2011 Yakuza Film Awards

With 2011 drawing to a close, we are going to revisit the Yakuza movies that were dutifully examined this year with the first annual Yakuza Film Award Show.  Five movies have been reviewed this year, and each, in their own way, had something to offer.  So we'll be highlighting those offerings by awarding the best of the best with  The Yakkie - a golden statuette of Takeuchi Riki.  Nothing says ridiculous Yakuza mayhem like Takeuchi Riki, so what would be more fitting than a golden statue in his honor to award the movies in contention this evening?

It took a lot of thought and debate from the Yakuza Film Academy, and after much debate, three stabbings, and a shooting, consensus was at last reached.  The categories were developed with much thought, and the most deserving winners will go home tonight with a scowling Yakkie to put on the mantle in a display of epic awesome that they have earned with blood, sweat, tears, and a back alley mortal combat death match.  The movies in contention for the epic golden statue are all of the ones that were reviewed in 2011.

So, without further ado, on with the show.  Tonight, we have a variety of categories that touch on all of the important things in Yakuza films, like death, destruction, and bravado.  Our first category is:

Biggest Show of Epic Badassery.

There was a fight to the death for this category, as after all badassery is the staple of the Yakuza film.  However, the creative self-mutilation in the name of preserving one's Yakuza honor displayed in Tokyo Mafia: Yakuza Wars (1995) clinched the win for Takeuchi Riki.  Sure, cutting off your own finger as an act of contrition already smacks of bad-ass, but Takeuchi Riki took it a step further - he bit off his own finger.  And in the eyes of the judges, that's just beyond bad-ass.  Well deserved, in my estimation.

Best Lunatic.

Most Yakuza films have crazy people. It comes with the territory.  But outright lunatics are fewer and farther between.  Had Takashi Miike's Like a Dragon been reviewed this year, Kishitani Goro would have taken home the gold with his portrayal of Majima.  But since he's not in the running, the Yakkie for Best Lunatic goes straight into the hands of Jo Akio for his portrayal of the nameless psychotic Chinese gangster-assassin in Blood.  Without any dialogue to speak of, this lunatic killer offs his victims by suffocating them with plastic bags, all the while with a wide-eyed frozen grin.  I'm not sure if it's creative brilliance or pure uninspired hackery, but it stood out, and that's what counts.

Most Derivative Yakuza Film.

1995's Score was a heist movie in more ways than one.  It stole liberally from Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and, oddly enough, Jean Claude Van Damme's movie Hard Target.  And when I say stole, I don't mean it was inspired by, but that it literally took everything from costumes to concepts to plot points to actual scenes, and recreated them. Normally that kind of thing will get you sued, but in the case of Score, it scored it a golden statuette.  The movie was interesting enough, if for no other reason than to see the variety of ways it recycled old movie parts from Quentin Tarrantino and John Woo, and so the win is well deserved.  After all, every movie needs a gimmick, even if the gimmick in question is that is rips off entire plots and scenes from another movie.  It's a valid gimmick.

Film with the Most Random Characters.

Katsuhito Ishii's Party 7 was short on plot and purpose, but it did have an interesting cast of eclectic characters.  Everyone from the bumbling Yakuza, Miki, to his super hot ex-girlfriend to her strange and wimpy current boyfriend, to Captain Banana and Okita Soji, to everyone else - they each bring something to the table, even if it's just a little quirk or odd manner.  Miki is the presumed main character, but everyone gets equal play, and in a movie where the plot doesn't really matter, that's important.  And each character is so random and wildly different than the next, it helps keep an otherwise pointless movie interesting.

Most Creative Death Scene.

In standard Yakuza films (outside of some of Takashi Miike's more bizarre outings), deaths are pretty standard - bullet to the head, knife to the gut, etc., but in Takeshi Kitano's 2010 Yakuza outing, Outrage, creative uses of brutality become the standard.  You've probably seen the clips on YouTube of heads smashed with rocks, epic uses of rogue dentistry, gunshots and bomb blasts, but the one stand-out kill of Outrage (Spoiler Alert) is the death of Kippei Shiina's character Mizuno.  I'll limit the spoiler by saying it involves a car and a length of rope, and it falls into the realm of "more difficult than it's worth", sort of like the bad guy in a James Bond movie using a slow-moving lazer to eviscerate the hero who is tied to a table, when a bullet to the head would be much more expedient.  Either way, kudos to Kitano for coming up with it - this is why we watch Yakuza movies in the first place.

Most Violent Film.

