Yakuza film
Encyclopedia
is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema
which focuses on the lives and dealings of yakuza
, also referred to as the Japan
ese Mafia
.
studio in the 1960s. The kimono
-clad yakuza hero of the ninkyo films (personified by the stoic Ken Takakura
) was always portrayed as an honorable outlaw torn between the contradictory values of giri (duty) and ninjo (personal feelings).
. Many jitsuroku eiga were based on true stories, and filmed in a documentary style with Handy Movie Camera. This genre was popularized by Kinji Fukasaku
's groundbreaking yakuza epic Battles Without Honor and Humanity. This film, which spawned four sequels, portrayed the post-War
yakuza not as the honorable heirs to the samurai code, but as ruthless, treacherous street thugs. The films star Bunta Sugawara (often thought of as the anti-Ken Takakura) as a sneering ex-soldier who rises to power in the bombed-out Hiroshima
underworld.
, whose existential
yakuza movies are well known around the world.
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
which focuses on the lives and dealings of yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
, also referred to as the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
.
Ninkyo eiga
Ninkyo eiga, or "chivalry films", were the first type of yakuza films. Most were produced by the ToeiToei Company
is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
studio in the 1960s. The kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
-clad yakuza hero of the ninkyo films (personified by the stoic Ken Takakura
Ken Takakura
, born , is a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles.Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka...
) was always portrayed as an honorable outlaw torn between the contradictory values of giri (duty) and ninjo (personal feelings).
Jitsuroku eiga
In the 1970s, a new breed of yakuza eiga emerged, the jitsuroku series, or DocudramaDocudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
. Many jitsuroku eiga were based on true stories, and filmed in a documentary style with Handy Movie Camera. This genre was popularized by Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
's groundbreaking yakuza epic Battles Without Honor and Humanity. This film, which spawned four sequels, portrayed the post-War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
yakuza not as the honorable heirs to the samurai code, but as ruthless, treacherous street thugs. The films star Bunta Sugawara (often thought of as the anti-Ken Takakura) as a sneering ex-soldier who rises to power in the bombed-out Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
underworld.
Recent developments
In the 1990s, yakuza movies in Japan declined. Now, many are low-budget direct-to-video movies. One exception has been the critically acclaimed films of Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
, whose existential
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
yakuza movies are well known around the world.
Prominent actors
- Noboru AndoNoboru AndoNoboru Ando is a Japanese film actor known for his yakuza roles.In fact, Ando was a real-life yakuza gang boss before becoming a movie star in 1965, when he appeared in a film about himself, "Chi to Okite"...
- Akira KobayashiAkira Kobayashiis a Japanese actor. His nickname is .- Biography :He successfully became an actor in the Nikkatsu Corporation. He attended Meiji University but left before graduating. Kobayashi made his debut in 1959 in the film Nangoku Tosa o Ato ni Shite . He also starred in the TV series "Wataridori" and...
- Toshirō MifuneToshiro MifuneToshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
- Joe ShishidoJoe Shishidois a Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He has appeared in some 300 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film Branded to Kill...
- Bunta Sugawara
- Ken TakakuraKen Takakura, born , is a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles.Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka...
- Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
- Susumu TerajimaSusumu Terajimais a Japanese actor who has appeared in over 100 films, 15 television commercials, three PVs, and numerous television dramas in a career spanning over 20 years. He rarely is the star of the films he is in but he is widely respected for taking every job seriously and diving into his work,...
- Ren OsugiRen Osugi, born , is a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival...
- Shingo YamashiroShingo Yamashirowas a Japanese television and film actor.Yamashiro, who was originally from Kyoto, Japan, was born , but used Shingo Yamashiro as his stage name. He made his film acting debut in 1957....
Selected films
- Drunken AngelDrunken Angelis a 1948 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshirō Mifune.- Plot :...
(Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, 1948) - Yojimbo (Akira KurosawaAkira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, 1961) - Pale FlowerPale FlowerPale Flower is a 1964 Japanese crime film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. The film is about Muraki a Yakuza hitman just released from prison. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious young woman named Saeko . Though Saeko loses large sums of money, she asks Muraki to...
(Masahiro ShinodaMasahiro Shinodais a Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.-Career:...
, 1964) - Abashiri PrisonAbashiri Prison (film)aka A Man from Abashiri Prison is a 1965 Japanese film directed by Teruo Ishii and starring Ken Takakura. It is the first entry in the Abashiri Bangaichi / Abashiri Prison series. Highly successful, it was the first hit in the yakuza film genre...
(Teruo IshiiTeruo Ishiiwas a Japanese film director best known in the West for his early films in the Super Giant series, and for his films in the Ero guro subgenre of pinku eiga such as Shogun's Joys of Torture . He also directed the 1965 film, Abashiri Prison, which helped to make Ken Takakura a major star in Japan...
