You have here the typical Japanese crime flick from the sixties, and I would say the typical Kinji Fukasaku feature from this period: late sixties early seventies. And with the likes of Koji Tsuruta, you can't miss it. The same old clichés, I agree, Tsuruta as the usual ex-con just released from jail who comes back to his friends and also meets his former sweetheart again. But the ex-con back to business, yakuza business. You will find here the usual melancholy and sadness which you always get in most Fukasaku films from this period; but a little less in the seventies. And actors such as Tsuruta or even Takakura were the best for this kind of characters whose faith is being lost in advance. Bunta Sugawara will later bring another kind of character in KJ's movies. A story about friendship, love, honor, faithfulness, allegiance and sacrifice. I love this.
