Thanks to years of violence being shoved down our throats by pop culture and the media, many of us have very strong stomachs — we tend to become very desensitised. Very few filmmakers are capable of pulling off a tastefully violent film. A film with violence that actually shocks you. Cinematic Japanese legend Takeshi Kitano is one of those few filmmakers and Outrage is as good as it gets.
Nothing makes for a more compelling story than the honour and tradition of the Japanese Yakuza. Outrage encompasses all of it. Two feuding syndicates battle it out between honour and violence to keep the balance of power, while the local law enforcement does everything it can to take them all down. Takeshi Kitano not only directs the film masterfully, but delivers his always-ever incredible performance as the lead actor.
It uses clean and well-staged linear perspective style camerawork with a desaturated grey tone palette reminiscent of Mad Men showcase the beautiful Kanto region of Japan. Cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima shot it on 35mm film and has worked with Takeshi Kitano on most of his previous work.
Out of all the cities in the world, Shanghai might look the most futuristic. The rapid transformation that took it from a vertically challenged, agrarian looking town into a bustling metropolis with an arms race for a skyline actually might have actually advanced it decades beyond the present.
This drone video by Cian Greaney shows what I imagine the future to look like: cities with glass and steel skyscrapers shooting up into a gloomy, smoggy sky.