(2012) To Americans, Takeshi Kitano may be best-known for his role in the 2000 flick Battle Royale; in his native Japan, however, he’s the country’s version of Martin Scorsese (if Marty also served as star), a writer/ director who shines brightest plying his talents in the realm of violent crime tales, including Sonatine, Brother, The […]
yakuza
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Outrage: Way of the Yakuza
Here, a member of one crime syndicate unknowingly attempts to rip off a member of the other crime syndicate, via fleecing his nightclub bill. The insult eventually escalates to an all-out war as each side takes its turn exacting revenge, from several sacrificial fingers and a purposely botched act of dentistry to the most cruel […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Yakuza Weapon
For the uninformed, the yakuza is the Japanese equivalent of our mafia — an underworld crime syndicate where loyalty is value No. 1. Break that, and there’s hell to pay! In this Sushi Typhoon offering from co-directors Tak Sakaguchi (“Mutant Girls Squad”) and Yûdai Yamaguchi (the similarly wacky but overlong “Battlefield Baseball”), Sakaguchi also stars as […]