Sonatine is a Japanese Yakuza or mobster film. A popular genre of film in Japan, the Yakuza film can best be compared to a gangster film in the United States. Sonatine involves a weary mobster who must travel to Okinawa on a peacekeeping mission.  Of course everything is not as it seems.

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi: Zatoichi is a blind master swordsman who comes to a village and finds himself in the middle of feuding clans. Zatoichi must face down a Ronin who has been hired by a clan as a bodyguard.

CRITIQUE

If I were to rate Sonatine solely on its ability to hold my attention it would get a very poor rating indeed. Upon first look the film is slow paced, hard to follow, and lacking of any real depth. It was only after watching an interview with Quentin Tarantino in the Special Features portion of the DVD that I began to understand that director Beat Takeshi was attempting a revamping of the Yakuza genre of film. Takeshi apparently has taken pains to add romance to a genre of film that is typically based on violence and bloodshed. This is interesting to anyone who follows Japanese film in general and the Yakuza genre in particular, however for others who enjoy Japanese films for their martial arts choreography, graphic violence, and snappy editing, this film will disappoint. 

Zatoichi is much more entertaining than its counterpart in this double DVD edition.  Zatoichi more than makes up for the lack of violence in Sonatine. Both Takeshi as Zatoichi, and Tadanobu Asano as the Ronin display excellent mastery of their swords. The violence is plentiful and enjoyable even if the blood spurts are obviously digitally added in post-production. The film is full of beautiful shots, especially during some artfully shot fight sequences. The film becomes too calculated when Takeshi overpacks the ending with unexpected twists, so many in fact that when everything is said and done, the twists become expected.

THE VIDEO

Sonatine is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is very watchable; however there are some grainy spots.

Zatoichi is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is very good, much nicer than Sonatine.

THE AUDIO

Sonatine is presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The sound is clear and full.

Zatoichi is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The sound is excellent, especially during the fight sequences.

THE EXTRAS

Sonatine:

Prologue and Epilogue by Quentin Tarantino: Sonatine is a release by Rolling Thunder Pictures. Basically Tarantino finds films that he feels should reach a wider audience and brings them to the United States. The most successful film so far has been Hero. I would recommend watching the epilogue and the prologue before viewing the film; they serve to shed some light on the background of the genre of the film. Quentin also points out things to watch for in the film which, for me, gave a purpose to viewing an otherwise uninteresting film.

Beat Takeshi Interview: Takeshi goes into where the name Sonatine came from, and also explains that he would enjoy Quentin Tarantino’s films more if he spoke better English.

Zatoichi:

Behind the Scenes Special: This 40-minute special looks at everything from behind the scenes footage to press junkets to a little of the history of Zatoichi films.

Exclusive Interviews with Crew: Goes into detail on the training that the cast went through, how shots were setup, and the choreography that went into the fight sequences.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Standing alone, Zatoichi and Sonatine are not remarkable films. Zatoichi is entertaining, but I’ve seen better films from Japan, and Sonatine was an out and out bore. However packaged together with the extra features, these films make for an interesting look into Japanese cinema. I would recommend this set to anyone who loves Japanese films or is a cult film lover.