Austin Lugo: Okay. As long as I don't touch it, it should be fine. All right. You ready? All right, good.

Andrew Harp: Go ahead. Sorry. I'm Austin Lugo. I'm Andrew Harp.

Austin Lugo: This is with nothing to

Andrew Harp: say. Let's talk about Hannah B.

Austin Lugo: It's. A long time since we've podcast. When's the last time

we

Andrew Harp: podcast? It was just like a bit of a hiatus. I would say. Maybe like a few months, a few month hiatus. Been busy. Yeah. We just had other things. You gotta do a lot things to do, but you know, it's fun to be back. It's cool. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, yeah, we're back.

I, personally, myself, haven't been watching a lot of movies. At least as much as I have been, like this past year. Yeah. And I think Keano was a, is a good, uh, good director to get into, to get over that slump,

Austin Lugo: I would say. Yeah, for sure. It's been, it's been a hot minute since I've kind of dedicated to watching a movie.

I mean, I've been watching him like every now and then, but it's been busy. We've been so busy. Glad to get back into it. I'm pumped. I'm ready. So what is this movie about, Andrew? You're gonna have to, that's do a lot of explaining

Andrew Harp: why, what the,

Austin Lugo: what's wrong? I don't know. I don't fully understand this movie.

You mean you didn't like it? No, I liked it. I just don't

Andrew Harp: get it. You mean just like basic plot stuff

Austin Lugo: or like what? Yes, I don't, I don't get basic, basic plot stuff.

Andrew Harp: Well, what are you confused about? What's like the number one thing you're confused about? I don't know. I Okay. I guess we'll get into it. I mean, I don't know.

Austin Lugo: I mean, I, I guess I understand like there's this guy and Yeah, he, he owes a loan shark money and so he robs a bank. Yeah. And, and then like they, they still come after. But then there's also the other guy who's painter.

Andrew Harp: Yeah. His partner who becomes a, yeah. Um, he loses his, uh, legs.

Austin Lugo: And how, how does he lose his legs again?

He's shot

Andrew Harp: at the beginning of the movie. At the beginning. Shot by a guy.

Austin Lugo: Yeah. Right. Okay. I, I don't know why, uh, I struggled to grasp the plot of this movie. I, I've spent most of this movie kind of confused.

Andrew Harp: It's a very floaty movie. Yeah. Um, but it's a very beautiful movie. I would say it's a very effective movie, but we'll get into it.

Here's some important context though, about this movie. So this movie Hannah b Fireworks, released in 1997, directed by Tekashi Catano. So Kaan was an interesting guy because before he started directing movies, he was actually already very famous. He kind of has the same kind of trajectory as someone like Jerry Lewis.

Okay? Or like Mike Nichols, he became famous. in Japan? In this country of Japan for being a comedian. I think he, I believe he was in a comedic duo. Oh, okay. You know, like Martin Lewis. Yeah. And, but then after that he became very famous as like, like I said, like an actor. He's acted in a bunch of movies. He's a comedian, he's a television host.

But then he started directing movies. And that's probably what he's most known for internationally in Japan. I think he's known for a lot of different things, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, he's like a cultural, you know, icon. Like I think Touchstone. Yeah. He's an icon there, but I think internationally he's just known for his movies.

Um, but this movie I think is particularly important because I want him, the Golden Lion. Oh, at the Venice International Film Festival. And I think Catano even says that like, um, you know, with that award it kind of helped him, uh, establish himself as like more of a credible filmmaker, even though at that point I believe Hana B is like his like fifth or sixth movie or something like that.

Okay. And I mean, and I would say that like, Even before hbe, he has made movies that are better or about as good . Um, but like with that award, he became a claim filmmaker. But another piece of context is that this movie was released in 97. In 94, Catano got involved in a motorcycle accident that Yeah, partly paralyzed right at the side of his face.

Oh. Another important thing is that of course in the movie you see a lot of paintings. Yeah. Those are all kit's, paintings that he painted after he got into his accident. Wonderful painter. They're very like amateur paintings, but I like them. Yeah, they're very good. There's something

Austin Lugo: like, like, even though they are, they, they're very amateur, but there's something very creative.

About them. Like there's something strange and weird to kind of almost a little David Lynch in like in his work, how his like , you know what I mean? Cause like David Lynch's work, like it's, it's pretty like amateur drawings too, but there's something like just kind of out there about his work and I think, yeah, even though this one's not as like, His work isn't as dark or, you know, it still has that surreal quality to it, I guess, is kind of,

Andrew Harp: they're all over the movie.

They're all, they're like on the walls of every, like, interior in the movie, like a bar, a hospital. They're everywhere. They're everywhere. Yeah. And like I said, you know, those are were made after he got into his accident. Another thing that's important to point out Catano is that he directs, writes, edits and stars in his movies

Austin Lugo: so much.

