Four by Kitano
Programmed by Bijan Zadeh, Four by is a new series coming to Spacy, showcasing four films by a director whose work, though revered, often goes unseen.
The inaugural series kicks off with the works of multi-hyphenate Japanese director Takeshi "Beat" Kitano. Kitano’s filmmaking journey began with the gritty cop thriller Violent Cop. He later gained international attention for his existential yakuza film Sonatine, but remained underappreciated in Japan until his 1997 film Hana-Bi won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Once called “the true successor” to Akira Kurosawa, Kitano’s films are notable for their deadpan acting style, long takes, and philosophical undertones, blending humor and bleakness in ways that challenge traditional genre boundaries.
Takeshi Kitano, 1989, Japan, 103 min // FREE SCREENING
Four by Kitano
In his explosive directorial debut Japanese renaissance man-cum-comedian-extraordinaire Takeshi "Beat" Kitano plays vicious rogue homicide Detective Azuma who takes on a sadistic crime syndicate only to discover widespread internal corruption in the police force. Facing criminal charges for his unorthodox "Dirty Harry" type methods, Azuma finds himself caught in a web of betrayal and intrigue that sends him on a bloody trail of vengeance. But when his sister is kidnapped by a sadistic drug lord, Azuma’s tactics escalate towards an apocalyptic climax.