La tomba dell'onore

Definitely has similarities to Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series (not that there's anything wrong with that!) in terms of pacing and visuals. It is, however, a little easier to follow, thanks to honing in on one main protagonist all the way through, and not having as many important supporting characters.

Most challenging here is that the protagonist does some really terrible things, even by the standards of crime film protagonists. He's not supposed to be likeable of course, but the film arguably does go a little further than it needs to when it comes to how he treats some female characters.

Other complaints might be some occasional weird, jarring edits, and the colour filters - while keeping things varied - didn't always seem to be purposeful? But that might just be me.

So there are problems, but the acting is good, as is everything that works in the Yakuza Papers series, so Graveyard of Honor is easy to recommend to any fans of that series, or Yakuza movies like them.

Am looking forward to watching Miike's remake, too. I hope there's a good reason for it being 40 minutes longer than this one, too.

Kinji Fukasaku is worldwide known for his Yakuza movies, different from the typical overall view the cinema had from Yakuzas. This movie is a good example of how far some yakuzas are from honor or pride.

Fukasaku films Jingi no hakaba (Graveyard of Honor) as a mockumentary (fake documentary) which gives more emphasis to the actual yakuza situation. This movie follows the story of Ishikawa, the archetypical post-war gangster (as it's defined in the film). The character development is great, and very surprising. However, you may loose the plot in some points if you don't have an overall knowledge of the Yakuza organization.

In conclusion, a very entertaining gangster movie the Japanese way. I hugely recommend for anyone looking for the roots of most of the Japanese and Hong Kongese gangsters movies nowadays (Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, John Woo, etc.), you won't get disappointed.

It's an unusual Yakusa picture, according some Fukasaku's most closest work friends interviewed on bonus material explained that Rikio Schikawa a wild persona portrayed by Tetsuya Watari is meaning the compassion whereby Fukasaku felt by those losers in the society, thus the story spans since his tender years just narrated by someone until post WWII when the acting really starts properly, exposing a kind of mad dog criminal character entering in a Yakusa gang making great damages whatever he goes, thus has been punished by banishment for ten years in agreement of Yakusa's law, however he dares go back in few years.

Another interesting point is about the fully chaos carried out there by lost the war, followed by American military intervention which wasn't any novelty, although countless people from nearby countries raided the Japanese ground as reprisals over the fierce and ruthless deployed by Japanese Army on previous years on the continent, also inserting those drugs displayed on story, brought massively aftermaths the war and all black market over an economy in ramshackle.

Aside some overacted implied by Kenji Fukasaku on the narrative, the picture in fully interesting by a character study, also understanding how Japan overcame those chaotic environment post WWII, where the Yakusa's mobsters took the political power in many territory thru "good looking civilians" a true achievement by the underrated master Kenji Fikasaku.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 2025 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.

Graveyard of Honor is a fantastic entry into the yakuza genre or, for that matter, the gangster genre in general. However, more so than many of its counterparts, it is an excellent Brechtian character study. Filmed in a "mockumentary" style, Graveyard of Honor breaks up its action and storytelling relatively often with bits of narration, setting the events of the film in their period context and transitioning over long gaps in time.

A reviewer once equated this film to the "blacksploitation" films of the same period: this betrayed the reviewer's ignorance to the genre. The Japanese gangster film is far more presentational than its western counterparts. From the bright, red, paint-like blood to the strict characterizations and operatic emotions, Graveyard of Honor and other films like it are a sort of midway point between Kabuki theater and French nihilism. It is an intriguing genre, and one that internationally acclaimed director Kinji Fukasaku uses brilliantly to pose intriguing questions and point out crucial problems in the Japanese mindset of the time.

To truly appreciate his 1970s yakuza films, it helps to have knowledge of the history leading up o that time from the end of World War II. Watching Graveyard of Honor on its own will certainly be an entertaining experience, but anyone perplexed or intrigued by the film should do research on other films of the period, their cultural context, and their societal implications. Fukasaku was a groundbreaking director, and it's a shame that his brilliance could be lost in the cultural gap.

Kinji Fukasaku's mid-70s faux-biopic of a sociopath Yakuza gangster in late-40s Japan is certainly an absorbing experience, even if it never quite manages to immerse the viewer entirely in the nihilism of the world in which Tetsuya Watari's Rikio Ishikawa exists. It's difficult really to determine whether Fukasaku is trying to attract or repulse us here and, for me, this is the film's main weakness. Ishikawa has no redeeming features: he's simply a crude, boorish rapist and murderer who invokes unexplainable loyalty in those around him. There is some amusement to be found in the bewilderment of Ishikawa's Yakuza superiors, who don't seem to know quite what to do with the loose cannon in their midst (presumably something in the Yakuza code prevents them from simply taking him into a back alley and shooting him like a dog) but, for all its kinetic energy and undeniable style Graveyard of Honour mostly fails to fascinate, and fascinate it must – the way a caterpillar squirming on the end of a pin fascinates – if it is to hold an audience who can feel little or no connection with its main character.

Despite these criticisms, the film is never dull. Fukasaku is an unsurpassable director, completely confident of his skills, totally focused, and unafraid to adopt subjects and styles that must have seemed out of the ordinary at the time. It's to his credit that most of the techniques he uses in this film are still widely used today – especially by US gangster flicks. Fukasaku fills the screen with people in this one, countless people, hundreds of them, conveying the raucous and claustrophobic overcrowding of a country recovering from a bruising war. And while attention to period detail is perhaps not this film's strong point, this shortcoming is overcome by good use of sepia tones to reinforce the sense of history.