He's got so much going

Andrew Harp: on. Yeah. Yeah. He is got a lot going on .

Austin Lugo: I mean, even though he is got a million things going on. Seemingly simultaneously, there is such a sense of patience and just a willingness to to wait and to hold on images. I mean, the editing of this film could be described as. Almost slow in the sense that it's just it'll hold on an image forever and just wait and wait and has no interest in sort of entertaining, I suppose would be one way to put it.

The audience, I mean, even, you know, as we get into it, the action scenes. They almost never actually show the action. They could just show the before. Yeah. And then the after effects of the action scene, like you never, almost never actually see any of the action

Andrew Harp: itself, or it goes by extremely quickly, especially in comparison to everything else that's based in the movie, but like, I guess like to get into like the plot of the movie.

Mm-hmm. , like I said, Keano, he like stars in it and he plays a police detective. He has, you know, Kitana I think is known for, he, he's made a lot of different movies, but he is known for his kind of like gangster, Yakuza cop movies. Mm-hmm. . And in this, he plays a former police detective who had to retire and his wife is sick.

Austin Lugo: Leukemia or

Andrew Harp: some sort of cancer has like, yeah, she's dying of cancer and he has to borrow from money, like you said, borrow money from the Yakuza. Is that to pay the medical bills hard to pay him. Is that why? Okay. Yes. That's the way to pay his medical bills is to borrow money from the Yakuza, and they're getting angry at him because he is not paying them back.

I, I love the intro of the movie, by the way, that little intro with like the music and the editing. I just love that part of the movie where it like opens up with like, I think like a painting and like with the music and everything, and you get the title car, like the beautiful title card, and it's like on a bridge, I think like some like bridge.

I don't know what bridge it is or what. I just love that intro, but it, it, it's indicative of his, of the way Kao's movies are where it'll like, kind of like cut on, it'll kind of like spin around on a dime where it'll like cut to like kit's character, like at his car, and these guys are like eating sushi on his car and then in his, and then he fucking like, beats them up in a second.

And then he's, and then the guy is like, um, like washing, like washing his car because they were eating like food on top of. And no dialogue is exchanged. Yeah, it's, and in fact, very little dialogue gets exchanged in the movie. So

Austin Lugo: little dialogue, especially between him and his wife. I'm trying to, does the wife ever say Yeah, a single line of dialogue?

Andrew Harp: I can't really think of it. Oh, at the very end. Yeah.

Austin Lugo: She has one line of dialogue, which is really intriguing, especially since, I mean, no one in this has a whole lot of dialogue. It is mostly shown kind of through not even action so much. It's almost a, in a lot of ways, it's a movie about the things that aren't shown right.

The things that aren't seen, the things that are kind of behind the camera. Sort of self-aware in the sense that it is a movie like not only in the sense of how it refuses to show actions, but almost all of the kind of the big moments in this movie. All of the kind of climactic moments, especially in the end, which we'll talk about later, they're all.

Off screen. It's all kind of insinuated suggested, but rarely does he actually show what's going on or you know, you'll have these kind of jumps in time again, where you're kind of missing what would traditionally be like the big moments of the film, like the main action of the film, which I think is part of the reason why upon first watching I was a bit confused.

Andrew Harp: Yeah. The jumping in time is a little confused. Yeah. Is a little confusing. There's this incident that basically haunt. Nhi. Right. It's an incident where he's a detective and he is with his all, all of his guys, and they have to track this guy down. Yeah. And this scene, like I, like we talked about, kind of jumps around throughout, like the movie.

Mm-hmm. , so a little confusing, but you know, basically the idea is that NHI and his and his partner Hari. They have to track this guy down. So like there's the stakeout where they're trying to find the guy. I think you said he committed a massacre or like a rampage or something like that. Something like that.

So like they gotta get this guy, so they're like staking out his place. And they talk about his wife too, about seeing his wife right. In the hospital. Yeah. Because they're all, they're all worried about his wife and him. And then one point her, her. He agrees to do, um, a stakeout while NHI goes and sees his wife in the hospital.

Mm-hmm. and the other two guys leave. So he is like, by himself doing the stakeout, which I mean, you know, you can kind of figure at that point that like, oh, something bad is gonna happen to her. Yeah. Yeah. And

Austin Lugo: of course that's when the guy gets shot and ends up in a wheelchair. And that's kind of, man, I

Andrew Harp: love that cut.

Where like does, uh, NHI the lighter where he's No, yes. With a cigarette. Yeah. When he's smoking cigarette, like where NHI goes in and he sees his wife and they both don't talk at all. They're just like sitting there. And then right when he lights a cigarette like the, there's like a. Very quick shot of a gun getting shot and you see her Reba getting shot.

