The narrator tells us the story of his father, a Korean who emigrates to Japan as a young man in the 1930's-ish. There, he turns out to be quite the bastard - selfish, violent, abusive and miserly. He gets married and has a few kids, then runs off with another woman and all the while inflicts suffering on everyone around him. Until he dies.Why is he such a bastard? We are never offered an explanation... too many X chromosomes? (or Y, whatever). Is he going to learn, change or grow? Nope. Is his son going to rise up against him and break free from his bad dad? Not really. Will he learn to love his dad despite his flaws, because a rotten father is still a father? Doesn't appear to.The film is quite compelling for most of the first 90 minutes, in a cheerless sort of way, but there's still most of an hour left by then... and the film doesn't really go anywhere. The years pass by and people only become more passive in their misery until age, disease or their own hand puts an end to it. Nobody seems to learn anything, nothing is accomplished and there's no obvious lesson about life to be gleaned from the 2.5 hours of glacially paced misery. What is the point? No idea.Perhaps it's just to see Takeshi Kitano at various stages of advancing age, under the hands of the makeup team. Moderately interesting, but the makeup only sometimes looks convincing... and different members of the cast seem to age at inconsistent rates (in sudden bursts, usually).There could have been a good film here, and the first half pretty much is... but it fritters away the good will it had earned in the remaining time and definitely runs longer than it should, leaving a broadly negative impression when the credits roll.

I found "Chi to hone" very boring and repetitive. No back story I could understand. No way to understand the actions of Kitano, or most of the other members of his family.I thought I was seeing a weird Asian crossing between "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Brutti sporchi e cattivi" (Ettore Scola's "Ugly Dirty and Bad"), without the powerful story those film have, and didn't enjoyed it.Cinematography is below average, acting is very good, but overall the movie makes no sense. It may be because I don't understand much of Japan/Korea history, but I generally appreciate Japanese movies (from Kitano's to Kurosawa).It is clear that a lot of time was spend in the sets and the reconstruction of the 40's, 50's and 60's in the movie, and a lot of details looks real. But all seems very pointless.There are some sexual scenes that are very hard to see, mostly because they are quite repetitive and don't make the story move.The bottom line: you probably have better to do with your time.

Yoichi Sai's long film is about a Korean immigrant (to Japan), played by Takeshi Kitano, who cares about nothing but his own pleasure and gain. His destructive personality and violent temper decimate everything and everyone around him. Based on a true story, the script does not attempt to explain or justify Kitano's character. It presents him without judgment.The rapes and beatings (mostly of family members) are relentless and occasionally surreal. One brutal exchange between father and son takes place during a rainstorm and is visually arresting. Another sequence, where father and son respectively destroy each other's homes, has a dark, humorous edge.The director chooses his shots carefully and recreates the periods in which the film is set (circa 1923 to the mid-80's) effectively but never ostentatiously.Although there is much repetition, the film does serve up a smörgåsbord of atrocities for exploitation fans. The treatment of women is harsh. One beating, in particular, of a young woman by her coarse husband, is strong stuff indeed and flawlessly conveys the cycle of violence a perpetrator creates within his own circle and extended family. Clearly given a generous budget and clearly a labor of love, BLOOD AND BONES is well worth seeing and should not be forgotten.Kitano is extraordinary.

This movie has the most powerful and devilish but the weakest hero in the whole movie history. You must see this movie and you will love it. This movie has the big aura that doesn't matter for any century or place.If you didn't see any Asian or Japanese movie, and if you are true hard-boiled fan, this is must try.Takeshi Kitano played his best acting in this movie. He played one man's 30's to death.Yoichi Sai, the director of this movie, shows the power of one man who are faced the war and the pain who had to deal with it. But it's not sympathy movie.One more, this is not action movie, it shows one man's life, but this is more spectacle than any other action movie.