Sympathy for the Underdog

This film was director Kinji Fukasakus (Battle Royal, The Yakuza Papers) last film featuring Koji Tsuruta as the main character. In the film Koji Tsuruta plays a hardboiled Yakuza boss, Gunji, coming out of prison to collect what is left of his loyal members to start over his small organization. However he soon finds out that territory all over mainland Japan is under control of large crime syndicates making it impossible for him to assert any control. His gang then decides to travel to Okinawa, since Gunji learned while in prison that territory was still up for grabs there and conditions are suitable for newcomers. However, just as things seem to be going well for them the large yakuza organization that was responsible for their previous downfall and Gunji’s imprisonment comes to the island in a grand procession to gain control of the island. Gunji tries to send his loyal friends away along with peace money he obtains from the rival organization although still planning to extract revenge by himself on the enemy organization. As the morning sun rises he finds his loyal friends surrounding him, refusing to leave and take the easy way out. Driving up to the dock in their car with tires screeching they swerve through the crowd of hundreds of rival gang members. They jump out shooting wildly into the crown while resorting to slashing their foes with short katanas as ammunition runs out. Each gang member is shot down coldly and dies where he stands in a pool of blood. The leader Gunji refusing to die tell his mission is complete runs to the rival gang’s boss though he is riddled with bullets and plunges a short katana into his enemy before dropping to the ground dead.

The films main theme is the gang’s position as outsiders invading a group of insiders. Director Kinji Fukasaku was highly influenced after watching the film The Battle of Algiers and was interested in portraying a similar feel in this film. Part of the reason Okinawa was chosen as the setting was because although it is part of Japan the people of Okinawa have their own distinct culture as well as the large military presence that can be felt due to the American military presence. Part of what makes this film distinct is that it does not glorify yakuza members as other movies did before it. In the film the reality is harsh and yakuza are brutally shot down leaving behind their families. The last scene clearly shows this as each member of the gang is shot to death one by one while struggling on the ground like dogs. Another aspect that Kinji Fukasaku wanted to show was how groups formed but over time slowly dissipated into nothing as was the case with student organizations when he was in college. The director was able to make an interesting yakuza genre film while adding elements of an invading foreign army as was done in the The Battle of Algiers.