Yakuza films are a genre of films, based around the international crime organisation based in Japan, Yakuza.  These films have been being developed in Japanese cinema and beyond since the 1920’s, and continue to be made in today’s cinema landscape. These films have developed from deep inner circle crime syndicate films, to films that aren’t all based around the Yakuza themselves. As many of these films more recently, simply use the Yakuza as characters or a backdrop to the film. Examples of these films comes from Japanese director and actor, Kitano Takeshi, who made one of the most critically acclaimed Yakuza films of recent memory Hana-Bi (1997). Hana-Bi follows Japanese detective Nishi, (played by Kitano Takeshi) as he deals with the imminent death of his terminally ill wife, his responsibilities as a lawman and helping those around him, such as the widow as his deceased partner. The film deals with many themes of life and death, how one works through it and how complicated and divisive it makes us. Hana-Bi deals with themes which are prominent throughout many Yakuza films, that between the individual ideals and socio-economic expectations of society. Nishi even though he is a detective, and a well known one at that, he places his individual desires above that of his social obligations. He breaks the law to get money, so that he may look after and take his dying wife on one final trip before she passes. It is quite common for these thematic occurrences to appear in Yakuza films, Federico Varese says;

“Yakuza films are instead organised around the conflict between social obligation (giri) and personal inclination (ninjo ̄).” (Federico Varese, 2006)

The idea of ‘personal inclination’ or the idea of individuality is one that is common amongst so many of the films within the transnational movement. Which with the greater globalisation of cinema, having a film such as Hana-Bi, in more recent times stand out in the western market, in terms of critical acclaim, should not be surprising. Though with the long history of Yakuza films, what is it that influences these themes? Perhaps it is the romanticising of crime syndicates, something seen a lot in western culture and cinema. Even in Australia, having icons like Ned Kelly. People that stand outside of social expectations. Those who take what they feel is theirs or they are owed. There is something so attractive to the viewer about these themes.

 

References:

  1. Federico Varese (2006) The Secret History of Japanese Cinema: The Yakuza movies, Global Crime, 7:1, 105-124, DOI: 10.1080/17440570600650166

 

Comments:

  1. https://ellacaulfieldblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/shintoism-and-auteurship-a-response-to-two-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-11
  2. https://taylahrobinson.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/blog-post-3/#comments