"Blood and Bones"
2004
Directed by Yoichi Sai

Japan's official entry for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar in 2006 was this "kimchi flavored, Nipponese blend of The Godfather and East of Eden" (Variety). Actor-director Takeshi Kitano plays Kim Shunpei, a Korean immigrant in Japan who is more creature than man, prone to abusing his wife, fish cake factory underlings, and everyone else in his nefarious life. As the years pass, Shunpei's heartlessness reveals the ugly side of daily life in Osaka's Korean ghetto. Adapted from the semi-autobiographical novel by Korean-Japanese author Yang Sok Gil. Japanese with optional English subtitles.  144 minutes.