Like the highly acclaimed "The Godfather," released two years earlier, "The Yakuza" takes us into an exotic milieu dominated by honor, ritual, and violence.
Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, once part of the occupation army in Japan, who had a girl friend, Eiko. Mitchum's friend, Brian Keith, owes the Mafia -- I mean the Yakuza -- a lot of money that he doesn't have, and the Yakuza have kidnapped his daughter and are holding her until payment is made. He begs Mitchum to return to Japan with a young companion, Richard Jordan, and see if he can straighten things out.
In Japan, they seek out an ex Yakuza member, Ken Takakura, known as "the man who never smiles." At the moment he's teaching kendo -- that where masked opponents bat each other over the head with sticks -- and making zen-like statement. "Do not expect to win. Do not expect to lose." Takakura is honor-bound to never take up arms of any sort against the Yakuza but things get complicated, too complicated to explain in detail. If you liked "The Godfather," you may like this, although the plot is more sketchy and the characters less human. There are family intrigues, yes, but we don't get to see them at familiar tasks like gobbling down spaghetti. Sidney Pollack is not Francis Ford Coppola.
The film is rather slow and detailed, interrupted by bursts of outrageous brutality. The final shoot out, or slice out, has everyone splattered with blood but it's not as shocking as the shootings in "The Godfather" movies.
I rather enjoyed it, despite its overall depressing quality. It's winter in Japan, cloudy and dark, and so is the imagery. And self-amputation adds little verve to the goings on. It's worth seeing, though, because the social setting really IS alien to Americans. When the Japanese cut something with a knife, they draw it towards them. They drive on the wrong side of the road. Their screws tighten in the wrong direction.
They're shamefully honest. An acquaintance of mine, while in the Navy, visited a Japanese bawdy house. When he left, he was halfway down the street when one of the girls came running after him, shouting, and waving the wallet he'd forgotten.
Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Yank!
Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, once part of the occupation army in Japan, who had a girl friend, Eiko. Mitchum's friend, Brian Keith, owes the Mafia -- I mean the Yakuza -- a lot of money that he doesn't have, and the Yakuza have kidnapped his daughter and are holding her until payment is made. He begs Mitchum to return to Japan with a young companion, Richard Jordan, and see if he can straighten things out.
In Japan, they seek out an ex Yakuza member, Ken Takakura, known as "the man who never smiles." At the moment he's teaching kendo -- that where masked opponents bat each other over the head with sticks -- and making zen-like statement. "Do not expect to win. Do not expect to lose." Takakura is honor-bound to never take up arms of any sort against the Yakuza but things get complicated, too complicated to explain in detail. If you liked "The Godfather," you may like this, although the plot is more sketchy and the characters less human. There are family intrigues, yes, but we don't get to see them at familiar tasks like gobbling down spaghetti. Sidney Pollack is not Francis Ford Coppola.
The film is rather slow and detailed, interrupted by bursts of outrageous brutality. The final shoot out, or slice out, has everyone splattered with blood but it's not as shocking as the shootings in "The Godfather" movies.
I rather enjoyed it, despite its overall depressing quality. It's winter in Japan, cloudy and dark, and so is the imagery. And self-amputation adds little verve to the goings on. It's worth seeing, though, because the social setting really IS alien to Americans. When the Japanese cut something with a knife, they draw it towards them. They drive on the wrong side of the road. Their screws tighten in the wrong direction.
They're shamefully honest. An acquaintance of mine, while in the Navy, visited a Japanese bawdy house. When he left, he was halfway down the street when one of the girls came running after him, shouting, and waving the wallet he'd forgotten.
Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Yank!