One Percent Warrior, Starring Tak Sakaguchi

Do not call Toshiro Takuma “Jackie,” like some of these Yakuza do. He prefers ‘Bruce,” in honor of the Master (who stayed true to Hong Kong). Realism is important to Takuma. That is why he is only now working on his second film. Due to twist of fate, Takuma happens to be scouting a remote location where two rivals Yakuza clans happen to be fighting over a hidden cache of cocaine. Of course, Takuma is way too much for either of them to handle in Yudai Yamaguchi’s One Percent Warrior, which releases tomorrow on BluRay.

Takuma’s skills are so legit, real-life martial arts schools would gladly hire him. (Only one percent of martial artists truly master their discipline, he sneers.) However, his commitment to authenticity is largely lost on the film industry. His first film has become a cult hit, but producers prefer flash and sizzle over his guts and grit. When a possible funding opportunity arises, Takuma heads out on a scouting mission with Akira, his last remaining apprentice.

Instead, the ruthless Takenouchi dragged Maria, the daughter of a recently deceased Yakuza chairman, to the deserted zinc factory, in search of his cocaine stash. Of course, Takuma quickly rescues Maria, leaving her in Akira’s care, as he picks off Takenouchi’s henchmen one by one. Soon, a rival faction led by Shishidou also barges in. They share Takenouchi’s determination to recover the old man’s drugs, but Shishidou’s daughter Ami also seems to have an unhealthy interest in Maria as well.

Bad City, on DVD

Kaiko City is a fictional Japanese metropolis, but the way the criminals run the city will look very familiar to residents of Los Angeles and Chicago. Gangs might end up literally running the city if mobbed-up businessman Wataru Gojo wins the mayoral election. A secret task force is determined to take him and his Korean gangster allies down before than can happen in Kensuke Sonomura’s Bad City, which releases tomorrow on DVD.

Ordinarily, we probably wouldn’t mourn for the Sakurada Yakuza clan, but at least they were homegrown and conducted themselves by some sort of code. However, Gojo prompted Korean gangster Kim Seung-gi to take out the Sakuradas, because he thought they had evidence of their collusion with high-ranking government officials. It turns out he was wrong. The proof is still out there, but they still managed to greatly weaken a major rival.

Prosecutor Hirayama’s case against Gojo just collapsed, so he will try a more off-the-books approach with his new double-secret task force. Technically, it will be run by his former protégé from Public Safety, Kaori Koizumi. However, the driving force will be the Eastwood-esque Det. Makoto Torada, a disgraced cop doing time for a murder he did not commit. Supposedly, he killed the son of “Madam,” the figurehead boss of the Korean mafia, whom Kim ought to show more respect towards.

It is always rewarding to see a film about an old guy kicking butt—and brother, is that ever Torada’s specialty. Although he is not superhuman, his cussedness almost counts as a superpower. His withering stare could knock small birds out of the air. The trio of regular cops attached to the task force also compliment him nicely. There is the big, burly Kumamoto (elegantly nicknamed Kuma or “Bear”), Nishizaki (who is a bit squirrely, but has legit martial arts skills), and the naïve rookie Megumi.

Sonomura knows exactly what people want in a throwback Yakuza movie, so he never over-complicates things. There is a fair amount of intrigue and betrayal going on with the opposing gangs, but he makes sure it always boils over into street-fighting at regular intervals. Frankly, the big, blowout gang-wars are amazing sights to behold. They are absolutely brutal and deadly intense, but they are also messy, ugly, and sometimes downright clumsy, which is exactly how street fight look in real life.

Baby Assassins

Sometimes, on-the-job training is better career prep than advanced course work. Murder-for-hire colud be one of those vocations. It seems to suit Chisato Sugimoto and Mahiro Fukagawa, despite their conflicting Odd Couple personalities. They are compatible professionally, but their employer also insists they room together in Yugo (Hugo) Sakamoto’s high body-count comedy Baby Assassins, which releases today on VOD.

Sugimoto is cute and bubbly, whereas Fukigawa is a withdrawn self-avowed sociopath. Together, they have a knack for killing, but holding down their company-mandated part-time cover jobs is a different story, especially for Fukigawa. Unfortunately, their latest target was Yakuza-connected, which displeases the boss, Ippei Hamaoka. Only he should be able to kill his people. As part of his female-centric makeover of his gang, Hamaoka instructs his daughter Himari to find and eliminate the killers.

Eventually, matters escalate into a full-blown war between the Yakuza and the two clueless high school grads. However, it is more likely the two roommates will kill each other before Hamaoka’s enforcers can get their act together. This is a comedy, but Sakamoto is not fooling around when it comes to the action. There are some brutal, no-holds-barred fight scenes and plenty of headshot-style executions. It almost feels like a Miike film, but it is lighter, leaner, and more down-to-business focused.

Visions of Okinawa: Terror of Yakuza

Being in a Yakuza clan is sort of like the licensing business. Your territories are everything. Seigou Kunigami thought his gang had their Okinawa territories sown up when they made a pact with their main rival. However, after the handover of Okinawa back to Japan, the so-called “Yamato” gangs assume they can expand their business there. Inevitably, gang war breaks out in Sadao Nakajima’s Terror of Yakuza (a.k.a. Okinawa Yakuza War) which screens during the Japan Society’s Visions of Okinawa film series.

Hideo Nakazato went to prison for killing to secure the gang’s prominence. Now that he is out, he just wants to make some money. However, he finds his old comrade Kunigami, the clan leader in his absence, is spoiling for a fight, especially with the Japanese, but also with their more accommodating rivals. His temper is so violently unstable, the various clan leaders might be wiling to make Nakazato a deal. He also might have two new recruits, islanders like Nakazato, who would be perfect for the dirty work.

