Bakuchi-uchi: socho tobaku

I recently came across an old memo by Paul Schrader saying this was the best Toei-produced yakuza film. But “best” isn’t quite right … it’s certainly the most nationalistic, yet also fatalistic in equal measure. It tosses around ninkyodo like it’s going out of style, because it is. Tsuruta responds to every disaster with hagakure resolve, but that adherence to code is precisely his downfall. The film’s inherent anachronism of code vis-à-vis actual human emotion becomes its own kind of harakiri.

One of the best yakuza films that I've seen. It has interesting characters: the reserved Nakai and impulsive Matsuda who are both played expertly by Tsuruta and Wakayama. Supporting characters also have depth which makes the story hit harder; it's perhaps bordering on going overboard with the melodrama during mid-point, but it's admittedly required for the conclusion. It's also well paced and doesn't require you to be too versed in Yakuza films to appreciate the film.

Wrong Decisions: The Movie