Crazy. It's wonderful. It's amazing.

Austin Lugo: Just overall, I mean, the editing in this is just absolutely brilliant, but I mean, that moment it's so good is just like the first kinda like really thoughtful edit. They're like, oh, oh shit. It's, it's an incredible

Andrew Harp: moment. Yes, it's a series of very thoughtful edits, I

Austin Lugo: would say.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So his partner. And now he feels bad about it. And his partner's all sad

Andrew Harp: and well, not only that too, but another, uh, someone died too, right? At the thing. Right, right. Like a couple of them that go down into the subway and they're able to find him and tackle him. Mm-hmm. , I love how he tried to catch him.

He like jumps out of like a, like a newsstand. . That's the other thing about his movies. This movie and along with other movies, you know, Katana's a comedian. So there is some, there's some jokes in the movie. Yeah. They're very, very light jokes. Mm-hmm. , but they're, they are in there for sure.

Austin Lugo: They're kind of just these, these little moments.

Yeah. And they're taken very straight face, you know, there's no, uh, I mean, they're humorous moments, like that moment and a couple other moments in the film. Right. But they're kind of just like set off to the side, which is endearing almost. I don't know. It creates a, a sense of humanity, I guess, in the films.

Andrew Harp: Yeah. Cause like, they're silly. I like when, um, yeah. I like when, um, like, uh, one of the guys, one of the detectives is like, oh, doesn't his wife have cancer? Isn't she gonna die? And then her eBay's like, Hey, shut the fuck up, . Like, cuz that's bad luck. Yeah. And. The detective is with another guy later in the movie who says the same thing, like the guy who got in trouble and then he also scolds him.

like, I just like, it's like different levels of like scolding depending on where you are. You know, it's like, that's funny as fuck. It's nice, like you said, it's like not like crafted. Well, maybe they are, but you know, they're not really like, like you said, they're moments Yeah. That like these little like, kind of like humorous moments.

Um, they really kind of, Makes the movie a little bit lighter. Mm-hmm. .

Austin Lugo: And not too long after this is when we learned that NHI is just a, for unexplainable reasons. I mean, I guess because he's a former police detective or, or something. He is a total badass. I mean, he just a killing machine of sorts.

Andrew Harp: He's insane.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In all those movies, he's a bad. Awesome. Perfect. I love it. But he doesn't, he doesn't really talk that much in this movie. Of course. Just specifically talking about this movie. Mm-hmm. , he does not talk very much at all. Especially No. Of the movies I've seen, he doesn't really talk very much at all.

Mm-hmm. , he really kind of just lets him, his, I don't know, he really just kind of lets his being kind of say what needs to be said. You know, when he is like sitting down or, I love his like sunglasses. He wears sunglasses a lot through the movie too, and he is got these like crazy looking sun. The fits and his fits in the movie are great.

He looks great. And even just behind the sunglasses, I don't know, like Keano, he, he just, he's a good actor. He's maybe not like the greatest actor in the world. But I don't know. He's able to convey like a lot of like pain and I don't know, suffering. Even when he is just kind of like sitting and wearing

Austin Lugo: sunglasses.

Yeah, there's a lot of. Nuance in his performance, he doesn't really smile much or at all in the film. He kind of does have almost a stone face look like 90% of the time. And yet despite that, right, despite the fact that seemingly he's almost expressionless and on top of that, he is wearing sunglasses.

Right. So you're hiding kind of like the main, I

Andrew Harp: think mechanism. It might also be because he's a little, he's still a little self-conscious about his paralysis. Sure, yeah.

Austin Lugo: Yeah. I, I'm sure that that's also. Part of it, but, but even so there's this, I don't know, and maybe it's just the world around him that's created the way other people react to him.

Or maybe it's in his body language, but there is something beneath all of this, and I'm not exactly sure. Yeah, he's great. How to, how to explain what it is. But you know, despite the fact that he's not performing in the same way, say, I don't know, uh, fucking Spencer, Tracy or whatever performs there's something.

Touching and, and intriguing in his performance. And you can tell that, you know, whenever he doesn't have his sunglasses on, which, you know, there's not a ton of moments, but there are moments every now and then, like there's this kind of sadness or darkness underneath it all.

Andrew Harp: I love it too when, um, after the fact, you know, after that detective gets killed and his friend gets paralyzed mm-hmm.

and stuff. Mm-hmm. Like, I just love all the little moments where they're like, you know, it's not your fault. Like people keep constantly telling him it's not his fault, . It's like very sad, but he very

Austin Lugo: much believes it is his fault. Which I

Andrew Harp: mean like Right, right. He feels super bad. Yeah. Which

Austin Lugo: understand, I mean, it's not his fault, but then again, it kind of is.