Nakajima shot Terror on the streets of Okinawa City, at a time when much of the local industry either supported the U.S. military base or catered to their vices. It is easy to imagine Manila looked a lot like this during the early wild and wooly Marcos years. This distinctive backdrop adds something extra to the Yakuza beatdowns, but it still has the classic genre elements fans enjoy, like a massively funky soundtrack and Sonny Chiba at his most ferocious, as Kunigami.

Technically, the ultra-steely Hiroki Matsukata is the star, hard-staring his way through the picture as grizzled Nakazato. Yet, Chiba is so crazy jumping on tables and literally tearing up the town, he still imprints his brand all over Terror—even though Matsuka is still really terrific, in the lead. This is definitely a testosterone-driven film, with men often behaving quite horribly, but Emi Shindo adds a note of tragic grace as Nakazato’s long-suffering wife, Terumi.

Yakuza Princess, from Brazil

Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, mostly concentrated in Sao Paulo and some of the rural provinces. That makes it a logical place for the daughter of the assassinated Kawa Yakuza clan leader to hide in plain sight. Initially, Akemi does not know of her heritage, but she will learn soon enough when killers come looking for her in Vicente Amorim’s Yakuza Princess, which opens Friday in select theaters and on-demand.

Akemi has just turned twenty-one, so she stands inherit the Kawa mantle, such as it is. However, her kendo sensei and surrogate father has kept her in the dark regarding her Yakuza legacy. As we see in the prologue, her father’s rivals viciously gunned down the entire family. Only his lieutenant Takeshi survived by conveniently (but suspiciously) switching allegiances, and as an infant, she was also somehow lost in the shuffle.

Suddenly, the Osaka underworld is highly interested in the Liberdade neighborhood in Sao Paolo. In addition to her, the rival Yakuza clan is looking for a rare Muromachi samurai sword. So is a mystery gaijin referred to as “Shiro” in the credits. He has amnesia, but questions about the sword still resonate for him. Weirdly, he has a habit of showing up just in time to help Akemi even the odds against her attackers, even we (and mostly likely he) can assume his original business with her was drastically different.

Seriously, how can you go wrong with hack-and-slash Yakuza action in Brazil? Amorim certainly doesn’t, adapting Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel (with a battery of co-screenwriters). His action sequences are slickly stylish, ranking up with the films of genre masters like Kitano. Amorim has a good affinity for the history and tradition of the Japanese Brazilian community, having previously helmed the excellent Dirty Hearts. In Princess, he adds the violent genre sensibilities of Mottorad (fortunately, we cannot see much of his stylish but muddled English language film, Good).

Takashi Miike’s First Love

These are Takashi Miike’s kind of people. They live extreme, nocturnal lives on the margins of respectable society. They are Yakuza, Triads, pimps, prostitutes, and crooked cops. Many of them will not live through the night. It will be gangster vs. gangster vs. outcast in Miike’s First Love, which opens this Friday in New York.

Leo is a talented but passionless boxer, who was quite surprised to get TKO-ed by a flukey punch. Sadly, it turns out his knock-out was the result of an inoperable brain tumor. While mulling over this depressing news, he stumbles across young woman in need of saving, so he does.

Yuri, now known as “Monica” was sold into prostitution by her abusive father. Her pimp deliberately hooked her on smack to keep her docile. That would be her late pimp, a victim of the gang war the ambitious but dumb as a post Kase has instigated between his Yakuza clan and the invading Triads, so he can redirect a considerable shipment of heroin during the ensuing mayhem. It certainly does ensue. Unfortunately for him, he is too successful, igniting an underworld battle royale. Soon, vengeful prostitutes and corrupt coppers join the fray. Yet, somehow, Leo does whatever it takes to keep Monica alive, because he has nothing to lose.

Japan Cuts ’18: Outrage Coda

Otomo is tan, rested, and ready. His recent time on Jeju Island has been restorative, but he will swing back into action when an up-and-coming yakuza misbehaves in a hotel controlled by his protector. The Yakuza factions will double-cross each other every chance they get, but they cannot possibly contain the chaos let loose by Otomo in Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage Coda (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Japan Cuts Festival of New Japanese Film.

After beating up two prostitutes who balked at his S&M games, the arrogant Hanada demanded an apology from their organization. Instead, he gets a humiliating dressing-down from Otomo. Hanada even agrees to pay restitution, but he kills Otomo’s bag man on the way out of the country. This does not sit well with Otomo’s new boss, Chang, the politically connected leader of a Korean syndicate that also has operations in Japan. When Hanada’s belated attempt to apologize backfires, Otomo is given the unspoken go-ahead to extract some old school payback.

Since a crisis is also an opportunity, etc., etc., an old school gangster faction within Hanada’s Hanabishi-kai schemes to exploit the brewing conflict with Chang to oust their current president, Nomura, a former financier who did not come up through the yakuza ranks. Of course, while he’s at it, Otomo would also like some payback for his lieutenants who were killed in the previous film.

As director, screenwriter, and lead actor, Takeshi Kitano/Beat Takeshi totally delivers the gangster beatdown goods, once again. Coda is nearly as good as the original Outrage and considerably superior to the still-pretty-good Beyond. In some ways, Coda feels like Kitano’s summation film, sort of like a yakuza Harry Brown or Gran Torino, but Kitano and Otomo apologize for nothing. They might be grizzled and world-weary, but they still have work to do—and if you’re part of it, then woe unto you.

As Otomo, Takeshi the thesp always tacked an ultra-cool, understated approach, but he pares his performance down even further this time around, like a minimalist yakuza Mad Max. However, when he has something to say, it is usually very funny, in a stone-cold kind of way. Kitano also has the support of a small army of colorful supporting players, such as Toshiyuki Nishida as the opportunistic but high-strung underboss Nishino and Pierre Taki as the thuggish Hanada.

For fans of the previous Outrage films, Coda will at least meet and most likely exceed their expectations, which is saying something. It is a fitting conclusion to Otomo’s grand story that has a puncher’s chance of becoming Kitano’s definitive film. It is also a ripping good time at the movies. Very highly recommended, Outrage Coda screens Saturday (7/28) at the Japan Society, as part of this year’s Japan Cuts.