, 1965) - Tokyo DrifterTokyo Drifteris a 1966 yakuza action film directed by Seijun Suzuki. The story follows Tetsuya Watari as the reformed yakuza hitman "Phoenix" Tetsu who is forced to roam Japan avoiding execution by rival gangs.-Plot:...
(Seijun SuzukiSeijun Suzuki, born Seitaro Suzuki on May 24, 1923, is a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are renowned by film enthusiasts worldwide for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility...
, 1966) - Sympathy for the UnderdogSympathy for the Underdogis a 1971 Japanese yakuza film, directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Koji Tsuruta and Noboru Ando.This film was director Kinji Fukasaku's last film featuring Koji Tsuruta as the main character...
(Kinji FukasakuKinji Fukasakuwas a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
, 1971) - Street MobsterStreet Mobsteris a 1972 yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku and starring Bunta Sugawara and Noboru Ando.The plot centres around a Yakuza troublemaker released from prison only to discover that the crime underworld in which he used to operate and...
(Kinji Fukasaku, 1972) - Battles Without Honor and Humanity (Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)
- Jailbreak Hiroshima murder prisoner (Sadao NakajimaSadao Nakajimais a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his work in yakuza film and jidaigeki.-Career:Born in Chiba Prefecture, he attended Hibiya High School and then the University of Tokyo before joining the Tōei studio in 1959...
, 1974) - The YakuzaThe YakuzaThe Yakuza is a 1974 neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne.The Yakuza portrays the clash of traditional Japanese values during Japan's transition from the US occupation to economic success in the early 1970s...
(Sydney PollackSydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
, 1975) - Riot Shimane prison (Sadao Nakajima, 1975)
- Osaka blitzkrieg (Sadao Nakajima, 1976)
- Black Rain (Ridley ScottRidley ScottSir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
, 1989) - Boiling Point (Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
, 1990) - MinboMinbois a 1992 Japanese film by filmmaker Juzo Itami. It is also known by the titles Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion, The Gangster's Moll and The Anti-Extortion Woman. The film was widely popular in Japan and a critical success internationally...
(Juzo ItamiJuzo Itami, born , was an actor and a popular modern Japanese film director. Many critics came to regard him as Japan's greatest director since Akira Kurosawa. His 10 movies, all of which he wrote himself, are comic satires on elements of Japanese culture....
, 1992) - SonatineSonatineis a 1993 Japanese film by Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most successful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base.-Plot:Kitano plays Murakawa, a Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life...
(Takeshi Kitano, 1993) - Kids ReturnKids ReturnAll compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Meet Again" 5:02#"Graduation" 1:07#"Angel Doll" 2:21#"Alone" 1:15#"As a Rival" 1:29#"Promise... for Us" 5:08#"Next Round" 1:28#"Destiny" 3:31#"I Don't Care" 2:18#"High Spirits" 2:03#"Defeat" 2:29#"Break Down" 3:46...
(Takeshi Kitano, 1996) - Postman Blues (SabuSabu (director)is the pseudonym of Japanese actor and director .-Career:Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku...
, 1997) - Hana-biHana-bi, released in the US as "Fireworks", is a 1997 Japanese film written, directed and edited by, and starring Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. The film's score was composed by renowned Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi. This was their fourth collaboration...
(Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
, 1997) - Dead or AliveDead or Alive (film), abbreviated as DOA , is a 1999 Japanese yakuza action film directed by Takashi Miike. It stars Riki Takeuchi, as the Chinese Triad boss and former yakuza Ryūichi, and Show Aikawa, as the Japanese cop Detective Jojima, and focuses on their meeting and conflict...
(Takashi MiikeTakashi Miikeis a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
, 1999) - BrotherBrother (2000 film)All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Drifter... in LAX"#"Solitude"#"Tattoo"#"Death Spiral"#"Party "#"On the Shore"#"Blood Brother"#"Raging Men"#"Beyond the Control"#"Wipe Out"#"Liberation from the Death"#"I Love You, Aniki"#"Ballade"...
(Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
, 2000) - Ichi The KillerIchi the Killeris a 2001 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, based on Hideo Yamamoto's manga series of the same name.- Plot : While alone with a prostitute, crime lord Anjo is brutally murdered...
(Takashi MiikeTakashi Miikeis a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
, 2001) - GozuGozuis a Japanese cult film directed by Takashi Miike.-Plot:Structurally, Gozu is a succession of bizarre scenes sandwiched between a storyline involving Minami’s search for his Yakuza brother Ozaki in a small town, that is reminiscent of the episodic quests in Greek Mythology.-Cast:*Hideki Sone as...
(Takashi MiikeTakashi Miikeis a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
, 2003) - OutrageOutrage (2010 film)Outrage is a 2010 Japanese yakuza film directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. It competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival...
(Takeshi KitanoTakeshi Kitanois a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
, 2010)
External links
- Yakuza Eiga - Informational website
- Guide to Yakuza Movies at yakuza Japanese