BLIND WOMAN'S CURSE (1970) 怪談昇り竜 directed by Teruo Ishii Production: Nikkatsu Distribution = Dainichi Utsuhai June 20, 1970 85 minutes Fujicolor Cinemascope Meiko Kaji as Akemi Tachibana Hoki Tokuda as Aiko Gouda Makoto Sato as Tani Shouichi Toru Abe as Dobashi Shiro Otsuji as Senba-tatsu Before Lady Snowblood and before Female Prisoner Scorpion movies - in fact, around the time she was first getting noticed in the Stray Cat Rock series, SOMEONE had already figured out that the soft spoken, demure Meiko Kaji had an onscreen intensity about her that was suited for the oncoming stylistic shift in Japanese cinema. (Meiko Kaji) Blind Woman's Curse is the story of Akemi (Meiko Kaji) who has assumed the role of her father's crime organization in pre-modern Japan. While fighting a rival clan, she accidently blind's the leader's sister. She notices a stray black cat lapping up the blood from it - cursing her... (Meiko Kaji ) After getting out of prison, she tries to tak...
BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (1973)
仁義なき戦い
directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Production: Toei (Kyoto studio)
January 13, 1973
99 minutes Fujicolor Cinemascope
January 13, 1973
99 minutes Fujicolor Cinemascope
Bunta Sugawara as Shozo Hirono
Hiroki Matsukata as Tetsuya Sakai
Nobuo Kaneko as Yoshio Yamamori
Tatsuo Umemiya as Hiroshi Wakasugi
Kunie Tanaka as Masakichi Makihara
Goro Ibuki as Toru Ueda
According to Bunta Sugawara, who plays the career defining role of Shozo Hirono, it was HE who came up with the idea to adapt the written memoirs of real life yakuza Kozo Mino into film.
He gave the newspaper he read it in to Toei producer Koji Shundi, not once, but twice - insisting he read it, cast him, and get Goro Kusakabe to produce it and Kenji Fukasaku to direct.
(Bunta Sugawara)
Though they would certainly make better movies together, the film was a huge hit leading to four sequels in less than 2 years and a second series of films.
Chaotic and overwhelming through most of the first half hour, characters appear and die in such a hurry, its hard to sometimes know exactly what’s going on. I started to enjoy it once I realized that the primary focus should be on Bunta Sugawara’s character Shozo, and the Yamamori family.
The basic plot behind it is that Shozo is actually a man trying to follow the 'code of the yakuza' - willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the group, keeping his mouth shut and going to jail (twice), murdering when asked and even commting yubitsume (chopping off part of his finger) when he disrespects someone he shouldn't have.
Unfortunately, everyone else, including the most successful power climber, Yoshio Yamamori (along with his equally manipulating wife, played to perfection by Toshie Kamura), are liars, cheaters, back stabbers, and cowards, who someone come out either dead or higher up the ladder.
(Nobuo Kaneko as cagey Yakuza boss Yoshio Yamamori)
Late in the movie, Shozo's friend and sometime partner in crime Sakai (Hiroki Matsukata) says “If he (Yamamori) was a man of his word…neither (spoiler) nor (spoiler) nor (spoiler) would have had to die.” And that sums up why this is called Battles WITHOUT Honor and Humanity, as these Modern Yakuza gangsters fight and kill and lie and manipulate for position and power at any cost - and friend or foe is just as likely to be a target... as Shozo find's out later.
Some have called it the 'Japanese Godfather', but that would be like saying Mike Tyson is the Sugar Ray Leonard of the 80’s. Both successful fighters, two WAY different boxer’s.
(Box Set Cover for Volume One)
This movie is a whirlwind, that took me some rewinds and some research to keep track of what was going on and who was who. And even though I'm not sure it's the classic that some claim (the second and third film are much better), after the smoke clears at the end, I do have to say I'm curious to see where the characters that are left go from here... as a preface to the rest of the movies it's indispensable.
On it's own, a scorecard would've helped.
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