Cinema Yakuza Vol. 1

 Cinema Yakuza Vol. 1

Here in Brazil, there is a niche DVD distributor called Versátil Home Video. It specializes in all sorts of films, from arthouse to classic programmers to notable directors to horror and genre films. Much of their catalog is divided into collections of four or six movies, based around a genre (Western, Noir, War, New Hollywood, etc.), a director (Akira Kurosawa, Robert Bresson, Federico Fellini, etc.), or even a theme within a genre (Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, etc.).  As Brazil has long had a sizable and strong Japanese population, there has always been a sizable influx of Japanese media into Brazil, from classic cinema to the more pop culture-y stuff, like anime and Tokusatsu. This means that Versátil Home Video has released dozens and dozens of Japanese films in numerous collections, ranging from the works of directors (like Naruse, Ozu, Mizoguchi and Kurosawa) to Samurai films. 

I own a number of these collections and will periodically watch them and post my thoughts about the movies contained therein for your reading pleasure.

Pale Flower (Japan, 1964: Masahiro Shinoda) - A classic Japanese Yakuza film that fits snugly into the "noir style" as defined by my movie critic friend El Santo:

1. Striking black-and-white photography? Check.

2. Set in the criminal underbelly of urban landscapes? Check.

3. Populated by characters who live on the periphery of both society and traditional morality? Check.

4. Cynical attitude toward human nature? Check.

5. Cynical attitude toward the fallibility of man-made institutions? It's located a bit deep in the subtext of the film, but check.

There's not so much of a plot, as the film is something of a character study of an ex-con Yakuza enforcer (Ryô Ikebe) who gets out of prison and falls for a mysterious compulsive gambler (the beautiful Mariko Kaga) during a routine visit to a clandestine gambling house. He becomes obsessed with her, as both find illegal and illicit activites to be only escape from the tedium of modernity.

The film suggests that the rat race of working yourself into a early grave in order to make ends meet--something that countries like Japan and S. Korea excel at--basically kills you on the inside, rendering most of its adherents lifeless husks who can only go about the motions of actually living. While killing, reckless driving and high-stakes gambling are frowned upon by society, it is the only way that some of these people can feel like they're alive. And the film doesn't shy away from reminding us that these things come with a cost.

The last scene is intentionally infuriating, because we learn little about who Saeko (the gambler) is. Just as one character is about to tell another her story, he gets interrupted and the film ends. It has little bearing on the story (or the theme), but the director wetted our appetites before snatching the tray from us at the last moment.

Brutal Tales of Chivalry (Japan, 1965: Kiyoshi Saeki) - Yakuza film from the 1960s, first in a series of nine movies. This one is set in 1947 during the post-War period and is about a Yakuza enforcer (played by Ken Takakura, of Black Rain) returning from military service, only to have the chief position of his clan thrust upon him following the assassination of the former boss.

He wants to follow his predecessor's final wishes to not get involved in violent conflict, just trying to run the local open air market in peace. But the rival gang who runs the neighboring market wants to expand their territory and modernize their racket, for which they want the "good" gang's territory. Our hero is ultimately pushed to the brink by repeated acts of violence committed against members of his gang and finally whips out the katana for some Yakuza revenge.

The film co-stars Japanese heartthrob Ryo Ikebe, whom kaiju fans will recognize from Battle in Outer Space. He plays a Yakuza from another clan in another city who shows up on the good gang's doorstep looking for a place to stay while he searches for his lost sister. That subplot ends in tragedy, leading Ryo to pick up a gun and assist Takakura in the climax. The film ends on a surprisingly hopeful note, all things considered.

 Branded to Kill (Japan, 1967: Seijun Suzuki) - My first Seijun Suzuki film, this is an interesting mix of Yakuza, noir, Surrealist and Absurdist sensibilities. The movie's financial failure got Suzuki fired from Nikkatsu Studios, which he sued for wrongful termination. Although he won the lawsuit, it got him blacklisted from other studios for a good 10 years. It did find a following among film students and other assorted youngsters in the ensuing years and once it reached the West in the early 1980s, it inspired filmmakers ranging from Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch to John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai.

The film opens with a semi-retired hitman (Joe "Cheeks" Shishida--not his actual nickname) arriving in Tokyo with his young Trophy bride. The guy who picks him up is a washed up assassin who wants to find his way back into the good graces of his former clan, and has Shishida, who needs the money, help him on a bodyguard/escort job. They are ambushed by some killers, led by the Number 2 and 3 assassins in the game--Shishido has fallen to number 4 by this point.

