Kinji Fukasaku Movies
Known primarily in the West for directing such features as Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and the controversial Battle Royale (2000), maverick Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku established himself early on with a series of Toei Studio yakuza movies before gaining international recognition after taking over for Akira Kurosawa when the legendary director abandoned Tora! Tora! Tora!. Fukasaku was born in Mito, Japan, in 1930, and made his film debut with 1961's High Noon for Gangsters. A studio director who separated himself from the pack by opting to craft socially critical contemporary crime films as opposed to the popular period samurai efforts, his early efforts provided the perfect outlet for a director frustrated with the grim realities of post-war Japan. Taking a cue from Italian neorealism, Fukasaku continued to craft a unique style that would flourish throughout the 1960s. Later helming the visually explosive Black Lizard, it soon became apparent that Fukasaku was a director whose talents were limited by the suffocating restraints of the Japanese studio system. Exploring the dark underworld of crime and continually blurring the line between good and evil in his "Battle series," (which began with 1973's Battles Without Honor and Humanity) the director's brutal and abrasive films captured the life of crime as rarely seen by the general Japanese public. Persuaded by the studios to continue making similarly themed crime films long after he had exhausted those creative outlets, Fukasaku began to explore other realms following the collapse of the studio system. Though he would subsequently dabble in samurai cinema for a brief period, it was soon time to film the biggest-budgeted Japanese film to date, the international co-production Virus (1980). Headlined by an all-star cast of American and Japanese actors, the film told a grim tale of world destruction on an epic scale. The Fall Guy (1982), filmed shortly thereafter, proved the celluloid manifestation of Fukasaku's frustrations with the restrictive studio system, and found the director the recipient of numerous awards. Continuing to work steadily through the following decade and into the new millennium, Fukasaku released the most controversial film of his career in 2000. Once again exploring his frustrations with Japanese society, Battle Royale sparked a firestorm of controversy both in Japan and abroad with it's striking and disturbing images of children locked in graphic mortal combat. Issued as a dire warning to the youth of Japan, Battle Royale ultimately proved a substantial hit at the box office and it wasn't long before a sequel went into development. Sadly, it was shortly before production began on Battle Royale 2 that the aging director announcing that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Soldiering on despite continually declining health, Fukasaku was admitted to a hospital in late December and died soon after on January 12, 2003. Despite the fact that the director himself would not be able to complete work on his final effort, son Kenta Fukasaku would complete the film for a 2003 release. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2001
In a future where society is on the verge of collapse, the government takes drastic action against the problem of rebellious teenagers in this violent sci-fi opus from Japan. In the year 2002, Japan's economy has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and massive unemployment and inflation have thrown most adults into a state of chaos; the nation's youth culture responds with unprecedented violence, delinquency, and truancy. Desperate to restore order, the Japanese parliament responds by creating the Millennial Reform School Act, in which groups of junior high students are selected at random, sent to an isolated island, and forced to play a rigorous war game, in which all but one of their number are killed. Kitano (Beat Takeshi) is an embittered school instructor who guides the 44 students of the Zentsuji Middle School's Class B through the deadly game known as "Battle Royale," as they struggle to survive against the elements and each other. Battle Royale proved to be both successful and highly controversial in Japan, where it set box-office records and prompted political leaders to call for stricter controls on violence in Japanese entertainment; the film was initially rated R-15 (no one under 15 admitted), unusual for violent films in Japan, though director Kinji Fukasaku later prepared a re-edited version that earned a more lenient classification. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, (more)
- 1999
An acclaimed yakuza autuer best known for his pungent Jingi Naki Tatakai series, Kinji Fukasaku spins this tale about the rough life of geishas. Set in the mid-'50s, the film centers on Tokiko (Maki Miyamoto), a young lass from a poor weaver's family who works as a maid for a geisha house. Tokiko learns the real nature of her future career from her "older sisters." Perky, modest, and self-sacrificing, she gladly accepts her dubious fate so long as it means more money for her impoverished family. This film was penned by veteran director Kaneto Shindo. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A samurai and his companions become "ronin" (masterless samurai) when their master is forced to commit suicide after a failed assassination attempt on a corrupt noble. Although they appear to be reduced to begging in the streets, it is all part of their plan for revenge on the noble who caused their master's death. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Koichi Sato, Keiko Oginome, (more)