It's not his fault really, I guess ,

Andrew Harp: I mean, I don't know. I mean, it is a bit, it's hard to say. Yeah. But nonetheless,

Austin Lugo: He's a total badass. It's very sad. Yeah, he's he's a very sad badass,

Andrew Harp: but he is a total, he's a badass. But he can do like anything, right? He can do so many cool ass crazy shit. But the only thing he can't do though is protect the ones that he loves.

He couldn't save his daughter from dying. He can't save his wife from dying and he can't, he couldn't save his friend from getting paralyzed. Like he wasn't able to do any of those things. Even though like he can do so much it, it's very,

Austin Lugo: Sky was a, just a super sad life. And maybe that's, uh, part of his badassery and that first moment of violence, uh, outside of the gunshots of course, is when I assume he kills that guy with the chopsticks or at least stabs him in the eye.

No, he doesn't.

Andrew Harp: Oh, that's right.

Austin Lugo: No, he

Andrew Harp: That's right. Seen later. Yeah. The scene in the bar is amazing. Stuff like that is so much fun in, uh, these katana movies. Like the violence is so quick but very impactful. It's very rough. Hits the chopsticks and fucking like stabs him in the eye. I think he maybe kills the other guy.

No, no, that guy's in it later too. That's kids. Something really hard. He doesn't kill. Okay. But he definitely shows 'em both lessons. Yeah. And in this movie too and in other Kitana movies that I've seen, like he'll, like he'll, his actors, they'll hit each other. There's not a lot of simulated like hitting in his movies for the most part.

Obviously if you get like hit with like a chair or something, it's probably simulated or something like that. But like people will like slap each other around in this movie and in others and they're really doing it. The

Austin Lugo: hits in this movie, all of it feels very visceral and, and part of it I think is just cuz.

Every time anyone hits anyone, there's just a shit ton of blood. Like there's always blood just coming at people's faces and mouths and all of this shit. I love the moment where they're like, two of the guys are standing at his car again. They keep trying to like threaten this guy, which I don't know why they keep trying when this guy's clearly just.

Beats the shit up everyone that's,

Andrew Harp: yeah. He beats, he beats every, yeah. He's so good at beating up everyone, but they're

Austin Lugo: like threatening him. And, uh, NHI just like punches the guy in the face. The guy falls to the ground and then he like drops a knife, like right in front of his face and he like catches it right before.

Oh, that's

Andrew Harp: so good. Amazing. Yeah, I love that. That's a good moment. Yeah. Yeah. He's so fucking cool. But he's so sad. Like he does everything with such melancholy and such sadness, . It's just, yeah, once again, like that character, it has so much baggage, but he doesn't really have to say anything to really like convey it, which once again, I think is just, you know, I think a testament to just, you know, the writing and just the acting overall as we've discussed, you know, and the

Austin Lugo: very next thing we learned that, or at.

From my perspective, you kind of assume that his wife is not gonna make it the right, it's just gonna pass away. They never go out and say it. But between his conversation, between the doctor and him, like it's very clear. Like he's like, go on a trip and do all this stuff. And I think it's interesting how much of this film.

Not only do they visually kind of avoid the action or the main events of it, but no one ever seems to be talking to each other. They're kind of all talking around each other, like no one ever kind of talks about the things that need to be talked about, which is a very. Surreal experience. And I, I think, uh, it adds to his sense of isolation, right?

No one really talks to him, even his wife, right? There's almost no conversations between him and his wife. And as a viewer, you feel his sense of isolation because you kind of, everything's kind of happening around you. And his weird sense of time dilation and, and the way you experience the film, it's a very, uh, lonely existence I suppose.

Andrew Harp: Scenes in the movie are also very short. They happen very quickly. Like a moment will just happen in a second and then it'll disappear. Like I'm thinking of like, um, the introduction of the guy that he, uh, buys like all the cop car stuff from, like, he just has that moment. And it obviously, it, it kind of, it kind of comes back around little later, like in a joke.

He like, he like gets into a fight with like a guy that he hit or something, like he got into a car accident and then he drives away and hits it again. It's like a good moment. It's just like a funny mo moment to like kind of set up that character. I guess. Like it's just, it doesn't really like add anything to like the overall like arc of the story, but yeah, like he decides that he wants to rob a bank.

Essentially at the beginning of the movie, he kind of meets and talks with all these people that had been affect. , you know, from his job. Basically he meets like the widow of the guy who died. He meets Habe, his friend, who is just so depressed. He is like doing really badly. and he's clearly suicidal and his like wife and like child aren't like with him anymore.