And now for the Yakuza Film Rundown's version of Best Picture - the most violent film of 2011... and the award goes to Takeshi Kitano for Outrage. Outrage didn't have the biggest body count of the films reviewed in 2011 - that would probably go to Blood - however Outrage displayed some of the most visceral and disturbing violence of any movie reviewed this year.  Kitano was apparently making up for lost time with his latest flick, and that's why we love it - mean spirited gangsters killing each other off in betrayal after betrayal with uninhibited brutality, and without even the morbidly comforting pretext that it was justified; that's just how these guys are, and the win is well deserved.

That's it for the Yakuza Film Rundown awards for 2011, see you next year, where we'll be bringing you even more reviews of films from the Yakuza film genre.  And more violence.

Outrage (2010)

After a decade or so break from the Yakuza genre, Kitano "Beat" Takeshi is at last back at it again with Outrage - and with a vengeance.  I've never really been a "fan" of Kitano, but also never really not liked any of his movies; I've always been sort of ambivalent, probably brought on by everyone else worshiping him back in the late 90's when he started getting big in the West (My anti-hipster bent, I suppose).  Kitano's last Yakuza film, Brother, was great, and Outrage is even better.  I fell for it within the first five minutes, and was hooked until the end - granted, I had to watch it three times to sort everything out, but I guess you could say the fact that I was able to sit through it three full times and still be entertained is an impressive feat for any movie.

Outrage has game on many levels - it's a political thriller following the ins and outs of Yakuza politics of revenge and atonement between bosses, brothers, and cohorts (at least Kitano's vision of it).  It's also a solid crime drama; as the drama unfolds, the factions take sides, and when the bullets start flying, you can't help but get caught up in who's going to come out on top, and even cheer for Kitano's group of bad guys.  It's also a procedural drama - The way CSI shows you the police procedures of solving a crime, Outrage shows you the procedures of gang war within this fictional Yakuza group.  Interesting stuff.

I've gotten so used to Takashi Miike's over the top Yakuza films, and the over the top exploitation Yakuza films starring the likes of Takeuchi Riki, that Takeshi's Outrage comes across as a serious and straight drama - no cartoony violence or outrageous characters here.  And although I've read here and there opinions that some of the characters suffer from a lack of character development, the acting is more than solid enough to make up for it.  Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs is a more than apt comparison - both movies are an event, not a character study, but even still the characters are as real as any that have hit the silver screen.

Organizational Chart.

This movie is one in which it really helps to know who works for who, and where everyone sits in the hierarchy.  Fortunately for you, I put together the following organizational chart:


Click for full size



 I would say this chart covers the good guys, but like the movie poster says, 全員悪人 (They're all bad men). On the other side, you have the Murase syndicate, led by Murase played by Ishibashi Renji (Yakuza Demon, Gozu), who is trying to associate himself with the Sanoukai.  The movie follows the antagonizing, retribution, plotting, and revenge that wreaks havoc from the bottom up between these two groups, and when it's all over, you're left wondering if it was a series of random events or a very specific and complex plot that is everyone's undoing.  There are good arguments for either side, but I leave it up to the viewer to make that decision when the credits roll.  Giving any more details about the plot would be doing you the viewer a disservice (which is why I'm skipping my standard Rundown format of giving a detailed plot outline), there is a lot going on and a lot to follow, but the journey is worth it, and there is a lot of mental popcorn to chew over once it's over. Which is why I recommend a second viewing.

Cast and Characters.

As for the characters, there are some really stand-out performances (vis a vis the Yakuza genre - this isn't Shakespeare, even if it tends toward the Shakespearean).  Shiina Kippei gets mad props as the badass VP of the Otomo Syndicate, Mizuno.  After an uninspired portrayal of John Rain in the movie adaptation of Barry Eisler's book Rainfall, I really didn't expect much, but fortunately he blew away my doubts.  Shiina's Mizuno is dark, violent, and brutal, but not without a dark sense of humor, with a likable personality.  As a side note, I had thought that this type of character didn't exist in American cinema, and normally, it doesn't.  However after seeing Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, I've finally found an American movie that mirrors the characters in Japanese Yakuza films.  Dillinger is brutal and dangerous, and yet at the same time charming and personable, and reinforces the legendary image of honor among thieves. These characters, so rare in modern American films, could gut a man with a knife, and then have a beer with friends an hour later as if nothing happened; no guilt, no thought, and no sleep lost.  If you want to see an English version of a traditional Yakuza film, Public Enemies is the movie that has characters that could have transferred directly and unchanged over from a Yakuza film.  I've read that the Yakuza were inspired in clothing and action by the old American gangster films, and since Public Enemies is rife with Yakuza-like characters, I can believe it.

