“SONATINE made in 1994, predates the [Takeshi Kitano's] art-house hit Fireworks by three years and is arguably stronger than its successor. In SONATINE, the filmmaker and star (under his acting name Beat Takeshi), plays a middle-aged yakuza gangster named Murakama who is considering retirement. Reluctantly, he accepts an assignment from his mobster boss to go to Okinawa to settle a dispute between two rival factions. With his lieutenant, Takahashi (Kenichi Yajima), he enlists a bunch of brash young thugs to accompany him. Once they reach Okinawa, Murakama begins to suspect that he himself is in danger of being murdered by rivals eager to appropriate his turf.” – Stephen Holden, New York Times

Part of the series “Summer Breaks,” playing weekends at 11:00am, July 12-September 27 in our ongoing Weekend Classics program.

R, 94 Minutes, In Japanese with English subtitles
Miramax, Japan, 1993

For more info visit http://www.ifccenter.com/films/sonatine/