Like they left him, don't wanna be with him anymore cause he's paralyzed and his wife is now living at his home because essentially like it's over, like it's done. You know, she's basically just chilling at home now. So he decides to rob a bank cuz there's so many different things you know, that he has to take care of and that part of the movie is nice.

It's basically like, just like the easiest heist ever. Not the easiest heist, but he plans it out really well.

Austin Lugo: Again, what's so fascinating about this heist is what in most movies would kind of be like this really big. Spectacle and not to criticize Yi uh, great heist film like Oceans 11 or, uh, you know, one, one of the, the dozens of great heist films that makes this really big thing out of, out of the he or even what the, what was it called?

The Friends of some Eddie Coyle,

Andrew Harp: the Friends of Eddie Coyle. Yeah. What we

Austin Lugo: talked about. Yeah. Probably one of the greatest high swims of all time. But in this, it's just, I'm gonna rob a bank and then like, there's just like a scene. I mean, he plans it out and you know, there's a couple of scenes where like he goes to the junkyard and figures some stuff out, but in the end, like the whole heist is probably like, what, two minutes on screen?

I mean, he just walks into a bank. Yeah. Dresses a cop grabs the money and then drives away. Like there's no, like, I guess. Perhaps you could say like, this film refuses to be it's saccharin or, or to dramatize anything. Like, it's just like,

Andrew Harp: it's a bit of a, it's a bit of a genre subversion, I think from like, just kind of like typical cop Yakuza heist stuff, you know?

I think that in Kitano probably knows that cuz I mean, he's made these movies, you know, he, he's very familiar with them.

Austin Lugo: I mean, it's still a great scene, right? It's, it's a really well thought out.

Andrew Harp: Right. It's great. There's no, there's no dialogue. No dialogue, no nothing. It's just

Austin Lugo: like buys a taxi, he paints it and he fucking drives off.

He goes to a bank and then he just like, he just robs it like, no one makes a fuss. There's no like, big chase scene or like, you know, people yelling or screaming. It's just like this little couple minutes on the screen and it's just like the problem is immediately solved. It's worked out .

Andrew Harp: Yeah. They don't catch 'em.

He just is able to easily evade these people. And, uh, yeah, like you said, it's just, uh, it is just, it's, it is a satisfying watch, but it's very, uh, toned down. The movie, of course is very beautiful looking. I don't know if we've mentioned, it's very beautiful looking movie. You get a nice mix of Japanese sites, you get like cities.

You get like more mountainous regions, you get like valleys and beaches. I think Katana likes to do that. I think he likes to kind of like have like a variety of backgrounds, you know, like in his movies in Japan, like he does, he doesn't just wanna focus on like a city he wants to focus on, like them going to a city and then a beach.

And then like, you know, of course later on the movie, they're out in the snow. You know, you get like just, and, and he's able to, I think, frame everything very perfectly. Yeah. The,

Austin Lugo: the film it has. A large variety of. Textures almost to it, right? Again, you talk about like, you know, it goes to the beach, but then there's also the snow and then there's the city and there's country life.

It feels like you get a very full view of this world that he's created without ever being inundated with like, oh, here's like, you know, here's exactly where this building is, or here's where this person lives compared to this person. Like, it's just like,

Andrew Harp: yeah, it does. Yeah. It, it just feel like we like really kind of travel around a lot, and I mean, the movie's less than two hours.

It's kind of great how he is able to kind of like really jump around a lot. Very fluidly.

Austin Lugo: Yeah. And, and the, the second half of the film, a lot of the second half of the film is him. It's just him and his wife. Wife. Right? Is it wife? Wife. Okay. Wife. I didn't know, feel like it was girlfriend or wife or partner or whatever.

Uh, anyways, it's just him and his wife just like chilling out and it's,

Andrew Harp: they're fucking chilling.

Austin Lugo: It's a lot of chilling. Like there is a lot, a lot of chilling

Andrew Harp: going on. Yeah, cuz like he does, he, so he like, yeah, commits a bank robbery. And then he basically disperses the money to the widow who works at like a, like a takeout restaurant to his wheelchair friend Hari Bay.

And he also sends money, of course, to the loan sharks, but they're still angry. He

Austin Lugo: paid off the money, but he didn't pay off the interest. So they're, they're pissed. Which of course they also know that he robbed a, well, I guess they're not sure that he robbed a bank. They, they kind of like joke about it, right?

They're like, oh, he must have robbed the bank. They're

Andrew Harp: like, no, he would never do that. How was he able to pay us? Yeah. .

Austin Lugo: Of course they're, they're lone sharks, so they're not gonna be happy no matter how much you, uh, yeah.

