After flooring audiences with OUTRAGE a Yakuza film that walked a fine line between traditional gangster tale and modern, perhaps even critically aware, storytelling, Takeshi Kitano has returned to take things a step further with followup OUTRAGE: BEYOND. I had the good fortune to get an early look at this second chapter when it was included in a select but powerful Midnight Movie sidebar in this year’s New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. Should the series extend to a third installment, which I highly anticipate being the case, this may very well be series’ ‘Empire (Strikes Back),’ a more somber, downbeat followup to its action-packed precursor.
But don’t be mistaken; the first OUTRAGE is nothing less than grim. It took viewers on a deliberately paced tour of shady deals, heated arguments, and acts of intimidation, all adhering to a code with an inner logic nearly impossible for outsiders to fully comprehend. The further the film progressed, acts of violence became more frequent and more brutal, particularly those carried out against Otomo (played by Kitano) and his gang, the Otomo group, whose prowess made them both a weapon and a target of the most powerful Sanno Kai Yakuza clan. As each member fell like dominoes, those waiting for a burst of retaliation would be left cold. The string of violence was presented in bleak business-like fashion, with one betrayal leading to another to another until a new regime would be left calling shots from the inner circle.
The violence here is also colder, more functional. There are less of the morbidly inventive, cringe inducing scenes of violence that pepper the first movie (though a few will brand themselves upon the brain, one of particular nastiness involving a batting range). But they are just as savage. This serves to breathe an even greater sense of realism and for that it is all the more ominous.
Part 2 also arguably trims some of the fat found in the first movie. Take for instance, its segments where the Otomo group tricks and blackmails an African diplomat into doing their bidding and essentially being under their thumb. They may add some humor and may even be based on real life events. But for the most part, they distract from the rising tensions between the various players as they jockey for positions of power. There is nothing like that in ‘BEYOND. Instead it maintains a sustained note of dread and build up to the grisly fates that await much of the cast.
Without a doubt, Keiichi Suzuki’s ice cold original soundtrack score drives home this sense of uneasiness. Used to even greater effect than in the first Outrage, it feels as though it could have been lifted from an ‘80s horror film. It will no doubt tickle the fancy of those who appreciated the retro leaning soundtracks of films like Drive and Beyond the Black Rainbow.
If the first Outrage was an elegy on disloyalty, then Outrage: Beyond is a steely eyed vision of comeuppance, the wheel of karma turning to crush those who would discard honor to feed one’s own greedy ambitions. This could not have been made any clearer than in the film’s startlingly abrupt, head on conclusion. Characters, both new and familiar from the first film are faced with the seeds sown by their treachery, as all the while a new power structure is brought into the picture in the form of a rival criminal organization based in Osaka.
As before, Otomo stands out as an anomaly. Dirt in the eye of the established power structures, causing them to rub and scratch in irritation. Unlike the first film, where this was caused by his over the top viciousness and flouting of typical mobster ambition, ‘BEYOND finds an Otomo that is weary of the game and unwilling to play the pawn-like role other powers that be have in mind for him. He is introduced into the sequel, having been believed to be dead after a vicious stabbing, being released from prison early. This arrangement is made by returning police officer specializing in organized crime Kataoka, whose plans for Otomo are no less manipulative or acidic than the criminal organizations rankled by the fact of his existence. He hopes that Otomo’s release will lead him to lash out against those forces that had led to his downfall, as well as those who are vying for control of the local crime syndicates. Otomo has other ideas on his mind, though.
The shifty cop Kataoka has a more prominent role than in the first OUTRAGE. He and other returning characters, as well as a few new ones have caricature-like personas that would fit perfectly into a Coen Brothers film. Standing out most, perhaps, are the Osaka-based crime boss Fuse’s two right hand men, Nishino and Nakata. The intensity of their pronounced speech as they bully about those that come before Fuse has an offbeat comedic element, something that is probably a hallmark of Kitano being at the helm of the production.
Also noteworthy is the stark absence of female roles in the film (the poster above gives an accurate sense of this). Even the first had very few women, and then they were placed in only the most cursory supporting roles. But I do not think I would be off in my estimation that female characters have less than a minute total onscreen time in ‘BEYOND. Here it is as if Kitano wants to increase the authenticity of his product. This Yakuza world is ruled and kept running by old, provincial men and, like it or not, that is exactly what we are getting with Kitano’s film. Or perhaps it is an insistence on distilling only the most essential components of this karmic tale. This stands in contrast to a vast collection of Yakuza tales directed by Takashi Miike, whose films include female characters as little more than victims and sexual objects, yet do little to evoke empathy or call for a critical look at the situation.
A standout feature of both OUTRAGE films, but especially ‘BEYOND, is that they in no way glamorize this violent lifestyle or make it seem cool. Not even a little. Those in power are calculating, lacking in empathy, and seem immobile, as if they’ve burrowed themselves into their powerful seats and are too set in their ways, or fearful of their downfall, to move. At the outset Kato (usurper of the Sanno Kai) and his number two, Ishihara (who betrayed the Otomo group in the first film) in control, the direct result of their double crossing transgressions in OUTRAGE’s conclusion. Any so-called honor or respect goes out the window as they are shown putting the older members of the group on notice: if they do not get with the times and learn the ways of the modern (re: economic) con, their days are numbered. It adds an interesting theme of generational conflict to the already blackened vision of a landscape where there is virtually no honor amongst thieves.
With this festival screening coming right around the same time as the film’s native Japanese release date, there is no telling its future quite yet. Let’s hope the success of the first film and fresh take on a classic genre will add some speed to OUTRAGE BEYOND’s path toward these shores.
