BACK FROM THE BEYOND
This morning my mind felt spent. The first three days of the Venice Film Festival had been barnstormers. From Demme’s entertaining portrait of Enzo Avitabile to the pitch black humour ofParadise (Faith) on Friday night, aside from a few drawbacks and disappointments it was all going so well. What followed next was two days of what can only be described as bewilderment. Un-relatable characters and some frankly confusing plotlines had left me jaded. Was this possible? Bad films! At a film festival! Or, and I feared this most, had the sponge in my head simply soaked up all it could soak?
Then came today: A water soaked and busy excursion to Venice did little to liven things up early on but the first viewing of the day would soon change all that. With the help of some guns, a power drill and a particularly nasty pitching machine the mighty Takeshi Kitano blew all the cobwebs away. His new film Outrage Beyond is tough, blood soaked and an absolute blast.
The film is set in the classically uber-male world of the Tokyo Yakuza, a world of big men, solid wood and growling voices. We are shown a system which is very much in order; Mob bosses and police seemingly working in harmony and reaping the rewards; eradicating any foe with ease. That is before a vengeful Omoto (Kitano) is released from jail and the flood gates open. But not to worry, as the history of double crossings and betrayals is extensively rolled out in the opening third we are treated to the occasional caffeine shot of mega violence to keep us very much alert. Kitano has no problem with that particular task, bursting ears with pleasure with each punch that’s thrown.
When the last gunshot rang out the crowd rose to its feet. The longest and loudest ovation I’ve experienced this past week followed. And so it was, in a packed out Sala Grande on reassuringly grainy 35mm and with the great man himself in attendance I found exactly what I was looking for. A true breath of fresh air.
