Hana-bi (1997)

Fireworks intertwines a story about familial love and the cascading consequences of Yakuza violence. At the core of its story, Hana-bi is a subversion of stereotypes. The deceptively feeling Detective Nishi can express his love for his dying wife without saying much at all. For his wife, he commits graphic violence and breaks the law that he had enforced all his career. It is an unspoken bond that rises above all that had defined him in his past. Throughout this movie, we feel the momentum of destiny trudge towards their deaths. Yet, Kitano’s ending of suicide is a final subversion of this momentum; we see them end it on their own terms with their planned suicides, as we watch the waves crash in moments of peace. Fireworks’ lyricism in its expression of familial love through flowers and art also displays a beautiful softness within the film.