Review of The Yakuza (1974) by Tim H — 02 Sep 2011

This might be the first truly shameless bad ass film. Holy sh*t, everything goes down in this movie. Are you a fan of samurai swords? Watch this movie! Are you a fan of shotguns? Watch this movie! Are you a fan of people cutting off their own fingers? First get help and then watch this movie!

Now, here's the beef. This is a super-cool, super-stylized movie that I could never really imagine Robert Mitchum in until I actually watched it. He fits the role ideally. Mainly because he's pretty amazing in everything that he's ever done. Sydney Pollack also is Sydney Pollack, but really at some of his best. His color palatte in this movie is top notch and the constant return to the tattoo theme is such a good concept. I have to look this up on IMDB, but I'm pretty sure Maurice Binder did the opening credits. If he didn't, man, this makes a little James Bond nerd very happy seeing visuals like this.

Here's some beefs with the movie though. Pollack understands that most of American audiences don't understand the cultural history of the Yakuza. Only little nerds get into that stuff. So there are entire scenes of just shameless explanation of what is going on. Sure, I was happy about it in many instances because I learned stuff (assuming it's all accurate.) But sometimes I feel like it's not necessary. Also, the main plot is kind of lost to terrible expositional dialogue. I'd rather see a flashback. I guess they couldn't get Mitchum's kid to play a younger version of himself anymore.

Overall, this movie is amazing. I might have to buy the Mitchum set to add this to my collection. No matter what, top notch.