This
third (and final) installment in Takeshi Kitano's violent gangster trilogy
[preceded by OUTRAGE
and BEYOND
OUTRAGE] begins somewhat anew, with nary a reference to the
earlier films. Even though lead character Otomo appeared to have died
at the conclusion of Entry 2, he did not. Rather, now - five years later
- Otomo has become a 'fixer' for Chang, a kingpin gangster in
Korea. This film opens with a vacationing Japanese mobster roughing
up a couple prostitutes belonging to Chang. Otomo is sent to deal with
him. A bloodbath ensues. as a result, the aging Otomo and his partner
Ichikawa find themselves back in Japan in the middle of a new power
struggle with the Hanabishi family.
While
the previous entries were excessively violent, this final installment
far surpasses them. A mindboggling conclusion has more gun violence
and blood splatter than the first two films combined, actually causing
the audience to recoil from the excessive mayhem. Seemingly this is
the intention of filmmaker Kitano. He knows this movie marks the end
of an era and - at the same time - the end of what used to pass for
entertainment. It's difficult to justify this kind of causal gunplay
as acceptable entertainment in 2017. Like the finale of a fireworks
display, Kitano unloads an absolute barrage that [like the title suggests]
is a Coda. In fact, during the battle, one of the characters
muses That old fashioned gangster definitely served us well.
In this regard, the film is very reminiscent of Kitano's character
in Takashi Ishii's GONIN
or that of Aniki in his own BROTHER.
A Japanese
film with English subtitles; widescreen format, uncut (104 minutes),
DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT; extras include original
trailer.
Graphic
Violence/Sexual Situations/SemiNudity/Drugs
For Adult Audiences