The Yakuza
Tags: cult, neo noir, violence, romantic

Plot synopsis:
Retired detective Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) is called upon by an old friend, George Tanner (Brian Keith). Tanner has been doing business with a yakuza gangster, Tono (Eiji Okada), who has kidnapped Tanner's daughter to apply pressure in a business deal involving the sale of guns. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can rescue the girl using his Japanese connections.
Kilmer and Tanner had been Marine MPs in Tokyo during the post-war occupation. Kilmer became aware of a woman, Eiko (Keiko Kishi), who was involved in the black market so that she could procure penicillin for her sick daughter. Kilmer intervened on behalf of Eiko during a skirmish, saving her life. After they'd been living together, with Kilmer repeatedly asking Eiko to marry him, her brother Ken (Ken Takakura) returned from an island where he'd been stranded as an Imperial Japanese soldier. Both outraged that she was living with his former enemy and deeply indebted to Kilmer for saving the lives of his (apparently) only remaining family, Ken disappeared into the yakuza criminal underground and refused to see or speak to his sister. Eiko, cautious to do nothing to offend Ken further, broke off contact with Kilmer. Before returning to the US, Kilmer bought Eiko a bar (with money borrowed from George Tanner) which she operates to this day, named Kilmer House in his honor. Kilmer has never stopped loving her.
Ken's debt to Kilmer, giri, is a lifelong obligation that traditionally can never be repaid. Tanner believes that Ken would therefore do anything for Kilmer, including rescuing Tanner's daughter. Traveling to Tokyo with Tanner's bodyguard Dusty (Richard Jordan), they stay at the home of another old military buddy named Oliver Wheat (Herb Edelman). Kilmer visits Eiko at the bar's closing time, seeking to find Ken. Eiko's feelings for Kilmer are clearly as strong as ever. He also becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who is delighted to see Kilmer again. Eiko tells Kilmer that her brother can be found at his kendo school in Kyoto.
Kilmer travels by train to visit Ken at his kendo school. Ken is no longer a yakuza member, but will still help Kilmer. They find and free the girl. In so doing, Ken "takes up the sword" once again, attacking one of Tono's men to save Kilmer. This is an inexcusable intrusion by Ken in yakuza affairs. Contracts on both Ken's and Kilmer's lives are issued. Despite Tanner's protests, Kilmer insists on staying until the danger to Ken can be resolved. Eiko suggests he see Ken's brother, a high-level legal counselor to the yakuza chiefs. Goro (James Shigeta) is unable to intercede due to his impartial role in yakuza society, but suggests Ken can remove the death threat by killing Tono with a sword. The only alternative is for Kilmer to kill Tono himself, by any means (as an outsider, he is not bound to use a sword). Because Kilmer is known to Goro as an unusual gaijin who understands and accepts Japanese values, he proposes that Kilmer now has an obligation to Ken.
After an attempt on Kilmer's life at a bathhouse, he learns that his old friend Tanner has taken out the contract on him. Tanner secretly is broke and owes Tono a huge debt. Dusty discloses that Tanner and Tono are business partners. During a violent attack on Ken and Kilmer in Oliver Wheat's house, Dusty is stabbed to death with a sword and Eiko's daughter, Hanako, is shot and killed.
Seeking advice again from Ken's brother, Goro advises them that they have no choice but to assassinate Tanner and Tono. This will embarrass the partners in the eyes of the yakuza. Goro discloses that he has a "wayward son" who has joined Tono's clan and asks that Ken protect him should he be caught in the battle. In private, Goro then discloses the shocking family secret to Kilmer that Eiko is not Ken's sister but his wife, and Hanako their only child. Kilmer comprehends the true meaning of Eiko and Ken's rift, and Ken's anguish at the death of Hanako, all brought about by his repeated intercessions in their lives.
Kilmer storms into Tanner's apartment and kills him, then joins Ken for a near-suicidal attack on Tono's residence. During a prolonged battle, after Ken kills Tono in the traditional way with a katana, Goro's son attacks them and Ken kills him in self-defense. Bearing the news to his brother, Ken moves to commit Seppuku, but his brother pleads with his brother not to bring more anguish to their family. Instead, Ken performs yubitsume (the ceremonial yakuza apology by cutting off one's little finger). After Ken excuses himself, Goro compliments Kilmer on his adherence to Japanese traditions, and dedication to his family.
