Leofwine_draca THE YAKUZA is the best film about Japanese gangsters ever made in America – because the filmmakers go above and beyond the call of duty to provide a literate, mature, and realistic depiction of those feared mafia gangs who lurk in the shadowy recesses of Asian life. This is old-fashioned film-making at its best, without a reliance on outlandish special effects or action to move the story along. Of particular interest is Paul Shrader's script, which is undoubtedly of superior quality. It's hard to see how a bad film could have been made out of it, but with veteran director Sydney Pollack calling the shots that was never going to happen.Robert Mitchum is the big draw, providing a lovable, grizzled lead through whose eyes we witness the dark side of Japanese culture. He's given quite wonderful support by the man he's partnered with – Ken Takakura, the epitome of the Japanese 'stone face'. There's a supporting cast of strong character actors too, including James Shigeta, the guy who played the boss in DIE HARD. I recognised his voice immediately although not his appearance.Don't go in expecting this to be an action film, because it's not. There are a couple of shoot-outs, yes, but for the most part this is a slow, mannered film exploring themes of honour, redemption, loyalty, and justice, all from the distinct Yakuza perspective. Saying that, there is an extended climax in which our two heroes attack the enemy base – Mitchum wielding a shotgun, Takakura a samurai sword – and proceed to wreak havoc on the bad guys in long, breathtaking, stylised scenes of violence that always keep realism to the fore. It's a great end to what is an assured and developed piece – not a film to get excited about, perhaps, but one to enjoy and feel nonetheless.

Murtaza Ali Here is a terribly underrated "Yakuza" classic starring the great Robert Mitchum in one of his most iconic screen appearances. In the movie, Mitchum plays a WW - II veteran, Harry Kilmer, who reluctantly returns to Japan after a gap of over two decades in order to retrieve an old friend's daughter abducted by a Yakuza outfit.Mitchum plays Kilmer with his characteristic on screen charisma. Here is a tough, no nonsense, chivalrous man who wouldn't think twice before sticking his neck out for a friend. But, there is an element of tenderness and vulnerability to him which Mitchum brilliantly succeeds in evoking. To his credit, Mitchum makes Kilmer look more human than a caricature like this one has ever looked on the celluloid. He adds finesse even to the all-hell-breaks-loose action sequences. Ken Takakura plays the part of Ken Tanaka (described as a man who never smiles) with scalpel-like precision and complements Mitchum really well. In fact, the chemistry between the two great actors is the movie's real highlight. Sidney Pollack's direction is absolutely topnotch; Pollack succeeds in bringing an element of realism to a Yakuza tale. Overall, The Yakuza is a magnificent work of cinematic art that certainly deserves more attention than what it has received over the last four decades or so. The movie features one of Mitchum's all- time great performances. It's also one of the best films directed by the legendary Sydney Pollack. Watch it now, if you haven't already!

wes-connors This film opens with a helpful definition of its title. But, being short and to the point, a good translation for "The Yakuza" would be "The (Japanese) Mafia". Retiring detective Robert Mitchum (as Harry Kilmer) is called by full-haired friend Brian Keith (as George Tanner) because the latter's daughter Louise has been kidnapped by "The Yakuza". The men joke about their advanced years and travel on separate planes, to avoid looking suspicious. Arriving in Japan, Mr. Mitchum seeks help from old friend Ken Takakura (as Tanaka Ken), who reportedly gave up the gangster lifestyle. Also involved is Mitchum's still young and beautiful old girlfriend Keiko Kishi (as Eiko)...Accompanied by tender narration, Mitchum visiting his former Japanese girlfriend at "Kilmer House" is a high point for director Sydney Pollack and the crew, in this otherwise numbing gangster epic. The scene ends on an obvious and sour note, when we get a hint about her hiding a dark secret...The most beautifully staged and photographed (by Okazaki Kozo) scene occurs with Mitchum and young bodyguard Richard Jordan (as Dusty) at a Japanese bath. This sequence manages to be both beautiful and gruesome. Other scenes are notable for their violent content, which even make hard-nosed Mitchum wince… several times. Most of the time, Mitchum and Takakura speak clearly and trade steely-eyed stares. The setting helps, but maintaining interest is difficult after Mr. Jordan and Christina Kokubo (as Hanako) exit the story. The young couple has surprising appeal and re-writes giving them more time on screen together would have been a good idea.***** The Yakuza (1974-12-21) Sydney Pollack ~ Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Richard Jordan, Brian Keith

Edgar Soberon Torchia Two good scriptwriters and a filmmaker whose highest achievement was perhaps the comedy "Tootsie", add to a rather flat and artificial film that is neither a thriller nor a yakuza film, but a complex drama about ethics (with historical resonance, not only of Japan, but of the US-Japan relations) that could have been much better in capable hands. Writer Paul Schrader followed this with his script for Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", while Robert Towne had already written Hal Ashby's "The Last Detail" and --also in 1974-- Roman Polanski's "Chinatown": "The Yakuza" proves how good Scorsese, Ashby and Polanski were, and that Sydney Pollack was a standard filmmaker. I admit that I never liked his films. I even walked out of "Bobby Deerfield". But after all these years, reading or hearing good things about "The Yakuza", I decided to give it a try. In the opening credits, Dave Grusin's supposedly hip score starts the distortion of a tale that, in essence, unravels as it goes through an intricately sinuous labyrinth to reflect on dignity, love, ethics, tradition, betrayal, resentment, death; and furthermore, as I previously suggested, it insinuates, perhaps inadvertently, the bad conscience of a few American citizens who witnessed the assault on Japanese culture by American politicians and military men after the end of Second World War (a subject intelligently dealt by Shohei Imamura in "Vengeance Is Mine"), not to mention the barbaric physical harm done with nuclear bombs. Some persons have also suggested a graver cultural distortion in Pollack's romanticized vision of the Japanese gangsters (for a more reliable portrait of the seedy yakuzas, see "Minbo no onna", the film for which its director Juzo Itami supposedly lost his life), but as the time ran, I could not care less. "The Yakuza" became worse, and when a night club scene arrived in which a singer performed a ballad about the yakuza code, I knew I only had two options. I saw it completely… unfortunately a few days after watching Masaki Kobayashi's masterpiece "Harakiri".