"Beat" Takeshi Kitano, on the other hand, plays Otomo - the same character he always plays - a laconic, world-weary and resigned Yakuza boss. Really nothing new here. If you've seen a Kitano Yakuza film before, you've seen this character. The only real difference here is that he's just a cog in the Yakuza machine, really not a maverick or outsider, he's just part of the hierarchy.

Renji Ishibashi plays the role that seems to be his typecast - the seemingly perpetually befuddled mob boss - in this case as Murase.  He's a bit of an old-school Yakuza that just can't keep up with the ins and outs of the modern Yakuza world, and seems just a little too trusting of the word and motivations of others, much to the detriment of his teeth (in the best and most disturbing dental drill scene I've come across).

All the actors, even the ones who weren't given much to work with, did an exemplary job, which really makes this an A-list movie.  Generally speaking, production value tends to be an issue with Japanese movies (read: not enough). But fortunately in the case of Outrage, everything from the quality of the acting, to the cars, suits, and locations, to the digital quality of the film itself, is all top notch.  None of the dark and grainy scenes that plague most modern Yakuza films - everything is beautifully lit, the picture and colors are sharp, and the stereo sound is crystal clear.  The only caveat is that I'm watching it on a Japanese region DVD on a Japanese DVD player on a 42 inch HDTV.  Regardless, you won't find this kind of image quality in any of Miike's Yakuza films of the past decade.  The camera work was smooth, and really fit the movie. It fit so well in fact, I didn't even notice it, it doesn't get in the way of the movie, and no camera tricks or creative angles were used to try to enhance the movie. It fit very comfortably in the background, so to speak.

 The Violent Rundown.

One thing that does stand out in Outrage is the brutality.  Characters are slashed, shot, beat, punched, and whacked with blunt objects with that happens-everyday bland attitude that is the hallmark of the Yakuza genre.  Surprisingly enough, rape, another hallmark of the Yakuza genre, is missing (but not missed).  This is just a bunch of professional bad guys killing other professional bad guys. As always, my trusty notepad at the ready, I recorded an impressive collection of brutality: Eight beatings, 2 scenes of self-immolation (and the visceral sound of box-cutter on bone is enough to set your teeth on edge), two blunt force head traumas, a facial slashing, 20 shootings, a dismemberment, a spectacularly painful scene of grievous dental trauma via dental drill, massive tongue trauma, chopsticks jammed through an ear, and the hands down winner of best death in a Yakuza film for this year: a spectacular death involving a rope and a car that has to be seen to be believed.  All in all some great, and impressively realistic and brutal violence - nothing is stylized, it is what it is - a fun time for all.

The Final Verdict.

Despite the fact that internet reviews of Outrage seem to be pretty polarized between "great" and "sucks", I can't find fault with it.  It seems that either people who didn't like it find it too violent, or are disappointed that it seems to lack the art-house angsty existentialism of Kitano's older Yakuza movies from the 90's.  But I found it to be a pure drama with nothing stylized or over the top, and rock solid overall.  Kitano seems to run a tight ship, there is no fat in this movie, it's a straight, brutal, and direct drama, and that lack of any of the crazy gonzo Miike effects or over the top characters really sets this one apart.  The theme throughout is that there is no honor among thieves;  everyone is opportunistic, and everyone is out for number one.  Even if Otomo and his crew seem to be the protagonists, they all take turns in the reprehensible acts department. There is no hero or anti-hero. Everyone truly is bad, and no one can really be trusted - Think Reservoir Dogs without Mr. White or Mr. Orange.  It's a movie that is more of an experience than a story, and yes, you need to experience it.  It's not available yet outside of Japan as far as I know, but I assume the grey market will probably have it - and when it hits Blu-Ray in the USA, that will be my cue to buy a Blu-Ray player.

I've been thinking for days how to compare this to the other movies I've reviewed.  This is the only straight drama aside from Takashi Miike's Graveyard of Honor that I've reviewed so far, and they both stand out on the top of my list.  I have to put this just above Graveyard of Honor for style, production value, and the cast of characters (after all, Kishitani Goro carried the entire movie himself, whereas Outrage has a great cast of characters, and Graveyard of Honor was a B movie at heart, even if it was an A movie).  So, as of today, Outrage gets the number one spot in the list of movies reviewed on this blog, and it has something for everyone - violence, intelligent dialogue, plot, and a sense of humor.