Andrew Harp: You pay them more. Yeah. , it's probably a good time to kind of talk about too, about his friend Habe that's kind of like the whole section with like a bunch of different interesting parts where he confides to him, habe confides to him that like he wants to like take a painting cuz he's not doing anything.

He's just sitting around and I think he nichey sends him paint supplies. . He kind of goes on this little journey where he's like painting all these different pictures and stuff. He like, he's like wheelchair around and he like, there's that scene where he sees all the flowers, which is a very like out there scene honestly.

But it's a good one I think.

Austin Lugo: I love that they kept that scene in cuz it doesn't necessarily add much. To the plot at all. It's a long scene, probably a couple minutes long where it's just like flower, painting, painting, painting. And um, it's not adding like anything, it's not moving the plot forward at all.

But it doesn't matter. I mean, it's a beautiful scene. It's beautiful. The music in this is, is absolutely wonderful.

Andrew Harp: Yeah. Music by Jo. Uh, hi Sahi, who's the studio? Ji Lee, um, company.

Austin Lugo: Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. The, I thought it was, it was pretty familiar, but it's a beautiful moment and for a film that's so patient, you know, even though it's as patient as it is to be willing to kind of take this moment to, uh, consume these images is.

It's fascinating and interesting and brave, Andrew. It's very brave. . Yeah, it's brave.

Andrew Harp: Yeah, I agree with you. No, I agree with you. It's a very nice, like you said, like you've already said, you know, it's a very good moment and um, I like that character sometimes. Like I, sometimes whenever he appeared on screen, I couldn't help a laugh a little bit because it's just so kind of like, for me, kind of like funny just how like fucked up his life is, you know what I mean?

Like hilarious. Just like, yeah. It is just, well, it's just kinda like, I don't know. It's very movie e I guess like just kind of. A character who's like paralyzed and his wife and his daughter left him and he's got nothing and, but he takes up painting like, I don't know. There's something kind of dramatic about that, but I'm okay with it just because like obviously the paintings are very personal to Kitano.

He cares, he likes to them a lot. I like them. I think, I like how they look. And I think that that character, that character is probably one of the very few, um, I would say good arcs like, uh, positive arcs that happens in the movie where by the end he sort of, I guess like, I guess symbolically decides not to kill himself basically.

Austin Lugo: Which of course, uh, juxtaposes our, our main characters who. Very long rump, and they're traveling to all these places, uh, all these different beautiful locations. And of course that scene doesn't end too happily. But you know, even with this right, you can see that NHI has this, uh, dark side, which of course we've seen multiple times before.

But even like, you know, there's the guy that's uh, just skipping rocks and he talks to like the wife and he is like, Hey, those flowers are dead. He's like, bowling her. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, he's not, not the nicest guy in the world. And then Mehi just. Beats the shit outta Scott.

Andrew Harp: Yeah, he destroys him . He really, he really wall ups him.

Uh, yeah. He doesn't give a shit.

Austin Lugo: Just doesn't give a shit outta anything. And he like punched him in the face and then he basically just waterboards this poor man. Yeah. He gets him. And of course, uh, we have one of those other silly scenes, right. The mobsters, whatever you wanna call 'em. Lone shark people come back.

The Yakuza, the Yakuza, and. This guy's like sitting near the ocean or whatever, like waiting for his clothes to dry out and you just watch him like sprint off again. Like yeah, he runs away just like a a little silly moment. You know? There's like not much taken into it. And of course, you know, they're threatening him and they're being all mean or whatever, and he just, Obliterates them again.

Andrew Harp: It's a good, it's a good time. Yeah. Like you said, the yaku are after him because he needs to pay off his full debt. Um, but also the, the, the detective guy from earlier in the movie is also looking for him because I think he knows that he robbed a bank. So he's investigating, trying to find him as well.

And while, like you said, like he and his wife are kind of hanging on the countryside, you know, probably just trying to like get away from. Everything and have like, you know, a good time with his wife. They, you know, eat food. They hang out at the beach. Uh, they light fireworks, you know, that funny moment where he lights a firework and it doesn't go off.

And then he stands by near it and it goes off. You know, they're just kind of chilling. They go up into like the snowy mountains and they stay at like this, like nice place. They're just, he, she runs over his hand. Oh, geez. Yeah, on time, which is funny. She falls through the snow. Like, you know, it's just really just them kind of like hanging out and it's just, it's chill as

Austin Lugo: fuck.

It really is. I mean it's, it's about as chill as you can get. And I'll admit personally, I found the second half to move a bit slowly, because again, there's very little dialogue. There's not a lot going on. It is very chill. So you do definitely have to be in a certain. Mode to, to properly experience it.

And I think looking back on it, I enjoyed a lot more than I did in the moment, especially because like I know where things are going and, and how it's all gonna end, but in the moment it did feel a little slow for me. Like it was a little, it was paced that, you know, it was kind of waiting for something to happen.