Screen legend Sonny Chiba makes his feature directorial debut with this tale of a young bear hunter who vows to end the horrific reign of the ten foot tall, 900 pound bear that's been terrorizing a small mountain village. Based on actual events that unfolded in Hokkaido, Japan in 1915, Yellow Fangs opens to find the frightened villagers cowering in fear at the monstrous bear that has made their quiet village his personal buffet. Christened "Red Spot" due to the bloodstains that dot his massive hide, the bear sets about murdering the men of the town and dragging the women into the forest to devour by moonlight. Meanwhile, young bear hunter Eiji welcomes the beautiful Yuki to stay with him after she is kicked out of her family home. That same night, Red Spot attacks Yuki's home, viciously killing her father and brothers, and making a quick meal of her mother. Upon learning of the dreadful attack, Eiji organizes a team of hunters to venture into the woods and slay the beast. But Yuki is forbidden to join them because she is a woman. Determined to seek revenge against Red Spot, the fearless girl disguises herself as a boy and arms herself for the ultimate battle of woman versus beast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1987
This is the fourth of a series of samurai movies based on a popular Japanese television series. Among the other features of this goofy production is its soundtrack, combining Mexican and Country-Western music. The villains are garishly made-up individuals who are killing almost indiscriminately at the behest of a new local magistrate. The hero is reputed to be a coward, since he relies on his detective skills more than swordplay to get to the root of the matter. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Makoto Fujita, Mitsuko Baisho, (more)
- 1986
This drama is based on the experiences of celebrated novelist Kazuo Dan. Kazuo Katsura (Ken Ogata) is a writer, with a wife and six children, who indulges in booze and extra-marital affairs. When he takes the flighty actress Keiko (Mieko Harada) as his mistress, Kazuo's long-suffering wife Yoriko (Ayumi Ishida) leaves him. The author must endure the situation he has set for himself as he suffers through arguments in between his sexual encounters. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Ogata, Ayumi Ishida, (more)
As might be gathered from its title, The Legend of the Eight Samurai is set in feudal Japan. Princess Hiroku Yokoshimaru's family is wiped out, along with her bodyguards. All that stands between the princess and certain death is an inexperienced young samurai played by martial-arts expert Sonny Chiba. Armed with little more than determination, Chiba must battle an octet of phantom warriors, a witch, and a killer centipede! The Legend of the Eight Samurai is as good as anything else of its type, sometimes a little better. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonny Chiba, Hiroku Yokoshimaru, (more)
A double disaster film with both an American and a Japanese cast, Virus presents some pretty wild probabilities to viewers. First of all, a virus has been developed that gets loose and starts to destroy humanity on a grand scale. The only people who are remotely safe are a group of eight hundred men and eight women on Antarctica. Since the President of the United States warns them by radio communications not to accept anyone into their area who has been contaminated, the men and women are somewhat prepared. That does not mean they are ready to handle the crew of a Russian submarine that seeks refuge with them. The second disaster is nuclear, and part of the suspense lies in whether or not it will be ultimately averted -- and who, if any, will survive all this. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonny Chiba, Chuck Connors, (more)
In this Japanese fantasy, the wrathful ghost of a shogunate warrior emerges from a thunderstorm to exact revenge on those behind the terrible 1638 Shimbara Revolt in which 18,000 rioters were slaughtered. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A has-been samurai movie star takes unfair advantage of the loyalty of one of his devoted fans in this Japanese comedy-drama. The star uses the fan's help to escape a number of sticky situations and eventually hatches a plan to use them as a double during a dangerous stunt. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morio Kazama, Keizo Kanie, (more)
- 1978
- PG
Message from Space, a bargain-rack Japanese Star Wars clone, stars Vic Morrow as the token American. Responding to a plea for help from a faraway planet, A young, idealistic four-person crew hurtles to the rescue. Along for the ride are two funny robots. As could expected from the Toei Studios, Message from Space is a clearing house of good, bad, and "aw come on!" special effects. Vic Morrow followed this film triumph with the equally unforgettable The Evictors (79) and Humanoids from the Deep (80). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vic Morrow, Sonny Chiba, (more)
- 1978
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You've seen him as the bone-cracking anti-hero of the Street Fighter films, now watch Sonny Chiba team with Japanese screen legend Toshiro Mifune and some of the biggest names in Asian cinema in an all-out martial arts melee that's guaranteed to please. Yagyu Jubei (Chiba) is the son of a shogun's instructor and the most powerful swordsman in Japan. When Yagyu's father selects Yagyu to be their heir to his throne, a bitter rivalry is sparked between Yagyu and his powerful brother. It doesn't take long for the brothers to discover that they have been manipulated against one another by a group of imperial nobles who seek to disband the shogunate so that power may be restored to the emperor, and when the secret is discovered, a battle erupts that would strike fear into the heart of even the most fearsome warrior. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sonny Chiba
