Sonatine(1993)
A ferocious man sleeps here.
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.
Movie: Sonatine
Top 10 Billed Cast
Aniki Murakawa
Miyuki
Uechi
Ryoji
Ken
Katagiri
Kitajima
Takahashi
The Hit Man
Kitajima Gang Member
Video Trailer Sonatine
Video: Sonatine - Trailer
Sonatine - Trailer
Nihilism and violence in Sonatine | BFI video essay
Sonatine (1993) clip - on BFI Blu-ray from 29 June 2020 | BFI
Recommendations Movies
Violent Cop(ja)
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
Boiling Point(ja)
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
Fireworks(ja)
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
A Quiet Place to Kill(it)
A race-car driver who's down on her luck is invited by her ex-husband's wife to stay at their plush villa. The two women form a bond, and it's not long before their mutual dislike for the husband culminates into a plan to kill him. As it turns out, though, they're not alone in plotting murder
The Facts of Murder(it)
A police inspector comes into contact with people of all types and dispositions during a grueling murder investigation.
Destinazione Piovarolo(it)
Antonio La Quaglia becomes the railroader in Piovarolo during 1922 meanwhile the fascism is raising. Later he marries a jewish woman. He has career ambitions but can not reach them.
Fellini: A Director’s Notebook(it)
Fellini discusses his views of making motion pictures and his unorthodox procedures. He seeks inspiration in various out of the way places. During this film viewers go with him to the Colisseum at night, on a subway ride past Roman ruins, to the Appian Way, to a slaughterhouse, and on a visit to Marcello Mastroianni's house. Fellini also is seen in his own office interviewing a series of unusual characters seeking work or his help.
Maruyama, the Middle Schooler(ja)
Katsuya Maruyama is a middle school student boy full of obscene thoughts. He then meets Tatsuo Shimoi, a single father who moves into the same apartment complex. Tatsuo Shimoi is a bit of an enigma: he doesn't get along with the housewives in the apartment complex and doesn't appear to work. Through his encounter with the mysterious single father, Katsuya grows as a person.
The Black Balloon(en)
Thomas is turning 16. His dad's in the army and they've just moved to a town in New South Wales; his mom is pregnant; his older brother, Charlie, who's autistic, has his own adolescent sexual issues. Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, when the three of them go for a walk, and during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a way to enter the world of teen romance and still be his brother's keeper, or is Charlie's disability going to prove more than Thomas can handle?
Cookie's Fortune(en)
Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.
Kikujiro(ja)
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Platform(zh)
China’s rapid changes from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, as seen through the lives of four performers in a theater troupe.
Thermae Romae(ja)
The story follows a Roman architect named Lucius, who is having trouble coming up with ideas. One day, he discovers a hidden tunnel underneath a spa that leads him to a modern Japanese bath house. Inspired by the innovations found there, he creates his own spa, Roma Thermae, bringing in the modern ideas to his time.
Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive(en)
Standup comedian Aziz Ansari ("Parks and Recreation") headlines his third standup special, where he shares his uniquely hilarious perspective on fears of adulthood, babies, marriage, and more. Ansari's look at life on the cusp of 30 years old is smart, unfiltered, and hysterical.
Shall We Dance?(ja)
A bored Japanese accountant sees a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves ballroom dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.
A Moment of Romance(cn)
After a young Triad member takes an upper-class girl hostage during his escape from a jewelry heist, the two find themselves falling in love, in spite of the repercussions caused by their forbidden relationship.
Tokyo Drifter(ja)
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
Similar Movies
Year of the Jellyfish(fr)
Chris, a sexy teenager who appears mostly bare-breasted on the French Riviera, has a crush on Romain, her mother's lover. In reaction to her inability to attract his attention, she experiments with other risque affairs.
Body Language(en)
The ambitious Betsy is happy: she gets promoted to a leading management position. Her happiness is spoiled only a little by problems with a boyfriend who feels neglected and an harassing boss. She realizes much too late that her secretary Norma is after her job and step by step tries to ruin her career and private life.
Black Wake(en)
Specialists gather in a top-secret facility to investigate a series of strange deaths on beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. One of the team's scientists examines video evidence to uncover a possible parasitic explanation for the fatalities. But when a determined detective sends her the crazed writings of a mysterious homeless man, the scientist slowly learns that the actual threat may be more dangerous -- and far older -- than anyone ever imagined. Can she convince her colleagues of the true danger before an ancient force rises from the sea to bring madness and death to all of humanity?
The Clan's Heir is a Trans Woman(ja)
The head of the Tatsumi family falls ill and dies after requesting that his son, who disappeared 15 years ago, takes over. The Tatsumi family, including the young head Ryu, decides to search for his son's whereabouts in order to keep his will. They finally find his son and learn he is now a woman. Meanwhile, the hostile Honjoukai are plotting to steal the Tatsumi family's territory.
Phoenix the Warrior(en)
Big hair, big guns, big personalities, and a serious lack of wardrobe. She-Wolves of the Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic story that features women--lots and lots of women--who leave little to the imagination as they battle each other in various junkyards and gravel pits to determine the fate of the entire world.
The Black Belly of the Tarantula(it)
Inspector Tellini investigates serial crimes where victims are paralyzed while having their bellies ripped open with a sharp knife.
Fallen Angels(cn)
An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him.
Dead or Alive(ja)
Ryūichi and his small gang of Triad vie for control of the Japanese underworld in a crime-ridden Shinjuku quarter while Detective Jojima tries to bring it down.
The Third Murder(ja)
A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.
Showdown in Little Tokyo(en)
An American with a Japanese upbringing, Chris Kenner is a police officer assigned to the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. Kenner is partnered with Johnny Murata, a Japanese-American who isn't in touch with his roots. Despite their differences, both men excel at martial arts, and utilize their formidable skills when they go up against Yoshida, a vicious yakuza drug dealer with ties to Kenner's past.
Kanto Street Peddlers: Shallow Clan Honor(ja)
The fifth and final chapter of the Kanto Street Peddlers series! Will the battle in Asakusa be enough for a complete victory?
The Godfather(en)
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
Zatoichi(ja)
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Rashomon(ja)
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith(en)
After five (or six) years of vanilla-wedded bliss, ordinary suburbanites John and Jane Smith are stuck in a huge rut. Unbeknownst to each other, they are both coolly lethal, highly-paid assassins working for rival organisations. When they discover they're each other's next target, their secret lives collide in a spicy, explosive mix of wicked comedy, pent-up passion, nonstop action and high-tech weaponry.
Tokyo Mafia: Yakuza Wars(ja)
After being excommunicated from the yakuza, Ginya Yabuki returns from the shadows as leader of his own crime syndicate known as the Tokyo Mafia.
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade(ja)
A member of an elite paramilitary counter-terrorism unit becomes traumatized after witnessing the suicide bombing of a young girl and is forced to undergo retraining. However, unbeknownst to him, he becomes a key player in a dispute between rival police divisions, as he finds himself increasingly involved with the sister of the girl he saw die.
The Orphanage(es)
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
Beverly Hills Ninja(en)
Haru, an orphaned American who washes ashore in Japan and is mistaken for the great White Ninja of legend. Raised among the finest Ninjas, Haru grows strong and big - very big. With the grace of all Three Stooges rolled into one body, Haru is an embarrassment to his clan. But when a beautiful blonde pleads for his help, Haru is given one dangerous, disastrously funny chance to prove himself.