Waiting for, because those action scenes are just so few and far in between and yet so wonderful that. I definitely at times kind of wish there, there was a bit more of that, not that there's anything wrong, you know, with them chilling. I mean, those were very beautiful and, and calm scenes and, and fun and silly.

But I think at the moment, and, and not so much looking back, but definitely at the moment, I kind of wish there was more, uh, action

Andrew Harp: going on. It definitely picks back up a little bit in terms of like, I don't know, after they, uh, go to the resort in the, uh, snowy mountains. Where, you know, the Yakuza, they, they pay him a visit and he's like a fucking like Superman guy.

Like, he, he really is, he like, stop, he like stops from being shot by, put his like finger in, like, kind of like the, uh, in the gun, which is cra I've never seen that in a, I've never seen that in a movie before. Uh, where he like, yeah, he's able to like, stop a gun from, like a gun, from, you know, firing. I forget the thing.

It's the thing that you pulled back.

Austin Lugo: It's you cock it back and then like Yeah,

Andrew Harp: he puts like in that thing. Yeah, he's able to stop it, get insane, and then he like, beats up that guy. And then he goes the, the movie's kind of funny too because one thing about these Yakuza cop movies is that they build up that one henchman, Yakuza guy with like, who wears like the white, uh, turtleneck.

They build up that guy as like a badass, like henchman guy. And you think he's gonna have like a bigger part in the movie than he does because like these movies always build up like a, he like a really badass henchman guy who is probably gonna battle like our, our main character. Yeah. But, but, but when, but what he does, Mishi does is that he goes inside of the car where the boss and all of his henchman guys are, and he just fucking.

Murders them immediately.

Austin Lugo: He

Andrew Harp: immediately murders them just for two seconds. He just like shoots everybody. And even the main henchman guy who, you know, you're assuming like, oh, there's gonna be like this big showdown between the two of them. No, there isn't . Yeah. Again,

Austin Lugo: it's, uh, as, as you said before, kind of with the high scene Alan scenes kind of, uh, Subverting your expectations.

You're expecting, you know, especially because we've been building up these characters through the whole film. You're expecting these kind of good, bad and the ugly style, uh, right. Long showdowns almost, and just like all the other violence, it just happens. So quickly, and I guess in this case, he does actually show, uh, him shooting them, which is a, uh, it is a satisfying moment.

But even then, like it's just, it's so quick. It is just, it's just like bam, bam, bam. Done. He doesn't get shot.

Andrew Harp: He wins. He

Austin Lugo: wins. He's like, again, like you said, he is like a, he's a John Wick style, almost like superhero, like this guy is just Yeah. Unbeatable. Which is fine. I think it

Andrew Harp: works well. Yeah. But once again, it's.

You know, of course, you know, he, he's awesome and badass, but he can't do everything, which, you know, is his, you know, big downfall. Yeah. And I think later on, I think the detective finds it, um, if the detective,

Austin Lugo: the detectives, like right behind them, they're like showing up at the places right after they do.

And, uh, they find the car and the, all the Yakuza, uh, in the car. And so, uh, NEHI and his. Go to the beach, final location of the film. And you know, they're, they're chilling there. They're watching the guy fly a kite and the detective shows up. Yep. The little girl's flying a kite. And, uh,

Andrew Harp: that's also, that's ke town's real life daughter, by the

Austin Lugo: way.

Is there Really? Yeah. That's cool. I love those kind of little things. That's a, that's a nice little touch. Very nice. And the detectives show up and so Nisha's like, you know, I know what's about to happen. And so we ask for. A few moments or a few foul moments with his wife. And of course you see him load his gun with two bullets so you know what's about to happen.

Especially cuz like a bit earlier they show, uh, the suicide picture, which is like, uh, light and dark and snow and, and suicide. And so you get what's about to happen. Yeah. And uh, Of course the music swells. You see the two of 'em watching the kite and we, we pan away from our characters and it's like this beautiful final moment.

Yeah. You think it's gonna end ? And then you hear those two shots. Wow. What a great ending. It's so silent that moment. I, I forgot to talk about, you know, even though there's this wonderful music along with there being very little dialogue is it's just an extremely quiet film. Like that scene, uh, that they.

A couple of times where his partners get shot and killed, that scene is completely silent, right? It's just complete silence running under it. And it's, it's such a, uh, disturbing and surreal feeling. And at this last moment, right after you hear those gunshots, like the only sound is the ocean, and it's, it's intense.

It's , it's a really intense final moment.

