Yasha (1985) Review

[Jasper Sharp]

I've just written a review of Yasuo Furuhata's 'Yasha', which I thought I'd
post up to see what people think. Any comments, corrections or opinions are
invited.
Thanks
Jasper



Yasha
Alternative Titles: Demon
Director:Yasuo Furuhata
Cast:TAKAKURA Ken, KITANO Takeshi, OTOWA Nobuko, TANAKA Yuko, TAKEJO Aki,
TANAKA Kunie
Release: 1985

Retired Yakuza, Shuji (Ken Takakura) moves back from Osaka to a quiet
fishing village to start a new life with his family as a fisherman. Here the
beautiful Keiko (Yuko Tanaka, who provided the voice of Lady Ebori in
Princess Mononoke) arrives from the city to open up the 'Hotaru' bar, which
as its name (meaning 'firefly') suggests, is soon acting as a magnet for the
local fishermen, much to the chagrin of their wives. It is not long before
the locals are drawn into a host of collective vices including gambling and
all-night drinking sessions by Keiko's roguish lover Yajima (Kitano), also
an ex-mobster. After a heroin-induced spree with a carving knife (in a truly
stand out scene) Yajima is run out of town by Shuji, but not before his
shirt is slashed during the fracas revealing the tattoo of a woman's face
upon his back. With Shuji's gangster past now revealed, he is ostracised by
the local community and finds himself drawn towards the sympathetic bar
hostess Keiko. When Yajima returns to borrow money from Keiko to pay off a
debt to the Yakuza, she turns to Shuji for help, threatening to upset his
domestic apple cart and return him back to his old life.
This film was shown in the Takeshi Kitano season at the Nederlands Film
Museum to showcase some of the lesser-known work of the only Japanese
director currently achieving any form of crossover success in the West. Made
some four years before Kitano made his own directorial debut with Violent
Cop / Sono Otoko, Kyobo Ni Tsuki (1989), Kitano here is credited under his
"Beat" persona, with which he made his name in the early 80's as part of the
"Two Beats" comedy (manzai) double act alongside "Beat" Kyoshi Kaneko. The
duo had by now split up and Kitano himself was already forging a successful
solo career. His role here is suitably spirited as the heroin-addicted
louche who has fallen on bad times, almost upstaging that of Ken Takakura,
the real lynchpin of the piece. Already a major star in Japan due to a
number of prominent Yakuza roles in the 70's (including the Abashiri Prison
series which ran from 1965-72), Takakura also made a number of successful
appearances in Hollywood in Sydney Pollock's The Yakuza (1975) and later in
Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989). His ability to portray taciturn characters
racked by internal dilemma had made him a star back home as the stoic
Japanese archetype.
The 'Yasha' of the title, referring to the tattooed image of the woman on
Shuji's back, is a predatory vampire from Japanese mythology believed to be
the spirit of a woman whose anger lowered her status in rebirth. This
oriental succubus is here manifested physically in the form of Keiko, who
acts as the bridge between Shuji's past and present. Yasha is very much a
character-driven piece, and a lot of time is spent establishing the dynamics
of the main players within the village milieu. As such the plotting may seem
a little too surely paced, and consequently the film feels a little overlong
and the pay-off rather a damp squib. However, the snowbound fishing village
where the action is predominantly set is beautifully shot by Daisaku Kimura
(who also worked on Yasuo Furahata's Poppoya / Railroad Man, released in
1999), with the slow sussuration of the sea on the soundtrack complementing
the colourful and evocative backdrop to the drama in a romanticised contrast
between the innocent simplicity of village life set against the dangerous
allure of the big city. It's a sedate film indeed, but as a whole Yasha's
modest charms are hard to resist.