meal portrayed in the opening scene since it seems the slightest accusation will get you killed.
Attempting to find meaning in Outrage, leaves one with more questions than answers. Drugs and the incorporation of that "business model" is an ongoing theme in famous gangster movies we love like The Godfather, Scarface and Goodfella's, and it also plays a small part in Outrage so Kitano is following the recipe anyway. I think Kitano's sly irreverence could be poking fun at himself and gangster movies but he does it with a visual elegance that is completely watchable. The lush Japanese scenery, gardens, luxury and beach homes seem to contrast with the shots (literally) of the gangsters which Kitano keeps front and center. The mies en scene of Outrage guides the viewer between peaceful lovely visuals and violent mid to short shots of the "players". Is Kitano contrasting good and evil and making a point that everyone even the sociopath among us provides a perverse balance to life and death?