''Boiling Point'', known in Japan as , is a 1990 Japanese

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

written and directed by

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

, who also co-stars under his stage name Beat Takeshi. It was Kitano's second film as a director and first film as a screenwriter. ''Boiling Point'' is seen as an important first step in his development as an editor and as a director.Review of ''Boiling Point''
by Mike Bracken at CultureCartel.com

Plot outline

Masaki is a shiftless, inattentive young man who is a member of a losing local

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team, whose coach is threatened and attacked by a local

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

. He teams up with a friend to go to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

to purchase guns so they can get revenge. A psychotic

member named Uehara befriends them upon their arrival in Okinawa. Uehara has his own agenda of revenge, and as the story progresses the two boys drift further into his orbit, with unsettling results.

Cast

as Uehara *

Yūrei Yanagi is a Japanese actor and tarento. He was born in Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Yanagi was originally a member of Takeshi Kitano's gundan. In 1990 he continued to work with Takeshi for the film ''Boiling Point''. Afterwards, he appeared in ...

as Masaki *

Yuriko Ishida is a Japanese actress and essayist from Nagoya. She was the Japanese voice of the title character San from the 1997 animated film ''Princess Mononoke''. She is the older sister of Hikari Ishida, also an actress. Filmography Films *''Gokudo no On ...

as Sayaka * Gadarukanaru Taka as Takashi Iguchi *

Dankan is a Japanese actor and film director. He appeared in more than 30 films since 1990. Selected filmography Film Television References External links * {{Authority control 1959 births Living people People from Saitama (city) Japane ...

as Kazuo * Eri Fuse as Miki

Production

Kitano's trademark black humor suffuses the film in many ways: at one point, the boy finally does get a gun, but shoots out the windshield of his girlfriend's car by mistake. The film also features comedian Iizuka Minoru, also known as Dankan, who went on to become a Kitano regular (''

Getting Any? is a 1995 Japanese film, written, directed, edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano. ''Yatteru'' (やってる) is the colloquial form for ''yatteiru'' (やっている), ''yatteru'' coming from the Japanese verb ''yaru'', which is an informal word m ...

'') and

Katsuo Tokashiki Katsuo Tokashiki (渡嘉敷勝男, born July 27, 1960 in Okinawa, Japan) is a Japanese former WBA Light flyweight champion. He currently works as an actor and television persona, and runs own boxing gym in Tokyo, Japan. Childhood & Early Care ...

, who is famous for his

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

skills in Japan. He also played a guard in Takeshi Kitano's ''

Takeshi's Castle is a Japanese game show that aired between 1986 and 1990 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). It features the Japanese comedian Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who owns a castle and sets up difficult physical challeng ...

'' in the 1980s. The original title, ''3-4X Jugatsu'', is the final score of a baseball game played in the film. "Jugatsu" (October) was added to the title, because the most exciting games of baseball, play-off games, are played in October.

References

External links

* * 1990 films 1990s action films 1990s crime drama films Japanese crime comedy films Films directed by Takeshi Kitano Films set in Okinawa Prefecture Japanese crime drama films 1990s Japanese-language films Shochiku films Yakuza films 1990 drama films 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub