Over the years, yakuza movies went through an evolution, going from a feel-good high-values formula to a gritty, naturalistic portrayal of the Japanese criminal underworld, and finally transcending the genre bounds to become commercial blockbusters (or perhaps watering itself down to fit into the modern superhero-obsessed cinema?). The consistent core that remained throughout the genre is the over-the-top stylized violence, beautiful irezumi (Japanese tattoos) hidden under the sleek suits, vigorous sophistication of the inner hierarchy, and the strict code of honor.
The history of the yakuza genre starts as ‘Nikkatsu borderless action’ (meaning American film noir infused with French quirkiness and appropriated by the Japanese, resulting in unique cinema flavors), and Toei’s ninkyo ‘chivalrous films.’ In the 1970s, however, the fairytale fatigue led to the end of the era of heroes, and there came the antiheroes and true-crime, almost documentary-style yakuza movies.
Movies about mobsters used to wow audiences, but more modern entries seem to have lost their luster. Once studios stopped focusing on producing yakuza movies exclusively, only a handful have been made in recent years. Even Takashi Miike, the ever-prolific director, admits in an interview with Film School Rejects that the yakuza film genre has come to an end. It is never too late to enjoy great films and become a fan of the genre, though, so here’s a list of the most prominent yakuza movies from each period.
7 Youth of the Beast (1963)
Nikkatsu
Youth of the Beast seemingly follows the early yakuza classic structure quite faithfully, with its thugs, drugs, and femme fatales. However, it was the movie which began the slow expulsion of its director from the Japanese film industry. Tired of formulaic films, Seijun Suzuki played with plot, dialogue, and form, creating an edgy meta-narrative by making the film acknowledge its own artifice. He would continue to deconstruct the yakuza film for the next few years until being fired and ostensibly blacklisted from the Japanese studio system. Misunderstood upon its release, later on, Youth of The Beast became a symbol for standing up to the system, and one of the most important works during the Japanese university protests in the 1960s.
6 Pale Flower (1964)
Shochiku
Director Masahiro Shinoda pioneered the ‘Shochiku New Wave’ of independent filmmaking, Pale Flower being one of the most significant films of the movement. The plot in this feature becomes secondary to aesthetics; it is essentially a stylish philosophical parable of existential anguish, put into an almost surrealistic story of a nonconformist middle-aged yakuza.
The lead, Ryo Ikebe, had become extremely popular through Toei’s Brutal Tales of Chivalry series, which made the film’s approach even more controversial, as it went against the formula of the major studio of the genre. Immensely praised by the critics, Pale Flower was even included in Roger Ebert’s list of the greatest movies ever made.
5 Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973-1976)
Toei Company
Film writers Naoto Mori and Yukio Todoroki discussed how yakuza films did a 180 and moved from heroes to antiheroes: “The male aesthetic of dashing gallantry lost traction, becoming overly idealized and hollow,” Both creators and viewers felt that the formula was disingenuous and over-glorified yakuza, so they turned to much more cynical, authentic depictions. A staple of the genre is, of course, Battle Without Honor and Humanity, a masterwork of Kinji Fukasaku and Bunta Sugawara, a phenomenal director-actor duo.
4 Sonatine (1993)
Shouchiku Daichii Kougyo
In the 80s, as Japan went through economic changes, its film industry had to rearrange itself. The yakuza movies started diversifying and deconstructing, going through a major paradigm shift from the genre canons to the director’s individual style. Film Inquiry likens filmmaker Takeshi Kitano’s postmodern approach toward yakuza movies to Hideaki Anno’s treatment of mecha anime with his Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both understood the genre intrinsically, creating something subversive and dramatically divisive. Sonatine’s standouts are comically frigid, devoid of the loud and expressive choreography of classic yakuza movies, and a fairly generic premise ends up as a transgressive experience.
3 Graveyard of Honor (1975/2002)
This entry is a bit of a cheat, as it offers two movies for the price of one. It shows, however, the creeping problem of the 2000s — the budding of the filmmaking industry’s over-reliance on remakes, piggybacking on successful titles in lieu of creating unique content.
The original Graveyard of Honor is a punk quasi-documentary about real-life yakuza Rikio Ishikawa who ended his life at age 30. This movie is an apogee of grim and naturalistic realities of the brutal yakuza world in cinema, a deliberate rejection of stylized cinematography and movie magic for the desperation and fatalistic chaos of the criminal’s life.
The 2002 version stands out from the original with its gallows humor. It has Takashi Miike’s signature gonzo violence and treats the collapse of traditional values with mocking laughter.
2 The Blood of Wolves (2018)
The late 2010s see filmmakers attempting to revive yakuza movies as a genre, albeit with less frequency than ever before. These amazing movies update the format of gritty hard-boiled Toei films. The Blood of Wolves is a ‘gore-splattered love letter’ to yakuza movies of the 70s and at the same time an expression of the creator’s personal artistic vision and style. Full of gratuitous violence and dark humor, neither a dull replica nor a parody, this movie researched the genre’s heritage but instead of deconstructing it, modernized and thus revived it. Even if just for a little bit.
1 First Love (2019)
According to Takashi Miike, First Love is not an attempt to artificially extend the life of the yakuza genre but a way to go out with a bang. The genre in this case is used as a medium for social commentary, to tell the stories of the ‘invisible’ people, discarded to the wayside of society. This is an awkward love story of a terminally-ill boxer and a psychologically traumatized sex worker, teen angst reflected through cartoonish bloodshed and intense drama. A commercial film acting like a genre film about nobodies with interesting stories to tell, this is a tribute to low-budget Japanese indie films and B-cinema from the maestro of pulp Takashi Miike.
