Sonatine

Sonatine (ソナチネ) is a 1993 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Kitano Takeshi. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most succesful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base.

Kitano plays Murakawa, a Tokyo yakuza who is sent by his boss to Okinawa to help end a gang war there. Murakawa is tired of gangster life, and when he finds out the whole mission is a ruse, he welcomes what comes with open arms.

The film combines many scenes of sudden, unexpected violence--such as a shoot-out in a bar--with other moments of great tenderness, like a make-believe sumo match on the beach.