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
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.
Violent Cop(ja)
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
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.
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 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?
Two Men in Manhattan(fr)
Two French journalists become embroiled in a criminal plot in New York City involving a disappeared United Nations diplomat.
The Ceremony(ja)
Oshima’s magisterial epic, centering on the ambivalent surviving heir of the Sakurada clan, uses ritual and the microcosm of the traditional family to trace the rise and fall of militaristic Japan across several decades.
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.
Ushijima the Loan Shark(ja)
Mirai Suzuki (Yuko Oshima) becomes responsible for her mother's debt which is owed to loan shark Kaoru Ushijima (Takayuki Yamada). To begin paying off her mother's debt, Mirai begins working at a dating cafe. Meanwhile, Jun (Kento Hayashi) is the ambitious and greedy company president for an event group. To borrow money, Jun visits Kaukau Finance owned by Kaoru Ushijima.
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun(ja)
A war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband's garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband's conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth.
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 Beast in the Jungle(fr)
The club as a place of endless (im)possibilities. A man and a woman wait here together for 25 years for a mysterious, all-changing event to occur. From 1979 to 2004: from disco to techno. A love story and an obsession.
Caged(fr)
Somewhere in Eastern Europe. Carole is a young nurse with a humanitarian aid group that has reached the end of its mission. But just then, the young woman and her two colleagues are kidnapped by strangers for mysterious reasons. Held captive, cared for and kept alive in an oppressive and sinister setting, the three prisoners soon discover with horror what their kidnappers truly have in store for them.
Dolls(ja)
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
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.
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.
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.
Similar Movies
The Hidden Fortress(ja)
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Dead in 3 days(de)
When Nina and her high school friends receive eerie text messages declaring that they will all die within three days, they dismiss it as a hokey prank - until one by one, the pals start turning up dead in the alpine countryside. With the cops stymied, Nina and her remaining friends must scour their past for clues to identify the madman before he kills them all.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III(en)
The four turtles travel back in time to the days of the legendary and deadly samurai in ancient Japan, where they train to perfect the art of becoming one. The turtles also assist a small village in an uprising.
Collateral(en)
Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours when Max realizes his fare is an assassin.
Godzilla(ja)
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.
Godzilla Raids Again(ja)
Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.
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.
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 Beach(en)
Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
To End All Wars(en)
Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon, Lt. Jim Reardon and Maj. Ian Campbell are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.
Elephant(en)
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
The Last True Yakuza(ja)
A made man during the height of Hiroshima's yakuza turf war must maneuver through the violence and betrayal inside the criminal underworld.
Clean, Shaven(en)
Peter Winter is a young schizophrenic who is desperately trying to get his daughter back from her adoptive family. He attempts to function in a world that, for him, is filled with strange voices, electrical noise, disconcerting images, and jarringly sudden emotional shifts. During his quest, he runs afoul of the law and an ongoing murder investigation.
Jail Breakers(ja)
Kamiki (Sonny Chiba) is a career criminal who is given the chance to break out of prison for the 33rd time. Afterwards Kaimiki teams up with a bunch of thugs that engineer prison escapes for money.
You Only Live Twice(en)
A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.
The Shogun’s Guard: Valor in Turbulence(ja)
The stormy tale of the Shinsengumi is told from its birth by master filmmaker Sasaki Yasushi, with an all-star cast based on the original story by Shirai Kyoji. The battles between the royalists and Shogunate supporters come to a fever pitch during the Gion Festival as the exclusionists plot to burn Kyoto and kidnap the Emperor. From its earliest beginnings as a group of ronin brought from Edo to protect the Shogun when he is in Kyoto to see His Imperial Highness, the group had to face difficulties both from within and without. Commander Serizawa Kamo's corrupt practices threaten the group's very existence, as they try to recover from the bad reputation he left them with. Their redemption comes when they learn of Katsura Kogoro plans to gather men at Kyoto's Ikedaya Inn for his attack on the city. Along with Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Soji, Kondo leads the group in an attempt to save Japan from the rebels.
Irreversible(fr)
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1(en)
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
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.