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Yakuza Zessyō (Japanese: やくざ絶唱) also known as Ode to the Yakuza is a 1970 Japanese film directed by Yasuzo Masumura. Katsu and Masumura worked together for the first in 5 years. It is based on Jūgo Kuroiwa's novel Nishi Naruyama Hotel Gake no Hana. The movie depicts a man's unusual love for a younger sister.
After his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him. Director Seijun Suzuki Stars Tetsuya Watari Chieko Matsubara Hideaki Nitani
- 12 'Sonatine'
- 11 'The Yakuza'
- 10 'Outlaw: Gangster Vip'
- 9 'Violent Cop'
- 8 'Tokyo Drifter'
- 7 'Outrage'
- 6 'drunken Angel'
- 5 'Kill Bill Vol. 1'
- 4 The Original 'Battles Without Honor and Humanity' Series
- 3 'Graveyard of Honor'
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano is a filmmaker/actor who's closely tied to the yakuza genre. He's perhaps most recognizable to general audiences as the head instructor from Battle Royale(2000), but has also made plenty of great crime films throughout his career, pulling multiple duties by directing, writing, and acting in most of them. Sonatine is one of his most notable yakuza movies, but certainly provides an odd, somewhat eccentric twist on the genre. The main character is a part of the yakuza, but is beco...
Director: Sydney Pollack
The Yakuza might well be the most well-known yakuza movie made by a non-Japanese director, and filmed (mostly) in English. It was directed by Sydney Pollack and starred Robert Mitchum, with the story focusing on a Westerner who travels to Japan to help out a friend, only to get mixed up with members of the yakuza in the process. The story is consistently interesting, largely thanks to it being co-written by Paul Schrader, an acclaimed writer/director. It stands as an accessible yakuza movie f...
Director: Toshio Masuda
One of the most extensive yakuza series besides the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series, the Outlaw: Gangster VIP series had six entries, all released between 1968 and 1969. Of those must-see 1960s movies, the first one - simply titled Outlaw: Gangster VIP- tends to be considered the best of the lot. It's a truly underrated crime movie, with a gripping plot that focuses on a young yakuza member who seeks revenge against his superiors after his friends are hurt. Outlaw: Gangster VIP is e...
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Another great crime film from Takeshi Kitano, Violent Cop is a movie that very much delivers on what the title implies. Kitano expertly portrays a ruthless cop who's more than willing to break numerous laws if it means he can take down the yakuza gang members he's pursuing. Violent Cop is quite extreme, with a good deal of deadbeat, dark humor throughout much of its runtime that's combined with brutal violence and some very downbeat moments. It's got a thrillingly unpredictable tone, and feat...
Director: Seijun Suzuki
A movie that proves style over substance doesn't have to be a bad thing, Tokyo Drifter is a dazzling and remarkably unique low-budget yakuza movie. The plot concerns a complex web of betrayal and assassinations, with various characters engaged in desperate, convoluted games of cat and mouse throughout. The thrills contained within Tokyo Driverare prioritized over all else, and the style on offer here through the look and overall feel of the film is undeniably memorable. It's the kind of movie...
Director: Takeshi Kitano
The 21st century hasn't slowed Takeshi Kitano down as a filmmaker interested in yakuza stories, if 2010's Outrage is anything to go by. This film - the first in a trilogy - depicts a huge war erupting among different yakuza gangs. Inside the chaos, Kitano's character is on a desperate quest for revenge after being betrayed by his bosses. Even by yakuza movie standards, the body count in Outrage is huge, and it feels rare for a scene to go by without another character dying. The constant death...
Director: Akira Kurosawa
One of many Akira Kurosawa movies to star Toshiro Mifune (each being legends within Japanese cinema), Drunken Angelis also notable for being one of the earliest crime films that could fit within the yakuza genre. It’s about a young gangster getting treated by a doctor who tries to get the young man out of such a lifestyle, only to find complications ensue when the gangster’s boss gets out of prison. Those expecting plenty of action within the framework of a yakuza movie may be disappointed th...
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Volume one of Kill Bill - the film that might be Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece- is first and foremost a homage to martial arts cinema (or simply a martial arts movie in its own right). It's action-packed and contains one particularly huge fight scene, being the faster-paced and arguably more exciting half of this epic revenge story. Kill Bill Vol. 1 also owes a great deal to classic yakuza movies, to the point where it could arguably be called a yakuza movie.After all, at least half of the...
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
It's hard to mention great yakuza movies without bringing up the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series (sometimes known as the Yakuza Papersseries). There are 11 films in the series in total, with most of them being made and released during the 1970s - a time in Japanese cinema when yakuza movies were all the rage. Of those 1970s movies, the original five - all released in 1973 or 1974 - are certainly the best. They're frenetic, chaotic, violent, and pulse-pounding movies, with one main p...
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
1975's Graveyard of Honor was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, who immediately before the release of this film had directed the first five Battles Without Honor and Humanity movies. Graveyard of Honor follows a different set of characters and storyline, but retains the grit, tension, violence, and energy of the five yakuza moviesthat Fukasaku had previously directed. As you'd expect from a movie with "Graveyard" in the title, this is a pretty bleak movie, focusing on a particularly monstrous yakuz...
- Jeremy Urquhart
- Uma Thurman
- Quentin Tarantino
Jul 11, 1970 · Yakuza Masterpiece: Directed by Yasuzô Masumura. With Shintarô Katsu, Naoko Ôtani, Masakazu Tamura, Yûsuke Kawazu. A yakuza member's half-sister means much more to him in a film that repeatedly depicts realities other than what normal societal rules allow.
- (96)
- Action, Crime
- Yasuzô Masumura
- 1970-07-11
"Like a Dragon: The Movie"), is a 2007 Japanese crime film directed by Takashi Miike, based on the 2005 PlayStation 2 video game Yakuza. The film stars Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Show Aikawa, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kenichi Endō and Tomorowo Taguchi .
Aug 28, 2020 · Most of these directors do have some Yakuza films that are less seen than their more popular ones, but these ones deserve all the praise as well. Here are 10 Yakuza films you’ve probably never seen. 1. Youth of the Beast (1963) Seijun Suzuki is a prolific name in the Yakuza genre.
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Aug 2, 2016 · Afraid to Die (1960) Directed by Yasuzo Masumura (Blind Beast, Manji, Red Angel), Karakaze-yaro features Yukio Mishima in the lead role as a reluctant yakuza who is often contradictory (but not so great as to be an enigma) and whose schemes never really work out.
