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52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A man always pays his debts . . ., October 3, 2002
Well, if this film doesn't put hair on your chest, nothing will. Look up 'film noir' in the dictionary and there should be a picture of Robert Mitchum in The Yakuza, alongside Bogie in The Maltese Falcon. It's that good of a film. The theme is about honor, or "giri." The last bastion of manhood in an relativistic world ambivalent towards heroism, unsure about any values, moral or otherwise, and gone to hell. Against this background, you may be a tad on the shady side of the law, but do you keep faith with your friends?
For that matter, would you risk taking a bullet for someone you personally loathe but whom you "owe" because he's saved the life of your wife and child? The plot begins when Mitchum is approached by an old army buddy that he hasn't heard from in decades, save for the annual obligatory Christmas card. His daughter's been kidnapped by Japanese mobsters and he needs his help. As to Mitchum, his character is established in one line.
"You've been successful?"
Mitchum: "That depends on how you figure those things." True enough. He has no family, no friends, no one even remotely close. The film noir loner, now in his sixties. He goes back to Japan, links up with the only woman he ever loved, and the one enemy who can help him gain entry into the dark world of the Yakuza; an ultra-traditionalist latter-day Samurai ( Tanaka Ken ) who "owes" Mitchum. One small problem, he's no longer a Yakuza. He's been out of the mob for years. When Mitchum finds out this unpleasant bit of inforation and blurts out "I can't ask you to do that!" Tanaka Ken quietly replies: "You already have." The aged warriors go to it again. A great story of love and betrayal. Acted in a style of understated whispers between flashing katanas that bring the house down.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They Bring a Sword, Then You Bring a Gun! Mitchum Rules!, September 30, 2005
When we were living in New York City, and I was twelve, my Dad told my Mom that he was taking me somewhere for a few hours. To my delight, we ended up at a ratty movie theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. These were the days before the monster multi-plexes. I can't remember the exact address, but it was a large one room gig that had seen it's better days. From what I could tell, some cool guy had come up with the idea of programming this low-rent theater with old Samurai flicks usually starting with the name Yojimbo...Yojimbo meets the One-Armed Warrior...you get the idea.
So, my Dad is paying for the two of us, and right before we walk inside he leans down and says to me, "You know, this is the closest thing I've ever seen to understanding the differences between the East and West." You gotta understand that my Dad hardly ever said anything. So, this comment blew me away. My attention was riveted. It took me by the collar and pulled my focus away from the windex/old candy odor of the floors, the torn seat cushions where I was sure some old rats called home, and the dirty beach towel someone had hung to keep the light out of the hallway into the "theater."
The movie exceeded my expectations. It all starts with the shot of a gangster with tatoos all over the back of his body. Safe to say, even if you've seen or read the Illustrated Man, you've never seen anything like this before. I mean who the heck would ever let anyone tattoo them from neck to toe? You've basically got it all. Robert Mitchum in his creaky, world-weary mode, delivering lines like a T-Rex with attitude. You've got supporting roles from the likes of Brian Keith who brings a sad, pathetic lining to his double-crossing, gambling freak role. How far you've come from that crappy seventies TV family show--dude, you can act!
Then, you've got a terrific foil for Mitchum in one of Japan's leading actors of all time. The hate between these characters is communicated in a glance, in the quiet way lines are delivered. The two men both loved the same woman--and she only took up with Mitchum's character because she thought her husband was dead. What a sad, true-to-life premise. Circling the three are a band of wolves, the gangsters from this Japanese Organized Crime Syndicate aka The Yakuza.
Hold onto your hat when the bad guys invade the private home and literally mow down the Westerners--sticking a sword in the gut of one guy. I am telling you, when this happened, I thought I could feel the cold metal entering my spleen. It all winds up with a really great take-the-battle-to-the-enemy conclusion where Mitchum goes in with his metal boot kicking down rice paper walls, with two shotguns blazing. The sword work is elegant, terrifying and so real, again, it hurts.
But, the real scene that you will always remember is the denoument, when Mitchum slices off the tip of his finger, what appears to be real perspiration rolling down his forehead, and offers it as a gift to atone for his wrongdoing. I thought about this ending for years. I kept hearing my Dad's voice whispering in my ear outside on the sidewalk...the differences between East and West.
Watch this movie in your best "Lost in Translation" mode. Know that it is an original painting--nothing about it is derivative. Give it a chance to breathe. Ask yourself, what if this were me? Would I walk into a massacre about to happen out of honor? In the end, the message, I think, is that an honorable life is the only way to go for men and women who only have their honor at the end of the day.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Robert Mitchum at his best, April 10, 2000
This movie is one of the best action films to be made in the seventies and late sixties. It stays away from the anti-establishment preachiness so popular during that time and goes for classic hard-boiled action. And, as noted by others ,also explores the concepts of honor and friendship. During this time period several of Hollywood's older leading men who had been real studs in the forties and early fifties (Mitchum, Holden, Brian Keith, John Wayne) were turning out some superior action movies with intelligent scripts. The Yakuza is no exception. Here you have two wildly different cultures meeting, clashing, but also finding much in common. Two strong and principled men working together, even though at first they dislike one another, both always having to work at staying true to their principles while dealing with the world and those who are not so ethical. Some might find the message that violence and vengence have a place in the scheme of things and can actually be cleansing to be disturbing, but this story is about two warriors(essentially). The warrior strives for perfection in many things, but pacifiscm isn't one of those. When one is betrayed by a friend,or one's blood is betrayed then retribution must be dealt to the betrayer and sometimes honor can only be restored by cutting off one's finger. To a Western viewer much of this is inconceivable - we're all to enlightened anymore, but I found this movie to have a ring of truth to it. Though when I recently watched it with my wife she found it to be somewhat grotesque. She loves the Lethal Weapon movies - which have as much substance to them as cotton candy. This movie is a much more solid piece of filmaking in which the violence has a place. I found it to be restrained and not gratuitous. It dosen't frolic in death and mayhem for it's own sake. But having said that the action pieces are fantastic. I also own Black Rain which is an okay action flick, but once you watch The Yakuza you'll see it for what it is - a pale imitation. Watch this movie if you get the chance. you won't regret it.
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