After returning home, he gets a job to take out four people, but ends up botching the last one. He falls for the femme fatale who was supposed to help him on this last job, but at the same time, finds himself the target of the Number 1 assassin. From there on out, the movie gets weird...

Like Onimusha and Pale Flower, the black-and-white photography is simply gorgeous. My wife walked in at one point, watched a few minutes of it, and was impressed with the camerawork. The violence is rather strong for a film of this vintage and there are a few memorable kills. If you like potent cinematic imagery that ISN'T accomplished via CGI, this is really something you should watch.

Sympathy for the Underdog (Japan, 1971: Kinji Fukasaku) - Really good Yakuza film from acclaimed director Kinji Fukasaku about an ex-con Yakuza enforcer (Koji Tsuruta, in a too-coo'-fo'-schoo' performance) who gets out of prison and finds the urban crime landscape dominated by what one may call "Big Capital Organized Crime." He's old school, the sort that would walk around with his flunkies shaking down bars, brothels and clandestine casinos for protection money, so he takes his loyal followers to Okinawa, the final frontier for old time Yakuza activities.

Koji Tsuruta is great a Yakuza boss who yearns for the old days of post-war organized crime, as opposed to the Big Corporation model that it was morphing into as Japan grew in economic prominence. He genuinely cares for his subordinates--and the outlier from a former rival gang--and they respond to that with life-on-the-line devotion.

Tomisaburo Wakayama, best known for the Lone Wolf and Cub films, shows up as Yakuza gang leader operating out of Koza (a city on Okinawa), whose trigger-happy brother makes trouble for Tsuruta. There is much ado made about the natural animosity between the Japanese and the native Okinawans: the latter do NOT like the idea of the former coming onto their turf.

A lot of background Americans show up as soldiers and small-time gangsters who help smuggle alcohol into Okinawa in order to make a quick buck with local buyers. I'm guessing that is just part of the dark side of having a military base on Okinawa for all these years.

The Wolves (Japan, 1971: Hideo Gosha) - Long-ish Yakuza melodrama set in the early days of the Showa Era (1926-1989). There are two Yakuza factions negotiating the construction of a railroad by one group (the Enoshi-ya) through the territory of the other (the Kan'non clan). However, negotiations break down after the latter is accused of sabotaging the former, resulting in a blood bath.

Several years later, the Showa Emperor releases hundreds of prisoners in the early part of his reign, which includes two enforcers from the Enoshi-ya (including lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai), one enforcer from the Kan'non, and a mysterious female tattoo artist. A businessman for the Nationalist Party (cameo by Tatsuro Tamba) is negotiating a sort of truce and merger of the two clans under his direction, with the merger meant to be solidified by marrying the daughter of the recently-deceased Enoshi-ya leader to the current head of the Kan'non group. Meanwhile, a pair of women in black kimonos are walking around killing some of the Yakuza with umbrella knives...

This movie is pretty good, if a bit too long for its own good. It also is a bit hard to follow in the beginning, although it does come together in the last act, so you know who's behind what and why, plus the meaning of some of the early scenes. You do have to be patient, though. There are a lot of characters you have to remember and subplots to wade through, however. There's a little bit of Yakuza knife stabbing and a prolonged knife/katana duel at the end, but it's more drama than anything else.

Sonatine (Japan, 1993: Takeshi Kitano) - My first "Beat" Takeshi Kitano film, which I rented in the late 90s expecting the Japanese equivalent of a John Woo film. That's certainly what the trailer promised--Hollywood trailers assume Americans collectively have the attention span of a gnat, so slow and contemplative movies from Asia often have their limited action sequences played up in trailers in order to bamboozle the audience.

Takeshi plays Murakawa, an aging Triad enforcer who's beginning to have second thoughts about entering his Golden Years in the business. He's awfully good at what he does, but the violence has begun to wear down on him, especially after some unexplained job in Hokkaido (Japan's northern-most island) that cost him three of his men. In any case, his boss sends him to Okinawa to settle a feud between two local gangs. Once he arrives, it becomes clear that *someone* wants him out of the game...permanently.

The middle portion of the film is set in the Okinawan countryside/coast, away from the capital city of Naha. It's mainly about Murakawa and his men--those who are still alive--finding ways to amuse themselves while waiting to receive word from Tokyo. This is where the movie becomes more contemplative, comic and even a bit surreal, such as the characters doing a physical reenactment of a paper Sumo wrestler game (sort of a Japanese rock'em-sock'em robots). It's certainly at odds with what you see in the trailer.