Before leaving Japan, Kilmer visits with Ken at home and asks to speak to him formally. While Ken prepares tea, Kilmer quietly commits yubitsume, and when Ken enters the room, waits for him to be seated. Sliding the folded handkerchief that contains his finger to Ken, he says "please accept this token of my apology" for "bringing great pain into your life, both in the past and in the present." Ken accepts, and Kilmer asks that "if you can forgive me, then you can forgive Eiko," adding, "you are greatly loved and respected by all your family." Ken professes that "no man has a greater friend than Kilmer-san," and Kilmer, overcome by emotion, says the same of Ken. Their obligations now apparently resolved, Ken takes Kilmer to the airport, and both men bow formally to each other before parting.

Review: Only Robert Mitchum could have done justice to the role of Harry Kilmer, a retired detective returning to Japan for the first time in many years to rescue his old Army friend Tanner's daughter, who has been kidnapped by the Yakuza in a dispute over a debt Tanner owes them.
Ken is a lone wolf, an ex-Yakuza who now runs a martial arts school, and though there is obviously no love lost between the two, Kilmer knows Ken carries an obligation to him for rescuing Eiko and her infant daughter in the early days of the Occupation.
Only when Kilmer begins to understand the truth of the situation is he able to act constructively.Everyone in this film, from Brian Keith to Herb Edelman to Richard Jordan (in one of his first starring roles) turns in a first-rate performance.
But it is Mitchum and Takakura Ken who make this movie.This is not an action film in the sense of later -- and far inferior -- efforts like "The Challenge" and "Black Rain", though there are scenes of intense and graphic violence.
The key ones include honor, loyalty, burden, duty, friendship, love, loss, obligation, and the differences between the men of pre and post war Japan.Although Robert Mitchum was approaching 60 when made the film, he still possessed enough of his trademark grace to be credible enough against much younger men in the action scenes.
As he's the native that used to be in the Yakuza and Mitchum is the gaijin that doesn't have to follow their honor system (although as the movie progresses, he subscribes to their codes and honor system more and more), Takakura gets to do all the skilled swordplay.
Currently the only good, somewhat true to the original theatrical print (just slightly more than 3 minutes shorter), are the 2hr long versions available on the not-so-legal (and not too good quality-wise) VCDs released in Hong Kong and Asia.I rated this film very high - and I am not any big sword-actioneers fan, but nor is this movie any kind of sword fighting flicks.
Action scenes are relatively restrained, and the story tells how Mitchum's character finally comes to understand Takakura Ken's character, and his apparently icy antagonism.
We learn a lot about the characters in the movie, from Harry and Eiko to Ken Tanaka and Harry's buddy George, but more than that we learn about Japan and its infamous and historic gangster world.
Not only is this a good 70's gangster/action flick, it is also one of the few movies about Japan ever produced in the States that does not make too many mistakes about Japanese culture.Ken Takakura puts in a great performance which is no surprise since he first became famous in Japan for acting in yakuza (gangster) movies.Anyone who has ever tried to understand or explain the concept of "giri" should see this movie!.
Probably after the wide acceptance of both the Godfather films, the American public was ready to see what organized crime looked like in another culture.La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, all those phrases we use for Italian organized crime certainly had their rituals and traditions.
But as we learn in watching this film they have nothing on the Yakuza.Robert Mitchum plays a private detective who works both sides of the law back in the states and he's hired by crime boss Brian Keith to rescue his daughter who was kidnapped by one of the Yakuza crime families in lieu of a shipment of weapons Keith was supposed to deliver.
She's the key to getting help from a former Yakuza member in their quest.The American actors perform well here and oriental players James Shigeta and Japanese film star Takakura Ken are well cast as feuding Yakuza brothers.
You will not question why Takakura Ken is known as the Japanese Clint Eastwood after seeing The Yakuza.Director Sydney Pollack shows a real reverence and respect for the traditions of another culture.
Only the body count suggest the films actiony and possibly exploitative intentions.The film follows our main character revisiting his old-WW2 roots in Japan, half revisiting loved ones and half going on a mission to rescue his old friend's daughter, who was kidnapped by a Yakuza crime lord.
