There's not much to say really about YAKUZA GRAVEYARD perhaps other than it is a Kinji Fukasaku movie that finds the unsung master of the crime genre firing on all cylinders, his cinematic craft honed to stultifying perfection. Narrative use of montages and stills, hyperkinetic camera-work, relentless action, groovy score, convoluted plot, all the stylistic hallmarks of his yakuza directorial output are present and I'm sure he knew them so well by this point I bet he could knock one out of the park with his eyes closed. All in all an orgasmic smorgasbord of no-nonsense seventies crime cinema that takes no prisoners and that will have every last one of the genre's enthusiasts raising fists in the air with excitement. If you've perused any of Fukasaku's back catalogue from the early seventies you know exactly what I'm talking about YG is not particularly original in that aspect but it shows the great Japanese director doing what he does best and doing it better than everybody else, then and now.
The cast is spearheaded by the always enjoyable and charismatic Tetsuya Watari (worked with Fukasaku in GRAVEYARD OF HONOUR - which Takashi Miike remade in 2002) and the fragile but determined Meiko Kaji, and is also populated by lots of familiar faces like Nagashi Oshima. Watari starts out as abusive cop strongarming yakuza thugs for information and the movie seems to be heading to a general cops vs thugs direction, that is until Fukasaku pulls an inverted Dirty Harry and has Watari siding with one of two yakuza gangs duking it out in the Tokyo underworld, pledging blood oaths with one of the underbosses and becoming romantically entangled with the wife of the boss who's away, doing time in prison. Kaji is said wife, a Korean half-breed and ex-hooker, running the gang in her husband's stead, emotionally vulnerable and leading an unfulfilled life. In the end Watari arrives to the same conclusions regarding the police as Clint Eastwood did in Dirty Harry, only the police he's renouncing is in bed with the yakuzas, doing political deals under the table, and his way of renouncing it is a lot harder and more violent than symbolically tossing a badge in a lake a suitable, excellent ending to a grim and gritty piece. His transition from one end to the other is a bit abrupt but what the heck, this is a genre piece and not a character study so I'm not picky.
What easily stands out about YG is its breakneck, furious pace. The viewer will be forgiven for scratching his head in several occasions, wondering how the movie got where it is, and the convoluted plot doesn't really help orientation. It's basically plot-plot-plot only with torrents of mean asskicking, relentless and blistering as only Fukasaku knows how to shoot it. Every five minutes someone's getting his ass kicked it's as simple as that and no exaggeration. It makes Steven Seagal flicks look like romantic comedies. Overall a top notch crime action flick that hasn't dated one bit in the places that matter and a definitive must-see for Fukasaku and yakuza fans.