NYAFF ’18: The Blood of Wolves

You do not keep rival Yakuza clans in check by being an apologetic liberal community organizer. You need a cop with a wild streak. That certainly describes Shogo “Gami” Ogami. He has the swagger and he can match any Yakuza drink for drink. Word has it he might be too chummy knocking sake back with Hiroshima’s leading gangsters. Regardless, the young Internal Affairs detective assigned as his undercover partner will get quite a lesson in community policing during the course of Kazuya Shiraishi’s The Blood of Wolves (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.

Hiroshima, 1988: a gang war is brewing and only Ogami can stop it, or so he thinks. It is really just a continuation of the previous war that broke out in the early 1970s. Ogami was also involved in that conflict—perhaps too involved, if rumors are true. As goody-two-shoes Shuichi Hioka watches his new partner and secret target extort information from suspects, pop out for quickies with witnesses, and force him into punishing brawls, he decides everything he has heard about Ogami must be true. Yet, he slowly starts to appreciate the method behind Ogami’s madness. In fact, Hioka embraces Ogami’s fast-and-loose tactics just when the top brass, the media, and the largest Yakuza clan all turn against him.

Seriously, you cannot get anymore old school than Blood of Wolves. It is just drenched in atmosphere and attitude. As Ogami, Koji Yakusho channels Ken Takakura on a grain alcohol bender. Yakusho has played his share of hard-nosed characters before, but Ogami can knock the wind out of you with a dismissive glance. Standing next to him is a tough assignment, but Tori Matsuzaka holds his own quite impressively as the tightly wound Hioka. In fact, when he eventually runs off the rails, it is quite a spectacle to behold.

Despite Yakusho’s dominance, Blood is fully loaded with memorable supporting turns, especially Yoko Maki as a club hostess with a deep grudge. It is just a ferociously beautiful performance. Pierre Taki is also quite colorful and almost humanly decent as Ginji Takii, the leader of a minor right-wing party affiliated with the largest Yakuza clan (and Gami’s best bud), while Renji Ishibashi is slime personified as its Mephistophelean chairman.

The 1980s period details are perfectly recreated, while cinematography Takahiro Haibara soaks up the grit and sleaze of the back alleys of Hiroshima and Kure. Frankly, it looks like the film was shot in the 1970s rather than the 1980s (or 2010s), but that is not a bad thing. Wolves is Shiraishi’s best film to date, by far (at least among those that have had New York festival play). It is also a dynamite showcase for Yakusho and half a dozen other prominent Japanese screen thesps. Very highly recommended, The Blood of Wolves screens Monday night (7/2) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

The Outsider: Jared Leto, Yakuza

Sorry, you can’t watch Kill Bill anymore. It is basically Lady Snowblood remade with the lily-white Uma Thurman, who kills a bunch of Asians in her quest for revenge against David Carradine, who made his career through racial appropriation on the Kung Fu TV series. Seriously, if this Jared Leto Yakuza film is as problematic as critics are making it out to be then Tarantino’s entire Weinstein-produced body of work should be absolutely radioactive. However, if you can think for yourself you will probably find the objections are dubious at best when Martin Zandvliet’s The Outsider (trailer here) premieres today on Netflix.

The film itself is pretty straight forward. Nick Lowell is a former American GI in post-war Japan, who saves the life of Kiyoshi, a Yakuza getting the snot beat out of him in a prison dominated by an antagonistic clan. When Lowell helps him reconnect with his clan, Kiyoshi returns the favor, arranging his early release. Suddenly, Lowell is on the Yakuza fast-track and finally starts to feel like he belongs to something, despite the constant “gaijin” taunts from their main rival.

Of course, as soon as Lowell meets Kiyoshi’s sister Miyu, we can see they will be trouble for each other. However, it is not Kiyoshi Lowell should worry about, but rather her abusive former lover, one of Lowell’s new Yakuza brothers, who has been acting a bit squirrely lately.

Essentially, The Outsider is a stylish exploitation film, much like many 100% racially-pure Japanese Yakuza films. They can’t all be masterpieces like Shinoda’s Pale Flower, but a lot of them happen to be good fun. In this case, cinematographer Camilla Hjelm gives the film an uber-Michael Mann sheen, while Zandvliet keeps it strutting along like an ultra-hip Yakuza slinking through the streets of Shinjuku.

The cast, which is nearly entirely Japanese, is also quite strong. As Lowell, Leto broods like nobody’s business. Tadanobu Asano super-cool but also grizzled and grounded as Kiyoshi, while Shioli Kutsuna’s portrayal of Miyu is surprisingly nuanced and psychologically complex. Plus, Kippei Shina chews all kinds of scenery as Lowell’s slimy, back-stabbing Yakuza brother.

To understand the critical group-think demonizing this film, you need to be familiar with the euphemistically titled “Own Voices” movement, which argues only members from within a specific racial, ethnic, or religious group can create credible characters with such an identity. For whites to try to write from the perspective of other ethnicities is in itself an act of cultural appropriation. Of course, if this movement is ultimately successful, it would racially segregate film and literature. Whites will write about whites, exclusively, and African Americans will write about African Americans—and never shall they co-mingle. This is the absolute antithesis of progressive culture, but it illustrates just how fascistic the Social Justice Warriors have become.

This is the current climate of intolerance The Outsider has been released into. It is not nearly as good as Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage and Outrage Beyond, but it is an entertaining crime film that hits a fair number of the Yakuza bases. Recommended for rational film viewers (if there are any left out there) who enjoy gangster skullduggery, The Outsider is now streaming on Netflix and it also opens theatrically today (3/9) at the Laemmle Monica Film Center.

Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer

As a culture, we get de-sensitized to shock and outrage remarkably quickly. In its day, the mere mention of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was sufficient to cause nannies and small animals to run away in fright. Now it seems relatively mainstream. That’s not true for Ichi. Sixteen years after they handed out promotional vomit bags for its TIFF screens, the notorious film still feels pretty extreme. Without question, there will be blood and other bodily fluids when Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer opens this Friday at the Metrograph, in a digitally restored uncensored director’s cut.

The Anjo and Funaki gangs are at war, but it is really the mysterious crime scene cleaner Jijii, who is pulling the strings. His weapon of choice is the luggish looking Ichi, whom he has profoundly warped, both emotionally and sexually, through hypnotic suggestion. Jijii has him convinced the various yakuza he slices up are the bullies who supposedly tormented him in middle school.

The Anjo gang is still reeling from the presumed murder of their boss, but they still have some incredibly lethal killers hunting Ichi. The creepily sadomasochistic and wildly unstable Kakihara represents the new nihilistic breed of yakuza, whereas Takayama gruffly holds up old school values, as does his recruit, Kaneko, a disgraced former policeman.

ITK remains controversial for a reason. There are explicit scenes of sexual violence and torture that pull no punches and go on for a considerable length of time. Again, it makes supposed shockers like Last Tango in Paris and The Human Centipede look like Merchant and Ivory’s garden party.

Yet, ITK still functions as a twisty and intriguing yakuza film. Shun Sugata and Hiroshi Kobayashi are both terrific as Takayama and Kaneko. There is something deeply compelling about them, as they try to navigate a world that has lost its sanity and sense of decency. On the other hand, Tadanobu Asano’s portrayal of Kakihara is a deep dive into perversion and madness like we had never seen from him before and can surely never possibly see again. Plus, Paulyn Sun, a.k.a. Alien Sun, might just be the fiercest femme fatale ever, who meets an exceptionally brutal end (seriously, how many times do we need to warn sensitive viewers out there?). Perhaps the weakest link is actually Nao Ohmori as the emotionally stunted Ichi. Whenever he enters the picture, we can’t wait for him to exit, for a whole host of reasons.

On some level, it is reassuring that Ichi the Killer still has the power to shock us. Of course, it is supposed to be shocking. Violence never looked less glamorous. That is the whole point and boy, do we get it. Be that as it may, it remains dashed difficult to defend Miike’s ultra-outré-violence on aesthetic grounds, but anyone who is seriously interested in his extraordinarily diverse and prolific body of work has to deal with it at some point. Recommended for curious patrons of extreme cult films, Ichi the Killer opens this Friday (11/10) in New York, at the Metrograph.

NYAFF ’17: The Mole Song—Hong Kong Capriccio

For years, Japanese Imperialists have been the stand-by villains of every other Chinese movie, so it is about time the Japanese film industry returned the favor. Say what you will, but the Yakuza have standards. Evidently, when yakuza are disavowed by their clans, they often find an outlet for their rage working for the Chinese mafia. Frankly, that is about as much serious cultural analysis you’re ever going to get with Takasi Miike’s latest deliriously mad sequel. The lunacy comes fast and furious as Reiji Kikukawa, the world’s most incompetent undercover cop, keeps infiltrating deeper and deeper into the yakuza hierarchy in Miike’s The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio, which screens during the 2017 New York Asian Film Festival.

Kikukawa was hoping to get extracted and rehabilitated long before now. After all, a bunch of bad guys got busted in The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji. However, it turns out there is another verse to the “Mole Song,” the out of tune ditty used by the trio of senior coppers to give Kikukawa his marching orders (they also hint there is a third verse, so the supernaturally prolific Miike probably finished another Mole Song movie in the time it took you to read this far).

Alas, Kikukawa is a victim of his own success. He is now the #2 man in the Hiura Clan, completely trusted by the bionic boss, Masaya Hiura, a.k.a. “Crazy Papillion.” His access could not get any better when he is chosen to serve as the personal bodyguard of Shuho Todoroki, the boss of the overall Sukiya-Kai clan, who is feeling the heat from the Dragon Skulls, a vicious Chinese gang trying to takeover illicit marketshare in Japan. When the Skulls kidnap Todoroki’s hot but mean daughter Karen, it puts Kikukawa in an awkward spot, but he fortuitously saves the boss himself before having to sacrifice a few body parts. From there, he and Hiura are off to Hong Kong to save Karen from the Skulls’ white slavery auction, where things will really get silly.

Like its predecessor except more so, HK Capriccio is the sort of film that could induce seizures in viewers of a certain age or light sensitivity. The action careens in about a hundred different directions at once, but is frequently interrupted by animated sequences, musical numbers, flashbacks, dream sequences, and just plain randomness. It is a whirlpool of outrageously colorful costumes and back-stabbing shenanigans, not the least bit anchored by the naïve yet somehow often naked Kikukawa.

You have to give the rubber-faced and rubber-boned Toma Ikuta credit. He pretty much lets it all hang out as Kikukawa, taking whatever humiliation, ridicule, or pratfall might be coming his way, like a good soldier. Once again, Shinichi Tsutsumi is superhumanly hardnosed as the hard-charging Papillion. Yet, it is Tsubasa Honda who really escalates the insanity considerably over and above the first film, as the sultry “on wheels” yakuza daughter.

Arguably, HK Capriccio is probably one of the year’s greatest directing feats, because this much bedlam must require a heck of a lot of work. If you enjoyed the first Mole Song, the second chorus is even better. On the other hand, if you just didn’t get the prior Agent Reiji than you’re pretty much on your own here. Highly recommended for Miike fans, The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio screens Friday (7/14), at the SVA Theatre, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Kadokawa at Japan Society: Sailor Suit and Machine Gun

American publishers are still trying to catch up with Kadokawa. In the late 1970s, media mogul Haruki Kadokawa started a film production division and began cranking out hit after hit, based on his publishing properties. So, how’s Random House Studio doing? Oh right, sold to Freemantle Media. For Hiroko Yakushimaru, they developed one of the first and arguably still most successful vehicles for a Japanese Idol. It would spawn two television series (decades apart) and a sequel re-boot this year. It doesn’t have the cult following in America of other violent pop culture phenomena, but it is hard to miss its lasting influence of Japanese cinema when Shinji Sōmai’s Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (trailer here) screens as the opener of the Japan Society retrospective: Pop! Goes Cinema: Kadokawa Films and 1980s Japan.

