The yakuza film has been a staple in Japan for decades. Most
haven’t found their way to the states to be viewed in part because they seem to
different from one another and audiences here aren’t quite sure what to make of
them. But Arrow Video has been attempting to change that and has been offering
some of the most famous on blu-ray over the past few years. It’s provided an
opportunity for people to view world cinema and discover these films for the
first time.
To begin with if you are unfamiliar with the term yakuza
they are what most would consider to be the organized crime units found in
Japan. Movie featuring the organizations began appearing in the fifties but
films made about their predecessors, bakuto, were made going back to the silent
film years. The films gained popularity in the sixties and seventies before
phasing out only to see a small resurgence in the nineties.
This movie focuses on the character of Okita, a restless
young man whose life has been imperfect from the start. Abandoned by his father,
his mother a drug addict and prostitute who is found dead of an overdose he
lives on the streets of Kawasaki forming a gang of his own. The gang mostly
makes their money extorting money and kidnapping young girls they then turn
into prostitutes. Being on the low rung of the criminal ladder they must pay
tribute to those higher up. But Okita headstrong and anti-authoritarian. He
attacks a member of the upper yakuza and is then captured and sent to prison.
When he’s released things have changed. The yakuza that were
in place before him have moved up in the world with more sophisticated methods
of making money. They’ve formed into two opposing units that each run their own
section of town. The troubled youth have no connection to them and Okita along
with fellow yakuza Kizaki who he spent time with in prison organize them into a
mob just like he had before being sent away. This eventually leads him into
confrontation with the two bosses and he must decide to either join them or
fall.
Along the way he is attacked by a prostitute who threatens
his life. It turns out she was one of the young innocent girls he’d turned to
prostitution years ago. The pair begin a volatile relationship that seems
fairly twisted with her going from trying to kill him to being totally pledged
to him.
Bored with life like this Okita longs for the anarchy he
once experienced before prison. Determined to upset the apple cart he sets out
to disrupt the workings of those currently in power. When a big boss from
outside the city joins in the fray it doesn’t matter to Okita. His goal is
anarchy and excitement at all costs. Just how far he’s willing to go and how
much those in power are willing to take are revealed before the film ends.
I’ve seen several of the yakuza films and this was perhaps
the oddest among them. The character of Okita seems to have no plans for the
future, no goals, no interest in anything but stirring the pot. He is one of
the most hopeless characters I’ve ever witnessed on film. It’s as if he has no
use for life, no reason to exist with the exception of destruction, almost a
Godzilla in human form.
The film also felt like one of the most violent I’ve seen so
far. Not even so much the amount of bloodshed but the use of knives and the
fact that any sexual encounters shown here seem to either begin or end with
violence. There is little affection seen in this film and what there is always
has the caveat of violence of some sort attached to it.
The film has developed a following though and is considered
by some to be one of the premiere yakuza films ever made. For myself I found it
a bit disturbing and pointless. At the same time I realize two things about
this film. Young people, those who tend to feel much like the protagonist here,
will find more to relate to here than I did. And as with all films that can be
potentially lost for all time I’m glad to see this one rescued by the folks at
Arrow Video.
Perhaps the film being made back in 1972 and most likely
having little shot to promote it at the time, the extras for this film seem a
bit limited. Included are an audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom
Mes, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve featuring the original artwork
or newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon and for the first pressing only and
illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jasper
Sharp.
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