Luta Sem Código de Honra

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.

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...

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.

I don't get what's with those people who think "Battles Without Honor Or Humanity" has something to do with "The Godfather". The only notable similarity is that both delve into the criminal underworlds. But so what ? "The Godfather" didn't invent this genre. Furthermore the story in "Battles" was adapted from newspaper articles describing various yakuza activities. What Kinji Fukasaku created is a brilliant, violent tale about the dark and unforgiving nature of the Japanese crime syndicates it is also a story about friendship and betrayal.

This is a tale about a group of young men who after the end of the Second World War find themselves outcasts from society, under pursuit by the authorities. They inevitably bond together and form a new crime syndicate under the leadership of boss Yamamoto. As their organization grows in power so do the internal struggles between them begin to escalate. Slowly, either from pure greed and the corruption of power or by Yamamoto's careful manipulations. It's hard not to draw comparison with "Battle Royale" Fukusako's most notable film released in the late nineties. Both present a similar in a way situation: friends fight friends for their own survival.The only difference being that here that is done in a much more subtle way. But the elements are still the same, characters are likable well fleshed-out and the viewer is thrown into an internal struggle of his own when he sees them killing each other. Fukasaku's type of narration is one that involves multiple points of view, we don't have such a strong focus on main character as most movies do, there is one of course Shozo Hirono (played by the ever great Bunta Sugawara) but he serves the role of executing the movie's catharsis, he is the one who becomes a witness to all the madness and senseless killings and it is his final actions that define that, his realization and his rebellion to it all, his final display of grief to friends lost for nothing.

The acting is superb on all fronts, with a diverse cast of characters who offer a different perspective with their own point of view. Fukasaku demonstrates his great skill as a director, his technique perfectly fitting to the movie's tone. By using a fast-paced, erratic, nearly chaotic style the action scenes offer us that taste of brutality we wouldn't have felt had they been directed in a more traditional manner. Fukasaku strays from the established formula of people getting killed fast and easy with one or two bullets instead he shows us an alternative to that : a slow, painful exercise, one that more accurately portrays the yakuza's violent lifestyle. Yet there are no large body counts, the battles are often predetermined with one side attacking an individual or small group from the other, by surprise and in overwhelming force. There really is no honor in the Japanese underworld.

"Battles Without Honor Or Humanity" is the epitome of humanity's own self-destructive nature. The one that drives us to aim for a higher financial and social standing on any means. With no regard for friends, family, honor or trust.

Harrowing post-war b/w photos of Hiroshima are the backcloth for the opening credits and we are soon introduced name by name to family members that will play a part in the early days of the yakuza. Seemingly one unforeseen aspect of the war was a lawless Tokyo but there were those who rushed in to fill the void and would expand further when the Korean war began a few years later. Bold use of widescreen (as many close-ups as distant - partly, I'm sure to cut down on cost of converting wide expanses of the city to a 40s/50s landscape) and wonderful colour and effective soundtrack help hold this somewhat desperate story together. Bright, brash, violent and bloody, this is also fast moving (a little too fast at times, for some of us) with a pause here and there only to discuss the next epode of mayhem.