The characters are extremely thoughtful, and much of the film is based around the choices people choose to make as pertaining to what they see to be their duty and debts.We also get a very interesting look at Japanese culture and a sizable amount of gore.
Love, memory, betrayal, loyalty and repayment of debts both financial and emotional are all here - oh and Robert Mitchum and ken Takakura are great..
After several years, his friend George asks Harry to return to Japan with his bodyguard Dusty (Richard Jordan) to rescue his daughter, who was kidnapped by a Yakuza family, due to a weapon business.
In the movie, Mitchum plays a WW - II veteran, Harry Kilmer, who reluctantly returns to Japan after a gap of over two decades in order to retrieve an old friend's daughter abducted by a Yakuza outfit.Mitchum plays Kilmer with his characteristic on screen charisma.
Ken Takakura and Bob Mitchum put in grim character portrayals against the soft back drop of Eiji Okada (of Lady Snowblood fame) character, who is caught between 'n' betwixt the two men in her sad life.At the end of the day it's the fight scenes and the meaning of Japanese honour that will stay in your mind.
Even so, Pollack was much more adventurous as he was starting out – never more so than when making the eccentric, existentialist war movie CASTLE KEEP (1969; another film I caught up with fairly recently), with THE YAKUZA itself coming pretty close in terms of stretching his talent.
Pollack's direction is admirably stylish throughout the film's 112 minutes (though the Japanese version is said to be even longer and, in fact, the promotional featurette which is part of the DVD supplements does depict the shooting of a couple of scenes which aren't in the finished film as presented here!) and remarkably balances superbly choreographed action sequences with thoughtful passages – particularly concerning Mitchum's place in this environment (while typically understated, the performance by the star in this case allows emotion to seep through his bulky exterior and tough persona).
The rest of the American cast is compact but carefully chosen: Brian Keith (as an opportunistic businessman, the father of the girl abducted for his having slighted The Yakuza, as well as Mitchum's best friend and old war buddy), Richard Jordan (quite good as Keith's young underling who tags along with Mitchum to Japan, ostensibly to keep an eye on him, but who didn't count on the pull of the Orient and, more specifically, the presence of a beguiling young girl – daughter of Mitchum's old flame) and Herb Edelman (as another war veteran who has stayed on and cultivated his knowledge of weaponry, extending to a fascination for Japanese swords).
The 'native' actors are equally impressive, especially Ken Takakura (as the enigmatic but proficient ex-Yakuza drawn back into the underworld as a favor to Mitchum – the actor was apparently a fixture of this type of violent entertainment) and Eiji Okada (suitably authoritative and menacing as the unscrupulous Yakuza boss – he's best-known for playing Emmanuelle Riva's Japanese lover in Alain Resnais' landmark film Hiroshima MON AMOUR [1959] and the entomologist hero of the award-winning erotic drama WOMAN IN THE DUNES [1964]).Finally, it's worth noting that I recently acquired on VHS Kinji Fukasaku's BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (1973) – the first of several entries in a series of films collectively known as THE YAKUZA PAPERS, though I doubt I'll have time to check it out presently.
A mystery, an action thriller, a fascinating reading of East/West cultural differences, and a moving meditation on friendship and honour, this film satisfies on a number of levels.Mitchum gives a great performance as the ex-soldier Harry Kilmer who helps an old Army buddy out of a bind, revisiting a Japan he has not seen since his stint there during the post-war Occupation.
Writer Paul Schrader followed this with his script for Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", while Robert Towne had already written Hal Ashby's "The Last Detail" and --also in 1974-- Roman Polanski's "Chinatown": "The Yakuza" proves how good Scorsese, Ashby and Polanski were, and that Sydney Pollack was a standard filmmaker.
In the opening credits, Dave Grusin's supposedly hip score starts the distortion of a tale that, in essence, unravels as it goes through an intricately sinuous labyrinth to reflect on dignity, love, ethics, tradition, betrayal, resentment, death; and furthermore, as I previously suggested, it insinuates, perhaps inadvertently, the bad conscience of a few American citizens who witnessed the assault on Japanese culture by American politicians and military men after the end of Second World War (a subject intelligently dealt by Shohei Imamura in "Vengeance Is Mine"), not to mention the barbaric physical harm done with nuclear bombs.
