Jingi naki tatakai

Based on a true story Battles Without Honor is a kick ass trip through the rise of the yakuza in post war Japan. Beginning in 1945 and traveling through the next 12 or so years this is the tale of a group of friends who come together in order to survive the cruelties of post-war, and post-bomb Japan and then spend the next decade killing each other as they change sides in a perpetual gang war.

This film has just about everything. Moments of violence, hysterical comedy (The finger), drama, and there is even hints of romance as a moll tries to hide her beau. Its brutal and nasty and probably very close to reality.

Some reviews paint this as having come in the wake of the Godfather, but while that may have gotten the movie made, the tone is different. There is no honor, there is no loyalty, there is only violence, violence and more violence, usually ex-friend on ex-friend. Despite there being "gangs" its really everyman for himself. American and European films of the same period often painted things as much less cut throat and that there really was familial loyalty, that idea is somewhat alien here as people switched sides if it kept them alive.

This is a near perfect film in many ways. It picks you up from the opening minutes and carries you along to the end. Its wonderfully of a time and place and extremely well acted all around.

There are only two problems which are minor. First, I think the film requires a bit more familiarity with what was going on in Japan post war. While I have had some knowledge of that, I was a tad lost at the start since I wasn't instantly aware of what I was seeing. The second minor flaw is that its jump through time story telling can be a bit disorienting. Its not that the plot threads are lost, its just that it takes a minute to know who the older people are.

Over all a great film.

8 out of 10, although it probably should be 9 out of 10, since I'm just in a down mood.

Although it has certain stylistic similarities with other movies (the extreme violence of the LONE WOLF & CUB films and the gangster shenanigans of THE GODFATHER and its ilk), BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY is very much a unique and almost surreal slice of Japanese yakuza madness.

The story is told in a choppy style and takes place over a number of years. It sees various criminal gangs emerging in post-war Japan, engaging in various rivalries with one another as various gangster bosses strive to outdo their rivals. Into this messy mix are thrown various larger-than-life characters, foremost of whom is Hirono Shozo, played with emotional relish by Bunta Sugawara.

The first half of the film is largely confusing with a large cast of similar characters all battling one another and indeed I wondered what I was watching at some points. However, it all distills down and becomes much more focused in the second half, which follows the members of a single crime family in their bid for leadership. There's little action here, but Kinji Fukasaku (BATTLE ROYALE) directs with stylish aplomb, making this a more than memorable gangster epic.

For those who love yakuza films, this is one NOT to miss. Wild violence to start the film (two arms are lopped off within the first five minutes of the flick) sets a tone of dread (you don't know who'll be killed next). But more than action, the film brings a thoughtfulness to the fore. For those who want an English-language analogy, this film "feels" like Soderbergh's The Limey (though with a different plot and without the bouncing back-and-forth in time [though this movie does jump years in its narrative]).

Don't miss this one...

Oh, yeah, this is one brilliant, edgy, dark piece of film-making! It moves at the speed of light starting with the American Occupation of the devastated city of Hiroshima after WWII up to the early 1970's.

It has great actors playing complex characters, and cinematography and editing way ahead of its time.

Turn off your phone and don't look away for even a second, or you'll miss something critical. There are many characters and lots of information to absorb.

I've read that the script was based on the life of a real Yakuza, but whether it's fact or fiction, it's a hell of a ride.

And though it's a serious film, sometimes it's also hilarious-- intentionally so.

Warning--not for the squeamish. Unlike the Tarentino films this has been compared to, the violence here is NOT cartoonish or funny. It's brutal, bloody, and serious. (as it should be, in my opinion)

Every movie buff knows that Kinji Fukasaku was the most know yakuza film director, with Junya Sato; both gave us dozens of films of this kind. And there were plenty of other film makers too. This very film opens the way of a cycle of five or six movies, starting in 1945, after WW2 and Hirosima tragedy. It shows pretty well how gangs of Yakuzas rose from poverty, hopelessness, despair to survive. Watch it as a document, a social crime film, pulled by great directing and acting; for instance an amazing Bunta Sugawara, a long time yakuza film actor.