Violent Cop

In his brutal directorial debut, ‘Beat' Takeshi Kitano plays a renegade cop who frequently resorts to violence and unethical methods to get results.

Detective Azuma (‘Beat' Takeshi) is a renegade cop who frequently resorts to violence and unethical methods to get results. While investigating a series of drug-related homicides, Azuma discovers that his friend and colleague is supplying drugs from within the police force. After his colleague is murdered and his sister is kidnapped, he breaks all the rules to dish out his particular form of justice.

Primarily known up to then as an eccentric gameshow host, Takeshi Kitano surprised Japanese audiences in 1989 with his unexpected directorial foray into violent yakuza films. But on the international scene, Violent Cop signaled the arrival of an exciting new filmmaking talent, while also introducing the world to his intriguingly deadpan acting persona of 'Beat' Takeshi. Kitano would become a key figure in 1990s arthouse cinema, producing a run of funny, brutal crime classics to rival the 70s work of Kinji Fukusaku.