Outrage Beyond (Takeshi Kitano, 2012)
Filmed and released after a years delay due to the terrible earthquake/tsunami that happened in 2011, Kitano's sequel to Outrage takes off exactly five years after the original. What cast members survived the initial carnage (admittedly not a lot) all return for Outrage Beyond, which yet again centres around rival Yakuza families raging a turf war against each other. Chaos ensues.
The twists in Outrage Beyond are pretty much given away on the cover. Kitano reprises his role as Otomo, despite being 'killed off' in the first film, and Fumiyo Kohinata reprises his role as crooked cop Kataoka. In fact, his dirty dealings are the key to Outrage Beyond, as he orchestrates schemes between all the characters to set off a gang war, just so he can further his career. His character is more like Gabriel Byrne's Tom Reagan in Millers Crossing.
After an hour of setting up the story and new characters - this time the Hanabishi family from Osaka get involved - the bodies positively pile up. Surprisingly, however, apart from one specific incident, Kitano refrains from the explicit violence which littered the first film. Here he concentrates more on the story and characters, and only tends to show the end results of the violence, rather than the violence itself. I know Kitano thought he could do a lot better after making the original film, and maybe he thought the violence in Outrage was OTT. Either way, I can't really pick out a favourite between the two. I alway felt the sub-plot about the Ghanaian embassy dragged a bit, whereas Kitano's trademark violence appears to be missing from the sequel.
All that aside, I must admit I really enjoyed watching Outrage & Outrage Beyond back-to-back on Blu-ray. Outrage Beyond is, like its predecessor, very well made, well-acted and well-paced. Fellow Kitano fans will rejoice, whilst those expecting yet another Violent Yakuza drama may well be disappointed.