Izumi Hoshi looks fragile, but she is surprisingly tough. She was already somewhat delinquent, even before she inherited control of her great-uncle’s Yakuza gang. Technically, he had named his nephew as his successor, but before the surviving Medaka gang members can find him, the traveling salesman dies in an accident. Logically, leadership of the gang then falls to Hoshi, as his rightful heir. Rather bizarrely, Hoshi also inherits Mayumi Sandaiji, her father’s lover, whom she never met. You can bet she has a secret or two.

Understandably, Hoshi tries to beg off leading the Medaka gang, but when she learns the remaining core group will launch a suicide attack against their rivals if forced to disband, she accepts her new position. Of course, her new fellow clan leaders do not take her seriously. They assume they can finish off Medaka at their leisure, but there is a limit to the disrespect and condescension Hoshi will take.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun takes its title and iconic poster image from the climatic shootout that is basically what it sounds like, but the film in toto is far moodier and more ambiguous than the Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura movies it subsequently inspired. Hoshi is not a cartoon. She is a confused kid, who quite logically grabs onto the support system being offered after the death of her father, her only family and sole support.

Yakushimaru is terrific as Hoshi evolving from slightly jaded but largely naïve kid into full-fledged gangster and finally we’re not really sure what. She also plays some powerful scenes with Yuki Kazamatsuri as Sandaiji, the profoundly damaged femme fatale.

There is something appealingly grungy about SS and MG. This is not a slick video-game-style gore fest. It is street-wise and world-weary, but with a sugary pop idol soundtrack. Nor does it glamorize the violence it inexorably leads up to (despite spawning the catch-word “kaikan” with Hoshi’s big gun-down). Innocence is lost in Sōmai’s film—and it’s a darned shame, but life goes on. Highly recommended for students and connoisseurs of misunderstood cult cinema, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun screens this Tuesday (11/8) at Japan Society as the launch of their Kadokawa series—and it is guaranteed to make happier viewing than anything on television that depressing night.

NYAFF ’16: Kiyamachi Daruma

Shiego Katsuura is like the Yakuza version of those terrible quadriplegic jokes ignorant grade-schoolers tell. Yet, no matter what his condition might be, leaving him angrier than you found him is probably a bad idea. Five years ago, a rival severed all four limbs, but he keeps working in Hideo Sakaki’s Kiyamachi Daruma (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 New York Asian Film Festival.

Katsuura is a miserable bastard, especially if he meets you while collecting loan-shark debts. Obviously, Katsuura is no longer a kneecap-breaker, but he can still be aggressively hostile. Kenta Sakamoto, Katsuura’s long-suffering keeper, maliciously deposits his charge with delinquent debtors, who then must deal with the nontraditional gangster’s excretions and lecherous demands. If you think it sounds creepy, just wait till you see him in limited action.

Yes, we are definitely talking about a slice of Japanese extremity here. However, Sakaki and screenwriter Hiroyuki Maruno (adapting his own novel) still posit a moral universe for these characters to inhabit. For reasons we eventually learn, Sakamoto is particularly troubled by the practice of holding children accountable for their parents’ debts. He also starts to suspect the current boss, Furusawa, who inherited the Kiya town territory from Katsuura is holding back information about the fateful incident.

There is some tough stuff in Kiyamachi Daruma (Daruma being a Japanese equivalent of an inflatable punching bag clown)—and frankly Katsuura’s condition is least of it. The horrors and humiliations that befall the Arai family are deeply troubling to witness, but at least they will set off a wicked karmic chain of events.

As Katsuura, Kenichi Endo truly puts the “f” and the “u” in furious. He is one bad cat, literally on wheels. Clearly, it was a demanding performance on a physical level, but he takes quiet, burning existential rage to new levels. He is something else, but Masaki Miura and Yuichi Kimura give the film genuinely tragic Shakespearean dimension as Sakamoto and Furusawa, respectively.

If you are unsure whether Kiyamachi is for you, then you should really think twice before going. Had Takeshi Miike and the late Koji Wakamatsu ever collaborated on a Yakuza film, it might have looked something like this (and if that comparison does not mean anything to you, consider it a hint you should take). However, if you want to be challenged by a film, Kiyamachi will do it in edifying and evil ways. Recommended for hardcore fans of Yakuza and cult films, Kiyamachi Daruma screens tomorrow (7/5) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Black Salt (short): Launching the Franchise

He has Shaolin training and an Interpol badge, but the most dangerous thing about Samuel Lincoln Tharpe, a.k.a. Black Salt, is probably his hardnosed attitude. He will need every possible edge to save the world from an apocalyptic Yakuza sect in Ben Ramsey’s Black Salt (trailer here), a short film intended to launch an ambitious multimedia franchise based on the comic book characters created by Owen Ratliffe. Genre fans can get a dose of martial arts and WMD when Black Salt airs on Cinemax on Demand and MAX GO.

When young Tharpe’s mother relocated to China, it ended in tragedy. However, a rebellious Shaolin monk took the boy in, teaching him the secrets of Shaolin Kung Fu. Not so surprisingly, many in the monastery were not happy with this breach of tradition, so they were not sorry to see him leave before completing his training.

