Violent Cop
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Violent Cop (その男、凶暴につき Sono Otoko, Kyōbō ni Tsuki; literally: Warning, That Man Is Violent) is a 1989 Japanese film, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. Violent Cop was Kitano's directorial debut, and marked the beginning of his career as a filmmaker.
Kitano plays sociopathic detective Azuma, a Dirty Harry-type whose single-mindedness leads him to self-destruction. After the death of his friend and colleague Iwaki, and the kidnapping of his sister by yakuza gangsters, Azuma breaks all the rules of ethical conduct. He responds to every situation with violence, and resorts to unethical methods if they produce results.
Although Kinji Fukasaku was the film's original director, he stepped down upon falling ill. Kitano took over the position of director. The screenplay was originally written by Hisashi Nozawa, but upon taking over as director Kitano rewrote the script heavily. Despite his contributions to the screenplay, he was left uncredited as a contributing writer.
The movie was a financial and critical success in Japan, and also did well in limited release internationally.