Customer Reviews

Blackmail Is My Life

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Blackmail Is My Life is a great example of Fukasaku's trademark Yakuza films. It's visuals are stunning; the performances find a perfect balance between realistic and stylized; the script and structure of the film are quite ingenius. There really isn't an area where this film will leave you wanting. It's chock-full of snap zooms, freeze frames, and voice over, but all of it is handled so well that there is no real element of ceese to speak of.

Blackmail is my life is one of those classic pieces whose brilliance must be seen to be understood. Any fans of old school Japanese yakuza films or film noir in general is likely to be blown away, and only the small-minded, generic-hollywood-style addicted moviegoer will feel anything but unadulterated glee at Fukasaku's yakuza world.

This is a HomeVision dvd, so the quality is great, especially for a film of this age. The colors are vibrant and the transfer is sharper than many of recent Japanese productions. If you've never seen the film, this dvd is more likely the best version available anywhere right now to introduce yourself.

While, yes, the video has no subtitles (should be able to understand most of it at the 2-kyu level and a general understanding of Yakuza-style talk), it is a great film from the 1960's. Also, the streaming version found on Amazon is sort of fuzzy, but the DVD version is not. So, don't hold that against the film. :)

I have seen two of Fukasaku's major works (the first being Battle Royale and Battles without Honor and Humanity the second) prior to this movie. And if I had watch this before one (or both) of these, I would probably gave it a higher score. But, it is a bit light compared to those two. That is not to say there isn't anything to scoff at.

It has interesting camera work, biting black humor (with a dash of social commentary), and a passion for youth. It is a wonderful film for someone wanting a bit more in Yakuza films

There are no subtitles in this film--written and spoken language is Japanese!!! I speak and read English and French.

The film has the appearance of a badly colorized, old-old-old, badly edited, deteriorating, fuzzy, black-and-white film.

This was an unappealing lost of $3.99 and a jolting deflation of my expectations.