Chi to Hone
Blood and Bones

Japanese 2004
http://www.lhp.com.sg/blood

Acclaimed actor/director "Beat" Takeshi Kitano turns in a riveting performance in the powerful and harrowing drama Blood and Bones! Kitano stars as Shunpei Kim, a Korean immigrant in Japan whose life is a troubled tableau of cruelty, abuse, and snarling, sudden violence. Kim is a despicable creature, who physically and sexually assaults his estranged wife, abuses workers at his fish cake factory, and gambles away his earnings instead of using them to feed his family. When his ruthless ways result in success, Shunpei opens up a loan-sharking business, bringing even more potential victims into his destructive orbit. As the years pass, Shunpei's continuing heartlessness reveals the ugly and even uniquely human in his daily life in Osaka's Korean ghetto. Shunpei is a cunning survivor, but at what terrible cost?

Director Yoichi Sai adapts the semi-autobiographical novel by Korean-Japanese author Yang Sok Gil into a brutally insightful look at Japanese society. Blood and Bones marks the first time Takeshi Kitano has appeared in a leading role under another director's watch in over ten years. Sai reportedly waited six years for Kitano to accept the lead role as Shunpei Kim, and refused to shoot the film with any other actor besides Kitano. His perseverance paid of, as Kitano turns in what may be his most compelling performance ever, creating a truly frightening, hateful, and yet disturbingly charismatic character. Blood and Bones is a powerful showcase for the veteran performer, and a must-see Japanese film.