Of course, the very grown Tharpe is a badder customer than just about anyone else in the West, which makes him quite valuable to Interpol and the allied agencies they lend him out to. The stakes will be particularly high when Tharpe is sent on a mission to recover a vaguely defined doomsday device from an evil Yakuza death cult. However, things seem to go pretty smoothly thanks to intel acquired Li Jing, his dissident source inside the Yakuza—at least until the sect’s super villains turn up in an untimely fashion.

Even though Black Salt is pilot-like thirty-minute short film, it features two centerpiece-worthy fight scenes, in which Tharpe first faces off against the icily sadistic Rain and then the mysterious and stealthy Horse Ripper. Both feature plenty of highly cinematic fight choreography, co-directed by Ron Yuan (who appears in a non-action role, at least thus far, as Japanese agent Mamori Shiga).

So far, so good. True, Black Salt the short will totally leave fans hanging, but that is really to be expected, given the concept-proving, audience-teasing nature of the project. As Tharpe, Kinyumba Mutakabbir has a suitably steely presence and all kinds of action cred. Sheena Chou’s Li Jing is an intriguingly vulnerable femme fatale, but we maybe shouldn’t get too attached to her. The same caution goes for Panuvat Anthony Nanakornpanom, who tears it up as Rain.

It looks like Ratliff and Ramsey plan to combine Eastern spirituality with gritty street action, in much the same way the original Power Man and Iron Fist comics did, which would be terrific. They clearly understand the genre and know how to deliver the goods to satisfy aficionados. Based on the thirty minutes of Black Salt, we would definitely welcome a full length feature or episodic series. Recommended for martial arts and comic books fans, Black Salt will be available on Cinema on Demand starting today (4/28) until May 26^th and continues its current availability on MAX GO until June 30^th—with a limited edition DVD coming soon.

Miike’s Yakuza Apocalypse

Yakuza and vampires depend on carefully balanced ecosystems that are not so different from Social Security. There absolutely must be more people bleeding money and plasma into the system than sucking it out. Due to his inexperience, a freshly turned Yakuza vampire threatens to upset the long term equilibrium, but he will have more pressing concerns when three agents of doomsday start wreaking cosmic havoc in Takashi Miike’s Yakuza Apocalypse (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Genyō Kamiura is a benevolent Yakuza boss and a vampire, who refuses to drink civilian blood, even though it is sweeter and more nourishing than the bitter swill running through Yakuza veins. He has taken earnest Akira Kageyama under his wing, even though the lad’s skin is too sensitive to tattoo. They see eye to eye when it comes to giving civilians a fair shake, so when Kamiura is fatally jumped by Kyoken, a martial arts maniac and his boss, a Spanish priest carrying a disintegration ray in a casket, the last thing his severed head does is turn Kageyama into a vampire. Unfortunately, the unprepared Kageyama then accidentally turns a civilian, who immediately turns another, and so on. Soon nearly the entire town consists of vampires sporting supernatural Yakuza tats.

Obviously things are a mess, but they will only get worse with the arrival of the third representative of the cosmic syndicate. Kaeru-kun might look like a guy in a fuzzy green frog costume, but he is as lethal as the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. What part of this being a Miike film didn’t you get?

Yakupoc has been dismissed as a Miike greatest hits package and there is a kernel of truth in that. One might have thought he worked through all his Django riffs in Sukiyaki Western Django, but apparently not. However, Miike is such a gleefully kitchen sink kind of filmmaker he constantly throws in inspired bits where you least expect them. Indeed, the audience’s introduction to Kamiura, in which a small army of earthly Yakuza learn the folly of trying to whack a vampire is truly vintage Miike. There are also a number of wonderfully droll lines sprinkled throughout the film and without question, it features some of the best fight choreography ever conceived for a dude in a downy soft animal costume.

Hayato Ichihara is shockingly engaging portraying Kageyama’s maturation process from awestruck henchman to hardnosed vampire. Largely playing against his usual hound dog type, Lily Franky is off the hook awesome as Kamiura. Unfortunately, Yayan Ruhian (the unrelated Mad Dogs in the Raid films) does have much of a character to work with in Kyoken, or much room to chew scenery. At least he still has all kinds of moves. The rest of the Yakuza underlings largely blur together.

When Miike is working in his chaotic one-upsman bag, his films are sort of like the weather. If it isn’t working for you, just wait ten minutes and it will change. Yet, even it clicks in fits and starts, it is exhilarating to watch him embrace the bedlam. His prolific work ethic is also pretty darn impressive. Recommended for Miike fans, but maybe not the best starter film for the uninitiated, Yakuza Apocalypse opens tomorrow (10/9) in New York, at the Village East.

Fantasia ’15: Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen

It its prime, the yakuza life may have had its benefits, but they did not include a pension, 401K, or long-term disability. As a result, those who manage to live into their golden years become an embarrassing burden to their families. Out of boredom and contempt for the new brand of organized crime, a notorious retired yakuza decides to get the old gang back together in Takeshi Kitano’s Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen (trailer here), which screens today during the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.

Ryuzo still has his massive yakuza tattoos and he is not shy about showing them off, much to his salaryman son’s chagrin. One day, Ryuzo nearly falls for a confidence scam, but the arrival of his old crony Masa limits the damage. Evidently, this is one of the many predatory operations run by Keihin Industries, the ostensibly legit financial outfit that took over territory once run by Ryuzo’s now defunct clan.

Assembling his surviving associates (in some cases just barely), Ryuzo forms a new inter-clan “league” to teach the Keihin creeps how crime should be done. They even have the wink-and-a-nod blessing of crusty Det. Murakami, who was just a kid in their day, but is one of the few remaining coppers who still remember the old yakuza. Of course, Ryuzo and his gang (including Mokichi the dreaded “Toilet Assassin”) are over-matched and out of shape, but they do not have much to lose.

Henchmen is about as cute as Kitano gets. There is usually a pronounced element of black humor in his gangster films, particularly the Outrage duology, but now he brings the comedy front-and-center. Of course, when the gags involve finger chopping and commode killings, it helps to have an appreciation for the yakuza tradition.

