During the 1980s, our national TV channel used to show vintage Hollywood movies every weekend and Saturday night fare generally consisted of 1970s action flicks. This had been one of them and, although my father did tape it, I didn't catch the film back then and no tangible opportunity to watch it had presented itself over the years until now (the film is included in Warners' "Robert Mitchum: The Signature Collection" 6-Disc Box Set). For this reason alone, therefore – but also in view of Mitchum's involvement, the noir trappings of the plot and the exotic locale – THE YAKUZA is a title which has long intrigued me.
Sydney Pollack may seem a very odd choice for director here, especially considering how in the last 30 years or so, he has become more than anything else renowned as a director of glossy, conventional dramas; as a matter of fact, Robert Aldrich was first intended to direct Lee Marvin in it and, at some point, even Martin Scorsese's name was banded about. Even so, Pollack was much more adventurous as he was starting out – never more so than when making the eccentric, existentialist war movie CASTLE KEEP (1969; another film I caught up with fairly recently), with THE YAKUZA itself coming pretty close in terms of stretching his talent. For the record, he quickly followed the latter with his finest movie of the decade, the superb espionage thriller THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) – which I really ought to acquire on DVD despite its being a bare-bones disc.
The enthusiastic DVD Savant review of THE YAKUZA mentions how co-writer Paul Schrader was inspired by the latter-day John Ford Western masterpiece THE SEARCHERS (1956) dealing as it does with a similar kidnapping of a girl and the perilous odyssey to retrieve her. The hand of Robert Towne, the other scriptwriter, is most evident in the final revelation (which is as jaw-dropping as the one for his previous work – coincidentally also a noir with allusions to the Orient, CHINATOWN [1974], and which eventually won him an Oscar). By this time, Western audiences had become well-versed in the Samurai and their code – but The Yakuza was a novel concept, which was perhaps seen as topical vis-a'-vis the re-emergence of gangland dramas in the wake of THE GODFATHER (1972). The film, in fact, has profound things to say about Honor, Obligation and Family (with a remarkably harsh way of demonstrating one's penance). On top of it all, then, is a magnificent lyrical score by Dave Grusin.
For an action movie, it is very deliberately paced but this only serves to make the handful of fight sequences all the more electrifying. Pollack's direction is admirably stylish throughout the film's 112 minutes (though the Japanese version is said to be even longer and, in fact, the promotional featurette which is part of the DVD supplements does depict the shooting of a couple of scenes which aren't in the finished film as presented here!) and remarkably balances superbly choreographed action sequences with thoughtful passages – particularly concerning Mitchum's place in this environment (while typically understated, the performance by the star in this case allows emotion to seep through his bulky exterior and tough persona). It's worth mentioning here that Mitchum's career was going through a renaissance itself around thus time, primarily through such films as THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973) and FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975), but subsequently he also got to kick some ass in Hong Kong for THE AMSTERDAM KILL (1977; which I'd love to get a chance to watch now).
The rest of the American cast is compact but carefully chosen: Brian Keith (as an opportunistic businessman, the father of the girl abducted for his having slighted The Yakuza, as well as Mitchum's best friend and old war buddy), Richard Jordan (quite good as Keith's young underling who tags along with Mitchum to Japan, ostensibly to keep an eye on him, but who didn't count on the pull of the Orient and, more specifically, the presence of a beguiling young girl – daughter of Mitchum's old flame) and Herb Edelman (as another war veteran who has stayed on and cultivated his knowledge of weaponry, extending to a fascination for Japanese swords). The 'native' actors are equally impressive, especially Ken Takakura (as the enigmatic but proficient ex-Yakuza drawn back into the underworld as a favor to Mitchum – the actor was apparently a fixture of this type of violent entertainment) and Eiji Okada (suitably authoritative and menacing as the unscrupulous Yakuza boss – he's best-known for playing Emmanuelle Riva's Japanese lover in Alain Resnais' landmark film Hiroshima MON AMOUR [1959] and the entomologist hero of the award-winning erotic drama WOMAN IN THE DUNES [1964]).
Finally, it's worth noting that I recently acquired on VHS Kinji Fukasaku's BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (1973) – the first of several entries in a series of films collectively known as THE YAKUZA PAPERS, though I doubt I'll have time to check it out presently. Ironically enough, over the Christmas period an Italian TV channel presented a rare screening of "the ultimate in Japanese Yakuza movies" according to Paul Schrader himself – RED PEONY GAMBLER: FLOWER CARDS MATCH (1969) – but given that my mother broke a leg that very night, I was decidedly in no mood to watch subtitled fare...
