Lotta senza codice d'onore

After just finishing the entire series (5 films in all) I must say that this series is DEFINITELY worth a watch, especially for fans of dramas centered around crime families with a healthy dose of violence to help spice things up.

It follows mainly Shozo Hirono, and his journey from an ambitious and stoic slum-dweller in the bombed out crater of the Hiroshima bomb site. As him and his war buddies climb the ranks of the Yakuza, greed, honor and betrayal force the families into various conflicts in a never ending cycle of power struggles.

Stylistically this film, and all the others, are excellent, with a consistent jazzy theme accentuating the more important points and giving each entry a familiar feel to the last one, yet not one which ends up feeling boring or overused. The camera work is fantastic and the scene composition is where I am most reminded of the Italian-American titan of cinema that this review invokes. Many of the scenes are around crowded tables at family meetings or in shadowy bars with table lamps and cigarette smoke twirling in the air.

All in all I love this series and if you have a chance, absolutely watch all five. If anything give this first entry a chance and you will not be disappointed.

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.

Although based on a true story, this film owes a lot to The Godfather, which was released a couple of years before. However, there are quite a few differences. For a start, there are many more main characters. At least twenty. And they are introduced at such a rate as to make it impossible to follow the lot. No less than ten characters are introduced (each with a name and description subtitle) in the first two minutes. The key word for this film is - chaotic. The opening scene is of Japan just after the end of WWII. The camera uses the now-familiar form of WobblyScope, tumbling all over the place as it chases the young thugs who chase misbehaving GIs and then run away. The progression is highly episodic from there. Although Shozo is the lead character and narrator, much screen time is spent on at least a dozen others. Really, if you are non-Japanese, like me, you'd need a map of all the characters and their changing relationships to have any hope of following the story. However, this is not a big problem because, mainly, it is one of the aspects which the filmmaker is trying to convey. That the people who were drawn into these gangs often had nothing much else to do, and were not particularly men of honour. The Japanese title refers to the total breakdown of the old code, where honour was everything. The only character who acts with anything like honour here is Shozo, who looks continuously stunned as powerplays and double-deals swirl around him. This film is a terrific antidote to the "honourable gangster" films. Well-worth watching. Also, it produced at least 4 sequels, all starring Bunta.

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)

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...