As Ryuchi, the quietly simmering Tatsuya Fuji looks like he could explode at any time. The former Stray Cat Rock star still has plenty of fierce in him, making him a perfectly suited to anchor the film. However, it is amazing how much pop the film gets from Kitano’s brief appearances as Murakami. Happily, the power of his deceptively placid presence remains undiminished. It just would be nicer to have more of it in Henchmen.

There is a tendency in the film towards goofiness, but the game supporting cast (starting with Masaomi Kondo as the loyal but slightly psychotic Masa) strives more for a nostalgic Tough Guys tone than a shticky Grumpy Old Men kind of thing. It mostly works. Overall, Henchmen is an enjoyable exercise in senior empowerment and old school payback, while also suggesting it is high time someone mounted a comprehensive Kitano career retrospective. It is a lot of fun, but not as much fun as another resurrection of Kitano’s Otomo for an Outrage 3 would be. Recommended for yakuza fans, Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen screens tonight (7/27), as part of this year’s Fantasia.

NYAFF ’15: Cops vs. Thugs

In this Yakuza power struggle, Det. Tokumatsu Kuno is backing one faction, while the city politicians have aligned themselves with the opposing clan. Over the long run, the politicians hold the advantage, but Kuno can do plenty of damage in the short term. The ensuing war will produce no heroes. There are only survivors and corpses in Kinji Fukasaku ironically titled Cops vs. Thugs (trailer here), which screens as part of the 2015 New York Asian Film Festival’s sidebar tribute to Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara.

Arguably, it was something of a blessing for the Ohara clan when old man Ohara was sent up the river. The infinitely more competent Kenji Hirotani subsequently stepped up as acting boss. For reasons that are never satisfactorily explained, Kuno has taken an active interest in promoting his criminal career. However, the industrial city’s crooked assemblyman, the exceptionally slimy Masaichi Tomoyasu is rather openly affiliated with Boss Kawade.

For years, Kuno has made it his business to tip off Hirotani whenever the cops move against Ohara operations, whereas he takes great enjoyment in busting Kawade’s men. Now under the pretense of a general crackdown, Tomoyasu has unleashed a goody two-shoes prefecture cop to decisively close down the Ohara outfit. Not coincidentally, Kuno quickly discovers he has been frozen out of department investigations. However, he will still do his best to gum up the works.

To describe C vs. T as cynical would be an understatement. Corruption in this grimy town is deep as a river and wide as a mile. Frankly, it probably is not the greatest Yakuza movie ever. Character motivation is consistently a mysterious black box for Fukasaku and screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara, but it has an impressive sense of history and scope. In many ways, it could be considered a stylistic forerunner to Cédric Jimenez’s The Connection, whether or not it directly influenced the French filmmaker.

As we would hope, Bunta Sugawara glowers and snarls like a wary junkyard dog as the morally compromised, but not completely amoral Kuno. Likewise, Hiroki Matsukata is nearly equally hardnosed as Hirotani. However, Nobuo Kaneko truly makes the film as the utterly detestable Tomoyasu. He is the sort of villain that makes you want to purge and shower under the Silkwood power-faucets.

It is kind of mind-blowing to think Fukasaku had previously helmed the sequences in Tora! Tora! Tora! set in Japan and would be best remembered for the Hunger Games precursor, Battle Royale, but his real specialty was caustic Yakuza dramas, as exemplified by C vs. T. It truly has the gritty, grungy look of classic 1970s New York cops and gangster movies. The anti-heroic Yakuza drama is also another Sugawara film that features a massively groovy soundtrack (in this case composed by Toshiaki Tsushima). Recommended for genre fans (but not with as much enthusiasm as The Man Who Stole the Sun or Abashiri Prison), Cops vs. Thugs screens this Friday (7/3) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Everly: Salma Hayek vs. the Yakuza

Even if you believe “violence is never the answer and what the world really needs is more love and understanding,” just keep it to yourself. Everly does not have time for warm and fuzzy liberal new age platitudes and we do not want to hear them. She is simply too busy worrying about escape and payback. For several years, she was enslaved as a prostitute by the Yakuza, but now she will try to shoot her way out of their fortified brothel. It is not a well thought out  plan, but at least she will be able to take a lot of bad guys with her in Joe Lynch’s Everly (trailer here), which opens this Friday in targeted markets.

Everly used to be the favorite of the kingpin, Taiko, but not anymore. An honest cop also lost his head over her. Taiko had it boxed up and presented to her. She had agreed to testify for the late detective, but obviously that will not be happening. Taiko’s men were supposed to do their worst to her, but she was able to stash a gun in the toilet bowl. Bullets will fly—and they will keep flying, but Everly is not immune to them. In fact, she starts the film pretty dinged up, but she is able to patch herself up and keep going.

Unfortunately for him, one of Taiko’s bean-counters gets gut-shot in the first volley. There is clearly no way he will make it. Much to her surprise, the dying paper-pushing gangster offers her some helpful strategic consultation as he slowly expires. Acting on his advice, she makes a risky play, arranging a pretext for her mother and the daughter she never knew to pick up a bag of traveling money from Taiko’s high-rise of hedonism-turned war zone.

To their credit, Lynch and screenwriter Yale Hannon understand the point of a film like this and therefore never cheapen it with a disingenuous take-away about the supposed dangers of firearm possession or the folly of vengeance taking. Taiko and his associates need to die—period. Frankly, some bits are rather disturbingly explicit, particularly those involving the “Sadist” played by the classy Togo Igawa (the first Japanese member of the Royal Shakespeare Company), but that makes it extra satisfying when they get theirs.

It should also be noted the forty-eight year old Salma Hayek looks all kinds of dangerous as Everly. She is in tremendous shape and shows real action chops, but in a grittier, less cartoony way. She conveys the well-armed rage of a desperate mother, which makes each showdown deeply primal. There are real stakes in Everly—and plenty of blood, but her relatively quiet scenes with Akie Kotabe as the dying suit are some of the film’s best.

