Boiling Point

Japanese superstar “Beat” Takeshi Kitano was best known as a comedian and talk show host when his career took an unexpected turn with crime thrillers that he both starred in and directed. Kitano added screenwriter to his resumé for his 1990 second feature, Boiling Point, which tells an offbeat story about a meek gas attendant and benchwarming minor league baseball player named Masaki (Yurei Yanagi), who finally rebels against insults and abuse. But when he lashes out against an ill-mannered Yakuza soldier, the local crime boss embarks on a campaign of harassment and beatings aimed at Masaki's co-workers and baseball teammates, after which Masaki flies to Yokohama to buy a gun and falls in with a charismatic but brutal gangster (Kitano) who has his own score to settle with the Yakuza. Perhaps Kitano's most oblique film, Boiling Point is primarily comprised of digressions, notably during the rambling middle section as the disgraced mobster takes Masaki and his pal on a tour of local night life, a sequence of poker-faced gags and dry ironic humor laced with brutal misogynist antics. Kitano adopts an odd, eccentric approach to the Japanese Yakuza thriller, often rambling, but occasionally rousing to life with some astounding sequences, including a flashforward featuring an adrenaline rush of images, plus a chilling yet comic eruption of a bouquet of flowers, and an underplayed apocalyptic climax followed by a tender coda. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a booklet. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)