Violent Cop is a 1989 Japanese film directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. It 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 suicide of his friend and colleague Iwaki (a vice cop who was involved with drugs), 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.