The director of Battle Royale and The Yakuza Papers delivers yet another gritty yakuza masterpiece in this brutal tale of two warring underworld factions determined to gain ultimate power over Kurashima City. The year is 1963, and the delicate balance of power in Kurashima City is shakily maintained between two warring factions. The political influence of the Kawade gang helps to legitimize the vicious group's lucrative rackets scheme, and the uneasy alliance shared between their rivals the Ohara gang and the corrupt local police force ensures that neither gang gets too much power. When the lure of some valuable waterfront property becomes too much for the Ohara boss to resist, however, the volatile standoff receives just the catalyst needed to spark a vicious bloodbath between the gangsters, cops, and politicians all looking to come out on top. The all-seeing eye of the horrific hurricane of violence, Detective Kuno of the Kurashima City Violence Squad remains torn by his childhood allegiance with a powerful yakuza kingpin and the increasing pressure from his reform-minded superiors to keep the city streets safe for the frightened citizens. An inherently decent man who recognizes the code of ethics on both sides of the law, Detective Kuno's itchy trigger finger finds him falling down an ever-darker path as he coolly plays both sides by walking a line that could be pulled out from under him at any moment. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bunta Sugawara
Vengeance Is Mine meets La Strada in Japanese gangland auteur Kinji Fukasaku's real-life yakuza drama about a sociopathic loser who always seems to make the wrong decision. Opening in the blackmarkets of Shinjuku just after the war, Ishikawa (played by matinee icon Tetsuya Watari) works as muscleman for the Kawada crime family. After a raid on a Chinese gang's gambling parlor turns into street warfare, Ishikawa finds himself taking refuge in the boarding room of frightened waif and war orphan Chieko (Yumi Takigawa). After a brief departure, he returns, stinking drunk, to collect his belongings and eventually he rapes her. Meanwhile, Ishikawa almost sparks a gang war after beating up a prostitute of a rival gang. Though the Kawada clan's connection with the American occupation forces eventually forestalls any bloodshed, Ishikawa's godfather (Hana Hajime) balls him out and humiliates him. In retaliation, Ishikawa jumps his boss and stabs him an inch short of his life -- a cardinal sin in the crime world. Ishikawa again takes refuge with Chieko, who in spite of his previous brutishness takes pity on the battered and bleeding gangster and nurses him to health. After a brief stint in jail, Ishikawa learns that he is spared execution only through the efforts of his old friend and crime boss Kozaburo Imai (Tatsuo Umemiya); he is instead banished from the Tokyo yakuza world for ten years. Imai arranges for him to lay low in Osaka, where he lives in a flophouse, spending his time whoring, developing tuberculosis, and shooting up dope. He soon gets bored of Osaka, and ventures back to Tokyo with his witless junky sidekick Ozaki (Kunie Tanaka). After another stint in jail, he marries Chieko, who has by this point developed full-fledged tuberculosis. This film was ranked one of the best Japanese films of 1975 by the prestigious film journal Kinema Jumpo. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1974
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A long-standing gang war on the streets of Hiroshima escalates despite police pressure in this, the fourth film in Kinji Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series. It's 1964, and with the Tokyo Olympics turning the eyes of the world to Japan, lawmen have set out to keep the Yakuza -- Japan's organized crime system -- out of sight. While dozens of low-level mobsters are thrown into jail, crime lord Takeda (Akira Kobayashi) attempts to keep the peace for the best of all parties on the wrong side of the law. But when a high-ranking Yakuza figure is killed by a low-level "mechanic" in a moment of anger, an explosion seems imminent. Meanwhile, gangster Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) sees an opportunity to use the chaos to settle a score against a mobster who had done him wrong years before. Jingi Naki Tatakai: Chojo Sakusen (aka Yakuza Papers, Vol. 4: Police Tactics would be followed in 1975 by Jingi Naki Tatakai: Kanketsu-Hen (aka Yakuza Papers, Vol. 5: Final Episode), the last film in the series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1974
