@ In his debut film as director, the actor Kitano Takeshi himself plays the leading role of a violent cop. Sono Otoko Kyobo Ni Tsuki (Violent Cop, also known as Warning, this Man is Wild) is a genre film, a police film, which can be compared with Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies. This may not say very much, but Kitano Takeshi says even less. He is a charismatic actor who only carries the film with his glances and his walk.The film-maker plays detective Wagatsuma Ryosuke, who has an inimitable style of his own. When he sees a gang of young criminals beat up a tramp, he doesn’t intervene, but follows the ringleader to his parents’ home. Ryosuke forces his way in and beats the boy up in his own room. His superiors cannot approve of his methods and he receives one warning after another, which he accept in silence and apparent resignation. Wagatsuma would appear to be driven by a hatred of crime and is not concerned about his career. The motive for the hatred becomes clearer after his daughter is introduced into the story. She is mentally subnormal and a drug addict. She is the victim of unscrupulous dealers and the film leads almost systematically to the final showdown with the leader of the drugs gang.In Japan, Kitano Takeshi is best known as an actor, but he would appear to have a higher regard for directing: ‘When I look through the viewfinder of the camera, I see what adifference it makes whether you are on or off the set. Of course the real work happens on the set.’