We have often lamented the dearth of legitimate female action stars in Hollywood and mainstream indie movies. It is so bad, Meryl Streep has laughably been suggested for the female Expendables film in development. With Everly, Hayek blasts herself into contention to lead the whole darned shooting match. Despite its obvious debt of inspiration to Gareth Huw Evans’ The Raid, it is an old school, deliciously sleazy revenge thriller that always delivers the goods right to your doorstep and never expects a tip. Highly recommended for fans of exploitation action, Everly is now available on VOD via iTunes and opens this Friday (2/27) in selected cities.

Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Which is a greater menace to society, the Yakuza or independent filmmakers? It hardly matters, because when they join forces, there will be blood on the floor. We are talking wall-to-wall pooling here. Yes, this is a Sion Sono joint, so get your game face on when Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (trailer here) opens in New York.

Ten years ago, scruffy would be teen filmmaker Hirata Don and his two camera-operating chums first met Sasaki, their supposed martial arts star. On that fateful day, they also crossed paths with Jun Ikegami, a profusely bleeding yakuza. He was supposed to assassinate Taizo Muto, a rival clan leader, but Ikegami and his accomplices ran into Muto’s wife Shizue instead. Only Ikegami survives her wrath, but not before getting a severe dressing-down from her ten year old daughter, Michiko.

Michiko had been well on her way to being Japan’s sweetheart, based on her perversely catchy TV toothpaste commercial jingle, but her mother’s murder convictions derail her career. Feeling understandably indebted to his wife, Muto promises to establish their daughter in the movies before her release. However, the now punky and petulant Michiko walked away from her legit film debut, forcing the studio to recast. With mere days left before Shizue’s parole, Muto needs to find a production for Michiko fast. You see where this is going? Eventually, Don’s dubious crew will hook up with Muto’s clan, but everyone thinks the director is Koji Hashimoto, a poor schmuck on the street Michiko roped into her madness.

With no time to write a proper script, Don opts to film Muto’s war with Ikegama verite-style. Buckle up, because there is going to be a body count. When it comes to over-the-top, outrageously gory comedic violence, Sono’s latest film stands tall, in a field all its own. The sheer level of mayhem Sono unleashes in the third act would even leave Itchy & Scratchy slack-jawed. It is impressive.

Amid all the carnage, there is also something of a valentine to filmmaking and an affectionate eulogy for old school 35mm. It also features one of the greatest and fiercest performances by a child actor, maybe ever, but it will probably be a good eight or ten years before Hara Nanoka’s parents let her see her work as young Michiko. As the older Michiko, NYAFF Rising Star Award winner Fumi Nikaido smoothly picks up the baton and proceeds to bash just about everyone with it. It is a butt-kicking star turn, but nobody can out hard-nose Jun Kunimura (Boss Tanaka in Kill Bill vol. 1, which seems so tame in comparison) as the steely but devoted Muto.

On the Sion Sono spectrum, this is more polished than Bad Film, but more ragged around the edges than Love Exposure. Regardless, whatever you think WDYPIH is, raise it to a power of ten. Highly recommended for cult film connoisseurs who have a general idea what they are getting into, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? opens this Friday (11/7) at the Yonkers Alamo Drafthouse and screens late nights this weekend at the IFC Center.

Falcon Rising: Taking Down the Brazilian Yakuza

Brazil has one of the largest Japanese expat communities outside of Japan. Unfortunately, that also entails a Yakuza presence—or at least it used to, until the Rio clan nearly killed the wrong ex-marine’s sister. They will soon learn John Chapman’s martial arts skills and PTSD death wish make him all kinds of deadly. He even has a codename to dig out of mothballs in Ernie Barbarash’s Falcon Rising (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Haunted by his experiences in the Middle East (refreshingly, these seem to be more about what they did to his men than what he did to them), Chapman is essentially trying to booze his way into an early grave. However, he manages to pull himself together when his NGO do-gooding sister Cindy blows into town for a quick visit. She should have stayed longer. Soon after returning to her favela nonprofit, a violent attempt on her life leaves her in a coma.

Somewhat put out by this news, Chapman hastens down to Rio, where his old service buddy Manny Ridley is a senior Foreign Service Officer. Ridley cannot get too involved in the smackdowns, but he can point Chapman in the right direction. Before long he will be shaking the Yakuza’s tree, while their crooked minions on the police force try to finish off both Chapmans. Good luck with that.

Right, we’re talking total B-movie here, but Falcon harbors few illusions about where its comparative advantages lie. Michael Jai White brings plenty of heat as Chapman and develops some pleasant bantering buddy chemistry with the ever-reliable Neal McDonough’s Ripley. However, one would think the film could have better used retired boxer Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad), who spends most of the film hooked up to tubes.

Instead, Hazuki Kato gets to be the action femme fatale, displaying some nice chops and an intriguing presence as Yakuza lieutenant Tomoe. In contrast, Masashi Odate is a little too icy and reserved as her master, Hirimoto, but he swings the samurai sword with credibility and authority. However, Lateef Crowder arguably shows off the best moves as Carlo Bororo (a.k.a. crooked cop #2).

As a journeyman action helmer, Barbarash (whose credits include the similarly entertaining Assassination Games) is clearly in his power zone. He stages some pretty impressive fight scenes (choreographed by Larnell Stovall) that eschew shaky cams in favor of full body shot clarity. Barbarash also soaks up the local color, giving viewers a good feel for the Rio’s teeming sprawl.

This is a small film even in the world of action movies, but it is still a lot of fun, sure-footedly following in the spirit and tradition of the American Ninja franchise. Recommended for fans of White and unpretentious martial arts films, Falcon Rising launches today on VOD (where it should do the lion’s share of its business) and opens tomorrow (9/5) in New York at the AMC Empire.