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In this violent and morally ambiguous crime drama from master genre filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku, Takeda (Akira Kobayashi), a longtime leader of one of Hiroshima's Yakuza families (the Japanese Mafia), attempts to resolve the longtime war between various mob factions by reshaping his organization into a political organization that would be both powerful and legal. But not all of Takeda's men take to this new way of doing things, and a rash act by one veteran gangster (Jo Shishido) leads to a final turf war between the families. Jingi Naki Tatakai: Kanketsu-Hen (aka Yakuza Papers, Vol. 5: Final Episode) was the last film in the landmark series Fukasaku began with Jingi Naki Tatakai. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Kinji Fukasaku's violent chronicle of mob warfare in post-war Hiroshima continues with this, the third film in the Yakuza Papers series. Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) struggles to remain independent and neutral in the midst of an ongoing battle between two mob families, but his drams of brokering a balance between them are dashed when a crime syndicate from Kobe enters the picture. Meanwhile, the man who is to one day lead the Muraoka family is killed, leading to a fierce and bloody battle for control dominated by the opportunistic Uchimoto (Takeshi Kato). Jingi Naki Tatakai: Dairi Senso (aka Yakuza Papers, Vol. 3: Proxy War) was followed in 1974 by Jingi Naki Tatakai: Chojo Sakusen (aka Yakuza Papers, Vol. 4: Police Tactics). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1973
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Bunta Sugawara returns as Shozo Hirono in this sequel to the acclaimed yakuza film Jingi Naki Tatakai (aka The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor and Humanity). Hirono, now dug deep into a Japanese crime family based in Hiroshima, finds a new adversary in the person of Katsutoshi Otomo (Sonny Chiba), a ruthless killer who is willing to do anything to promote his family's interests. Meanwhile, Shoji Yamanaka (Kinya Kitaoji) is an ambitious criminal who quickly scales the hierarchy of the Muraoka family, but his fall proves as sudden as his ascent. Jingi Naki Tatakai: Hiroshima Shito Hen (aka The Yakuza Papers 2: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima) was followed only a few months later by the third film in Kinji Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Kinji Fukasaku directed this powerful and uncompromising look at the deadly stakes of life among the Yakuza -- the Japanese Mafia. Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) is a former Japanese soldier who, following his nation's defeat in World War II, finds himself in a prison cell in Hiroshima on a murder charge. While behind bars, Hirono gains a loyal friend in fellow criminal Wagasugi (Tatsuo Umemiya), and upon his release Hirono joins Wagasugi in an underworld gang. What starts as a seemingly easy way to earn some quick money becomes something darker and bloodier as Wagasugi and his comrades fall into a violent street war against another mob faction that grows into a long-standing feud. Jingi Naki Tatakai (aka The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor and Humanity) was the first in a series of five successful crime films from Fukasaku. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, (more)
Legendary director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, The Black Lizard) takes the helm for this stylish and violent take on the life of a lower echelon yakuza thug striving to survive in a Tokyo where the rules are constantly changing. Thuggish Isamu Okita (Bunta Sugawara) has a bad reputation for his short temper and bad habit of flying off the handle. When he returns to the streets after a harrowing stint in jail, the ever-changing climate finds him struggling to survive. When adaptation to the new way of gang life proves futile for ex-con Isamu, the misfit forms his own gang with the intention of getting revenge on those who wronged him in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
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The quest of a war-widow for the truth about her husband's death during World War II serves as the backbone for this film, which portrays the Japanese militarism of that time and the attitudes which gave rise to it. Though the government labelled her husband as a deserter, his widow does not believe it, and every day she makes a trip to the war reparations office until she finally tracks down four men who knew her husband in his last days. They tell a harrowing story of the breakdown of humanity at the close of the war. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
In the 1960's, young men in rural Japan were frequently sent to the city when they became old enough to work. The consequences, however, of sending these teenagers into a struggle of class, generations, and values proved frequently volatile and even violent. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
This 25-million dollar epic collaboration accurately recreates the events that led to the Japanese attack on the American naval base during World War II. With Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the wheels are set in motion by Japan to plan the attack. After internal differences in the government, the Japanese quickly mobilize plans for the assault. Key American personnel ignored warnings of the possibility of Japanese aggression. The first part of the film divides scenes from both countries. Part two contains spectacular battle scenes of the bombing that destroyed the American naval base of operations in Hawaii. Governmental errors on both sides add to the confusion, but the Japanese ultimately carry out the deadly mission. The film did well in Japan, did not do well in the he United States, and took years to make back the production costs. It remains an insightful and well crafted World War II action drama that was the result of years of negotiations between the two countries. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Balsam, So Yamamura, (more)
