Many a flick has been made about the cultural differences between the East and the West . From action epics likeThe Last Samuraito contemplative dramas likeThe FarewellandMerry Christmas , Mr. Lawrence , the cultural clash of East versus West has proven to be a subject capable of withstanding multiple feeler and take . Few American motion picture have , however , tried to tackle it as unsentimentally or as thoughtfully asThe Yakuza .
The underrated , Sydney Pollack - direct neo - noir gem is very much the grimy potboiler offense thriller that its title hint , but it is also just as thematically rich as its screenwriting duo of Paul Schrader ( Taxi Driver ) and Robert Towne ( Chinatown ) would lead you to suspect it is . It turned 50 years old last month , and while it is n’t near as well - love outside cinephile round as it merit to be , it ’s never too late to assure it out . You wo n’t regret doing so , either . It ’s a moody ’ 70s thriller that will not only get your pulse racing , but also leave you sitting in silent astonishment over its twisty , emotionally setaceous story .
A story of two men, bound by war and honor
The Yakuzafollows Harry Kilmer ( Robert Mitchum ) , a retired police force detective , who is employ to trip to Tokyo to save an old friend ’s daughter from her Nipponese kidnappers . Harry , we instruct , expend time in Japan as a leatherneck accompany the end of World War II during the Allies ’ occupancy of the country . While there , he help oneself and fall in love with a Japanese woman , Eiko ( Keiko Kishi ) . Their romance was rarify by the return of Eiko ’s brother , Ken ( Ken Takakura ) , a dedicated Imperial Japanese soldier who was left run aground for months on a remote island . Ken was predictably indignant by Harry and Eiko ’s relationship , but his gratitude to Harry for salvage Eiko and her daughter ’s biography also leave behind him with a lifelong “ burden of gratitude , ” orgiri , to the American soldier . A contravene tempest of emotions ensued that compelled Ken to leave his family behind .
Ken ’s proceeds and quick loss caused a fracture within Eiko and Harry ’s relationship that is still present when he returns , as lovelorn as ever , to Japan at the start ofThe Yakuza . bet to economise his friend ’s daughter , Harry seek out not only Eiko , but also Ken , and he calls upon the latter to reenter the humans of the yakuza and reward his obligation to Harry . Ken reluctantly agree to do so , and it is n’t long before he and Harry find themselves catch up in a conspiracy even more unsafe and twisted than they require . Along the style , new find are made about Ken ’s actual connection to Eiko and the full , hard complexity of his and Harry ’s bond is bring to light . Their divvy up past times is undeniably convolve , butThe Yakuzaelegantly lays out Harry , Ken , and Eiko ’s complicated history in its first routine , and the movie wisely relies on the different shades of heartbreak portrayed by Mitchum , Kishi , and Takakura to do much of its early worked up dense - lifting .
Ken and Harry ’s many debts to each other permit their onscreen adhesiveness to achieve an operatic variety of spectacular grandness — one befitting of a connexion between two men that frequently feels like a mirror for America and Japan ’s postwar relationship . WhileThe Yakuzatakes its time winding its means through its story , Pollack punctuates its runtime with thrillingly rat , bestial salvo of force , include a midpoint family invasion successiveness that is as technically telling as its consequence is shockingly unsparing . Towne and Schrader ’s screenplay , meanwhile , contains beautifully lyric piece of dialog , such as when one character notes , “ Ken is a tormented man . It is Eiko , of course , but it is also Japan . ” In a unlike scene , Mitchum wryly responds to Eiko ’s inquiring about Ken by take down , “ He ’s been unhappy ever since he lost the war . I keep seek to say him it ’s not his faulting . He wo n’t take my word for it . ”
Our obligation to each other
As efficient as Pollack ’s blunt , no - bunk commission and Towne and Schrader ’s considered , ovate hand are , The Yakuzais in the end elevate most notably by Robert Mitchum . The actor , one of the greatest of all Hollywood star , holds your attention every time he is in the frame , and he give a performance that , much like his late - career turn inThe Friends of Eddie Coyle , effortlessly elicit a good sense of quiet resignation and despair that is deceptively powerful . He plays Kilmer not as an arrogant American , but as a secure homo who languish to honor a culture he does n’t fully understand .
It is only when he discovers the full scope of his encroachment on Ken and Eiko ’s lives , how much he has inadvertently acquire from them simply by step thoughtlessly into their circle , that Mitchum ’s former shipboard soldier is able to understand the Japanese beliefs and tradition that have haunted and mystified him for three ten . There exists a clear metaphor here for American interventionism and how even the most “ just ” or well - intentioned interventionist acts can cause unlooked-for aftermath and devastating societal ripple . ButThe Yakuzadoes not hit viewers over the head with its larger thematic mind .
Instead , the film arrives at a conclusion that grapple to powerfully recognize the certificate of indebtedness that we , regardless of — and sometimesbecauseof — our cultural remainder , have to each other . The Japanese , of path , would call thatgiri . However , while our duty to each other may sometimes feel like a burden , it is also an honor , one we can only try our upright to bear well .
The Yakuzais available to rip now on all major digital platform likeAmazon Prime Video .
