Fireworks

"Thank you - thank you for everything."

1997 1h 43m JA

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 812🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●83Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 34,784

CrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With those close to him suffering their own tribulations, Nishi's methods become increasingly extreme.

“Thank you - thank you for everything.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Google Play MoviesRent

YouTubeRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Cast

Takeshi Kitano
Yoshitaka Nishi
Kayoko Kishimoto
Nishi's Wife
Ren Osugi
Horibe
Susumu Terajima
Nakamura
Tetsu Watanabe
Junkyard Owner
Hakuryu
Yakuza Hitman
Yasuei Yakushiji
Criminal
Tarô Itsumi
Kudo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Takeshi Kitano
Writers: Takeshi Kitano
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Takeshi Kitano, shot by Hideo Yamamoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yoshinori Ota shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Takeshi Kitano and Kayoko Kishimoto and Ren Osugi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Thank you - thank you for everything.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0119250 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Takeshi Kitano directs. Hideo Yamamoto behind the camera. Joe Hisaishi scores. Yoshinori Ota cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

129 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Takeshi Kitano, shot by Hideo Yamamoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Joe Hisaishi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Yoshinori Ota shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Takeshi Kitano and Kayoko Kishimoto and Ren Osugi carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Thank you - thank you for everything.".
7IMDB entry: tt0119250 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hideo Yamamoto
Original score: Joe Hisaishi
Editing: Yoshinori Ota
Production design: Norihiro Isoda
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Fireworks (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 83/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 34,784 votes
US box office: $500,000

Awards

23 wins & 23 nominations total

European Film Award for Best Non-European Film
Golden Lion

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Takeshi Kitano

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-03-08
★ 10/10
Drop Dead. Hana-bi (AKA: Fireworks) is written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. It stars Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi and Susumu Terajima. Music is by Joe Hisaishi and cinematography by Hideo Yamamoto. Yoshikata Nishi (Kitano) is a loose cannon police detective who quits the force after a tragic incident results in his partner, Horibe (Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. His retirement brings him the time to care more for his seriously ill wife Miyuki (Kishimoto). Nishi can find no peace, though, more so as he has borrowed money from the Yakuza to pay for his wife's needs, and they are growing impatient for the repayment... Very early in Kitano's superb slice of Japanese neo-noir there is a piece of graffiti on the wall, it says "Drop Dead", while Hisaishi's music is a devilish accompaniment to the scene. It's ominous and foreboding, setting the tone for what is to follow. Pic is deliberately paced, beautifully so, with the opening nonlinear approach and scattergun shifts in time adding a sort of psychological maelstrom to the impending narrative darkness. Yet to suggest it as a perpetually bleak picture is doing it a small disservice, for Kitano (himself working from a damaged psyche that occurred in real life) has this adroit eye for poetic beauty and human tenderness that marries up with bursts of violence and emotionally shattering passages of play. And it works brilliantly, with stabs of humour also filtering in via the outer frames. Nishi the character is a force of nature and a walking - brooding - contradiction, a man pained behind his sunglasses, his expressionless visage amazingly still saying so much. When he explodes the impact is doubly strong, mainly because dialogue is so sparse, but the interwoven visuals - very much a Kitano speciality - strike an almighty chord for the story. To which we edge towards the finale, which unsurprisingly brings beauty and infinite sadness. Unfussy camera work, sabre sharp editing (Kitano & Yoshinori Oota), elegiacal musical arrangements, art, kites and Kitano's intense performance, this rounds out as film making greatness. In fact, a masterpiece. 10/10
r96sk2022-03-05
★ 7/10
There's greatness in there, for sure, but <em>'Fireworks'</em> (or, the better title, <em>'Hana-bi'</em>) drags on for too long. I was with it for the first 45-55 minutes, but the final portion of the film really dragged for me; aside from a few moments, it kinda just repeats the same sorta scenes over and over. Like, personally, I got it... needed a bit more to it, in my opinion. There are some very good performances, no doubt. Takeshi Kitano is the obvious star of the show, though I was also impressed by Ren Osugi - who is just as excellent as the aforementioned writer, producer and director of this 1997 flick. The support cast are solid, while everything onscreen looks neat too. I did like this overall, but I can't say it hit me as much as it evidently has for others. Worth a watch, either way.
CinemaSerf2024-05-24
★ 7/10
You wouldn't want to be policeman "Nishi" (Takeshi Kitano). His young child died a few years earlier, his wife is terminally ill in hospital and his partner at work takes a bullet that renders him paraplegic. Unsurprisingly, he hits the skids a bit and his priorities become compromised. When his wife is told she can come home, he is determined to make that happen - but where will the money come from to facilitate her? Well he goes and borrows some money from some unsavoury types he has encountered in his career. With his sole raison d'être now being to spend as much time as he can with his ailing wife, some of his other decisions become more and more dubious and requiring of increasingly dangerous and violent action as his creditors demand repayment - in cash or in kind. This is really quite an effective mix of the romantic and the brutal. It illustrates the vulnerability of even the most robust of human beings when touched by tragedy and despair - and when that person is a cunning and capable killer, these risks for all become ever more exacerbated. There's not a great deal of dialogue here, it's mostly Kitano reacting to and dealing with the scenarios he faces trying to sustain that sense of stability and to deal with his crescendo of guilt and it's quite enthralling at times to watch. It does plod along a little at times, and can also be repetitive but it's a different style of dark drama that shows us an human side of someone not motivated by power, or money, or revenge.