Street Mobster

This movie is the life story of a punk named Isamu--with the bulk of it following his insane path following his release from prison. While the idea of a mobster being a sociopath is no surprise, Isamu is peculiar even among the yakuza. This is because he also has an insane need for excitement and is incredibly self-destructive and angry--so much so that you know he cannot continue his path for long. After all, taking on the yakuza (sort of like the Japanese mafia) nearly single-handedly is just plain nuts! Yet, this crazed punk assembles a very small gang and attempts to do just that!

"Street Mobster" is one of the most violent and nihilistic Japanese films I have ever seen. Its violence is vicious, uncaring and filled with pure rage. And, as a portrait of a thug, it IS effective and realistic. But, with graphic rapes, stabbing after stabbing after stabbing, it makes you wonder who the audience would be for this blood-fest. Plus, after raping one woman, the lady then has a twisted love-hate relationship with him that is just plain unsavory. Not a movie I enjoyed and one I am loathe to recommend because it's so nasty, but it IS unflinching and pulls no punches.

Street Mobster is a violent Japanese gangster movie by prolific director Fukasaku Kinji who would later on direct influential genre masterpieces such as Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Graveyard of Honor and Yakuza Graveyard. Western audiences know him as the director of dystopian action thriller Battle Royale which was the last movie he was able to complete.

The story of this movie is rather simple. It follows the life of a violent gangster who attacks the members of an inflluential clan who try to extort money from him and associates. He spends some time in prison but soon forms a new gang that is particularly violent. He ultimately gets injured and is temporarily forced to join a bigger family for protection. When another and even bigger family from Osaka tries to increase its influence in Kawasaki, the film's violent antagonist decides to disrespect common conventions and brutally disrespects the different gangster families. The three involved families come to the only reasonable conclusion: they must cooperate to eliminate the antagonist and his associates to preserve peace.

The most interesting element about Street Mobster is its violent, nihilistic and egoistic antagonist who isn't interested in compromises, peace or truces. He desires to become the biggest gangster boss in the country by any means necessary. While this character is extremely dislikeable, he is brutally consequent and honest in his actions and therefore more complex and profound than one might think at first contact. The movie impresses with numerous violent scenes supported by dynamic camera work that have aged rather well and can still be considered offensive nowadays. The film has frantic pace and entertains from start to finish.

On the negative side, there are very few characters to sympathize or empathize with. As opposed to Western gangster movies, even the victims and outsiders in organized crime come off as careless and despicable. The story is also extremely thin and quite predictable. The action scenes are quite intense but also rather repetitive. The movie impresses at first contact but lacks creativity, depth and diversity.

To conclude, you should watch Street Mobster if you are looking for a particularly brutal, entertaining and fast gangster movie that has stood the test of time. This film certainly entertains while it last but doesn't leave any deeper impression due to its thin story line. Street Mobster is a feast for genre fans but can't compete with Fukasaku Kinji's later works.

Bunta Sugawara plays a low-level criminal who keeps getting in trouble with a major yakuza clan. After a ton of screwing around with them, a second yakuza clan adopts him as one of their own. At first, everyone's happy about it, but soon enough, Sugawara feels trapped and starts to act out. This, of course, does not please his bosses. The main problem with this one is that Sugawara's character is just so unlikable - you have to wonder why the yakuza on either side keep letting him screw around so much. The mobsters from The Godfather would have whacked him instantly (especially since he's essentially a nobody; he has a few followers, but they're just punks, too). The value of the film comes from Fukasaku's direction, which seems revolutionary for 1972, almost Jason Bourne-like with hand-held cameras, thrusting the audience in the kinetic action sequences. The direction is definitely some of Fukasaku's best work.

The proud, self-destructive, punk/anti-hero violates national boundaries without compunction in late 60s/early 70s cinema. Here Isamu Okita (Bunta Sugawara), often simply called "Bro", is reminiscent not only of Alex (A Clockwork Orange) but also of Ivan (The Harder They Come), Johnny Boy (Mean Streets) and even of Michel (À bout de soufflé).

'Gendai yakuza: hito-kiri yota' (which, in English, apparently means something like Outlaw Killer or Street Mobster) is a restless, prowling movie that occasionally bursts into hyperkinetic action. Something about the verging-on-ludicrous action scenes gives the viewer almost the same sense of release that Bro and the other punks feel.

Isamu is a punk, a whore-son, born on the margins of post-war society. By virtue of his own courage and propensity for violence he becomes the leader of a street gang and attracts the attention of the more established yakuza crimelords. Most of the drama revolves around the conflict between his pride and his superiors.

'Street Mobster' is very well filmed and has aged well, it's influence on films like 'Fight Club' is palpable.

Outlaw Killer or as it says in the film, Street Mobster, is a bloody violent look into a totally self-destructive renegade street punk that can't ever seem to back down from a fight, no matter how suicidal. Truly a hilarious, incredibly charismatic character. So funny.

The film follows him as he talks about his youth, his incarceraton and picks up with him creating a new gang. Parts are a bit too melodramatic, especially at the end, but the characters are well-crafted and the action sequences are frenetic and fun.

A unique view of yakuza and street punk life in Japan in the early '70s from crazy-guy Fukasaku, the man behind Tora! Tora! Tora! and the fantastic Battle Royale.