Andrew Harp: I think the last five, I think the last image, yeah. Is like the girl supposedly seeing, you know, her, the, the, the two dead people who have just been shot in the head. You know, it's, uh, yeah, it's definitely keans. Endings are amazing, uh, from what I've seen. And this one in particular is very harsh.

It's very like, obviously like, like I said, you know, I guess the whole movie as a whole isn't entirely depressing cuz he kind of gives like gifts and help to people that. Like, wants to take care of, right. Like his friends and the widow and stuff like that. And so I think like he, he like does like really good things and stuff, but you know, I think he kind of is just like, he's just kinda like, you know, it's not gonna end well for me or my wife.

So, because if I get arrested, she'll be by herself and if she's by herself, like that won't be good for her. You know, she only has a, a limited amount of time, right? Like, she's gonna die soon anyways. And I really don't want to go to jail. Why would I want to go to jail? So, yeah, I think you just, yeah, like puts the, the faith.

You just kind of like, well, at the end of the day, like, she's gonna die and I'm gonna die, so I'm hunt as well. Speed up the process, I guess. And yeah, it's just like, it's not, it's not really like a sad thing. It's more just kind of like a, a final thing, I guess. Like a, like a conclusion almost. Obviously it is suicide and it is sad.

Um, but it's just kind of like, I don't know, it's, he's like, thought it through almost, um, in a very like, yeah, kind of sick way. I don't. Yeah, it's a great ending. It's so

Austin Lugo: good. And like you said, you know, like every other part of this film, NHIS kind of thought out every last thing and what the ending is. I can't remember this phrase.

It's, it's from some, uh, screenwriting book. It's, uh, simultaneously completely unexpected, but, uh, also like the only ending that can happen, right? There's really no other way this film could end. And yet, like, you're surprised at that moment, but you know that like, oh yeah, that like, that like everything adds up to like this moment.

Like, this is the only thing that can happen in this moment. And when it does, you're right. It's not necessarily. I mean, it is, it is sad. It's pretty sad, but there's a sense of completeness, I guess, to it

Andrew Harp: almost. And, um, I, I like that, uh, line that the detective says at the end of the movie too, where he says, I don't think I could ever, I think he says, I don't think I could ever live like that, or something like that.

I don't know if I, I was confused by the line, cuz I don't know if he's talking about like the person flying the height or if he's talking about nichey. I think that's kind

Austin Lugo: of like, I think it's, it's a bit of a, a double entendre in the sense that, uh, it's implied. He could be talking about either of them, right?

He, he could be talking about, uh, the girl flying Kai. Yeah. Or, or he could be talking about nhi and maybe in a certain sense you could argue that NHI and the girl flying Kai are. Living a, a similar in existence, right? They're kind of just living in the moment. They're living to be there right now. Like they're completely present.

There's nothing else, right? The girl, uh, is completely consumed by just flying her kite just as niche. She is is completely consumed in those moments, even though he is, he's just robbed a bank and you know, he's got the detectives on his tail and using key on his whatever, uh,

Andrew Harp: on his tail too. I think he's also saying that fact that like, He knows that NHI has like a ton of baggage and stuff like that.

So I think he's saying that like, I don't think I could ever live with myself if I had, if I had done those things, you know what I mean? I probably would've not, I probably would've killed myself too.

No,

Austin Lugo: absolutely. I think you're, uh, completely right. So again, a very sad touching yet, uh, fulfilling ending.

So, uh, final thoughts and rating for the movie.

Andrew Harp: Great movie, really good, you know, just, uh, really it looks good. I think it's nice and patient and slow, but also, you know, when it wants to be like really punchy, I think it succeeds in that. Yeah, I mean, it's just really solid, you know? I don't think it's perfect, but it's quite fantastic.

There's a lot of, you know, the qana made a lot of movies, you know, so there's a lot to. There's a lot to look through. I would give it a a, a pretty high up there. Eight. It's, it's very lovely. It's a very lovely movie.

Austin Lugo: I completely agree with all of your sentiments about the film. It's a very beautiful film, although a bit depressing, as I said before, I think my biggest complaint is it does run a little bit slow for me at times.

But again, kind of looking back on it and rewatching it today as we discussed this film, I, I think it does run at a bit of a, a faster pace. I think I'm gonna go with a similar eight outta 10. This is the first of his films I've seen. I definitely want to get more into his stuff. He seems like a very, uh, interesting filmmaker.

So I'm, I'm excited. I'm pumped. All right, y'all, thank you for listening. We're excited to get back. We're excited to do a lot more of these. Uh, you can find everything I do at Austin Luga

Andrew Harp: One. I'm on, uh, Twitter at AD HAR 24. Also on letter box Richard Andrew rtr Andrew,

Austin Lugo: and you can find everything that we do on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and letter box at theater 42 or with nothing to say and until again.