Yakuza Films

[TKBowman@aol.com]

There has been some inquiries recently on the asian-movies newsgroup about
Yakuza films. I thought I would post the message here (including my response)
to possibly stir up some conversation on Yakuza films. Any comments or
corrections are appreciated.

todd bowman
tkbowman at aol.com


>> I'm looking for recommendations on yakuza films. I know the 
>> films of Seijun Suzuki, Takeshi Kitano, Takashi Ishii, Shinji 
>> Aoyama, Kinji Fukasaku, Tai Kato and Hideo Gosha. I'm looking 
>> for others, especially from the 60s and 70s. 
>> Any recommendations?

You're probably familiar with this article already but....

Asian Trash (now Cult) Cinema had a nice series on Yakuza films in the early
days of the magazine, called "Yakuza: Losers on Parade" and written by Chris
D. It started off with a bang in Issue #3 with 11 pages and then kinda
petered out in subsequent installments (2 pages in #4 and 2 pages in #5). It
looked like it was meant to continue but I never saw another installment.
It's a great introduction to the Yakuza genre from the 60's and 70's. Now if
I could only find more of the films...

I'm looking forward to reading Chris D's upcoming book "YAKUZA EIGA: An
Encyclopedia of the Japanese Gangster Film 1960-1979" though he is supposedly
having trouble finding a publisher. I wonder why Asian Cult Cinema doesn't
publish it - it would seem like something right up their alley and fit nicely
into their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia series. Perhaps Mr. D and Mr. Weisser
had a falling out?

TOEI continues to pump out new Yakuza films in Japan. Within the past few
weeks they have released "Mamushi No Kyodai" (The Pit Viper Brothers), a
yakuza version of the Blue Brothers and "Gendai Ninkyo Den" (The Legend of
Modern Ninkyo) a 60's style tale about a retired Yakuza businessman who must
return to his bloody ways to avenge the deaths of his brother and girlfriend.

Juzo Itami (Tampopo, Minbo) has also recently released another comedy called
"Marutai No Onna" (The Woman Under Protection). It's a comedy loosely based
on the director's own run in with a Yakuza member a few years ago (Itami's
face was slashed after he finished making "Minbo"). His wife, actress Nobuko
Miyamoto, plays an actress who witnesses a cult murder and must be placed
under protection by two bodyguards. I wonder if Itami downplayed the Yakuza
influence in the story to avoid a repeat incident (of course now he'll have
angry cult members after him)?  Thanks to Daisuke Onitsuka's "Current
Japanese Films" page for much of the above information.

Another director who is somewhat credited with reviving the Yakuza genre is
Rokuro Mochizuki. His 1995 Yakuza drama "Shin Kanashiki Hittoman" (Another
Lonely Hitman) made a few of top-10 lists and played in many international
festivals. His current film "Onibi: The Fire Within" is currently making the
festival rounds. Of the two, I've only seen "Onibi",  a good but somewhat
disappointing film of an ex-Yakuza trying to go straight only to return to
his violent ways. It starts off very strong with a great performance from star
 Harada Yoshio, but along the way the film falters until reaching a vague
anti-climax. I still enjoyed the film but was disappointed because at the
halfway point I thought it was going to be a great one. It appears like
Mochizuki is attempting a deconstruction of the Yakuza genre in much the same
way Eastwood attempted a deconstruction of the Western in "The Unforgiven".

Has anyone on the NG seen "Another Lonely Hitman" or "Onibi" who would like
to comment? Mochizuki also has an earlier film called "Skinless Night" which
I would love to find more about.

Todd
tkbowman at aol.com