Published Paper Details:

Abstract Takeshi Kitano's Hana-bi (1997) holds a unique spot in world cinema due to its careful emotional expression, unconventional story structure, and sudden bursts of violence. Unlike typical genre films, especially crime and police movies, Hana-bi builds emotional tension not through story escalation or character psychology, but through formal techniques in its editing. This paper explores how editing acts as an emotional framework in Hana-bi, shaping feelings through silence, broken time, and the contrast of calmness with unexpected violence. Using ideas from film phenomenology, trauma theory, and Japanese aesthetics--especially the concepts of impermanence--the study claims that Kitano's editing methods turn absence, delay, and disruption into key expressive elements. The paper also places Hana-bi within a larger Japanese film tradition by examining the impact of Yasujir? Ozu's subtle editing style and how Kitano reshapes that tradition in a modern, violence-driven context. By highlighting editing as the film's main emotional and moral structure, the study adds to larger conversations about emotional cinema, minimalism, and different ways of experiencing films.