Sydney Pollack may seem a very odd choice for director here, especially considering how in the last 30 years or so, he has become more than anything else renowned as a director of glossy, conventional dramas; as a matter of fact, Robert Aldrich was first intended to direct Lee Marvin in it and, at some point, even Martin Scorsese's name was banded about. Even so, Pollack was much more adventurous as he was starting out – never more so than when making the eccentric, existentialist war movie CASTLE KEEP (1969; another film I caught up with fairly recently), with THE YAKUZA itself coming pretty close in terms of stretching his talent. For the record, he quickly followed the latter with his finest movie of the decade, the superb espionage thriller THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) – which I really ought to acquire on DVD despite its being a bare-bones disc.
The enthusiastic DVD Savant review of THE YAKUZA mentions how co-writer Paul Schrader was inspired by the latter-day John Ford Western masterpiece THE SEARCHERS (1956) dealing as it does with a similar kidnapping of a girl and the perilous odyssey to retrieve her. The hand of Robert Towne, the other scriptwriter, is most evident in the final revelation (which is as jaw-dropping as the one for his previous work – coincidentally also a noir with allusions to the Orient, CHINATOWN [1974], and which eventually won him an Oscar). By this time, Western audiences had become well-versed in the Samurai and their code – but The Yakuza was a novel concept, which was perhaps seen as topical vis-a'-vis the re-emergence of gangland dramas in the wake of THE GODFATHER (1972). The film, in fact, has profound things to say about Honor, Obligation and Family (with a remarkably harsh way of demonstrating one's penance). On top of it all, then, is a magnificent lyrical score by Dave Grusin.
For an action movie, it is very deliberately paced but this only serves to make the handful of fight sequences all the more electrifying. Pollack's direction is admirably stylish throughout the film's 112 minutes (though the Japanese version is said to be even longer and, in fact, the promotional featurette which is part of the DVD supplements does depict the shooting of a couple of scenes which aren't in the finished film as presented here!) and remarkably balances superbly choreographed action sequences with thoughtful passages – particularly concerning Mitchum's place in this environment (while typically understated, the performance by the star in this case allows emotion to seep through his bulky exterior and tough persona). It's worth mentioning here that Mitchum's career was going through a renaissance itself around thus time, primarily through such films as THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973) and FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975), but subsequently he also got to kick some ass in Hong Kong for THE AMSTERDAM KILL (1977; which I'd love to get a chance to watch now).
The rest of the American cast is compact but carefully chosen: Brian Keith (as an opportunistic businessman, the father of the girl abducted for his having slighted The Yakuza, as well as Mitchum's best friend and old war buddy), Richard Jordan (quite good as Keith's young underling who tags along with Mitchum to Japan, ostensibly to keep an eye on him, but who didn't count on the pull of the Orient and, more specifically, the presence of a beguiling young girl – daughter of Mitchum's old flame) and Herb Edelman (as another war veteran who has stayed on and cultivated his knowledge of weaponry, extending to a fascination for Japanese swords). The 'native' actors are equally impressive, especially Ken Takakura (as the enigmatic but proficient ex-Yakuza drawn back into the underworld as a favor to Mitchum – the actor was apparently a fixture of this type of violent entertainment) and Eiji Okada (suitably authoritative and menacing as the unscrupulous Yakuza boss – he's best-known for playing Emmanuelle Riva's Japanese lover in Alain Resnais' landmark film Hiroshima MON AMOUR [1959] and the entomologist hero of the award-winning erotic drama WOMAN IN THE DUNES [1964]).
Finally, it's worth noting that I recently acquired on VHS Kinji Fukasaku's BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (1973) – the first of several entries in a series of films collectively known as THE YAKUZA PAPERS, though I doubt I'll have time to check it out presently. Ironically enough, over the Christmas period an Italian TV channel presented a rare screening of "the ultimate in Japanese Yakuza movies" according to Paul Schrader himself – RED PEONY GAMBLER: FLOWER CARDS MATCH (1969) – but given that my mother broke a leg that very night, I was decidedly in no mood to watch subtitled fare...