Some persons have also suggested a graver cultural distortion in Pollack's romanticized vision of the Japanese gangsters (for a more reliable portrait of the seedy yakuzas, see "Minbo no onna", the film for which its director Juzo Itami supposedly lost his life), but as the time ran, I could not care less.
Much like the ex-yakuza character who aids Robert Mitchum in his struggle against the Tokyo mob in the film, The Yakuza suffers from a double-bind that pushes it in two opposite directions.
By attempting an Americanized take on a traditionally Japanese sub-genre, Pollack is unfortunately unsuccessful, but not for lack of trying.Robert Mitchum plays Harry, an aging ex-military police officer, dispatched back to Japan after 20 years to intervene on behalf of a friend who needs to settle things with the Tokyo yakuza.
In terms of Japanese film, and without outright portraying them as heroes, Pollack's take has more in common with the 60's cycle of ninkyo yakuza pictures (a popular sub-genre where the yakuzas were made out to be heroes coming to the aid of the poor and downtrodden) than the raw, gritty and nihilistic universe of his contemporary Kinji Fukasaku.Besides being a step-back in the evolution of the genre, what makes matters worse is that Paul Schrader and Robert Towne's script (perhaps unavoidably) has to sit down and explain Japanese tradition and lifestyle so that people without prior knowledge can better understand what's going on.
Bits and pieces about swords, samurais, a code of honour and zen are all mixed together in a flimsy attempt to shed light in a culture so radically different that it simply can't be explained in the course of 110 minutes.The clash between the traditional old guard and the new corporate world, a very popular theme in Japanese yakuza pictures of the time, is only marginally introduced here.
On the other hand, it has some nice set-pieces, a solid cast spearheaded by Takakura and Mitchum and a melancholic tone that works in its favour, so if you're not bothered by the commercialized approach to Japanese culture, then you'll probably enjoy it.If you have no prior knowledge of the genre, this is perhaps the best place to start.
I'll try not to be redundant to the thoughtful reviews and comments already given.I particularly liked the comment by the director, Sydney Pollack that the studio was looking for a (mindless)yakuza/action film and that he "snuck in" the moral and cultural content.For me it ranks as one of the greatest stories of ill fated impossible love, that I've seen.
Kishi Keiko also is very expressive with her eyes.Its a film that I first saw as a an impressionable young man many years ago and Ihave never forgotten its messages of honor and obligation.Whatever happened to Richard Jordan (Dusty)?
That then is the premise of this film "The Yakuza." Our hero Harry Kilmer, (Robert Mitchum) is a former American soldier who was a Military Police officer during the occupation of Japan.
Years pass and now an old friend of Kilmer, George Tanner (Brian Keith) sends for him seeking help against a Yakuza gang who has kidnapped his daughter.
An excellent piece of film culture which obligates a reviewer to grant the movie the status of Classic.
The acting is of a high standard and I am amazed that Oscar nominations were not considered at the time of it's release.The story is tense and believable.Photography first class as is the editing.It is hard to believe that this is now a thirty year old release.For sheer escapism this film takes the biscuit.Probably my favourite Robert Michum performance of all his many fine films.There seems so little appreciation of this great FILM STAR Why is this film not available on DVD for my library?.
Robert Mitchum is the hard-boiled American who goes to Japan to help secure the release of the kidnapped daughter of friend Brian Keith.
and the option for Ken Takakura, James Shigeta or Robert Mitchum is the key for understand , level by level, the seduction source of this admirable movie..
While it may have been seen as strong in its time; it has faded considerably over 30 years later.Starting with the writing, it is functional but somewhat inert and lifeless and this dryness is exemplified in a scene in a kitchen when a Japanese character tells the young American what the Yakuza are and it's a straight recitation that might have been lifted from an encyclopedia.
I was in real need of the toilet, but I never went until the movie had finished, it was that good!Apart from being superbly acted (primarily by Mitchum and Takakura), The Yakuza has an awesome dark setting to it, a very interesting and strong story line, and some good fight scenes.
As noted by others it also explores the concepts of honor and friendship.During this time period several of Hollywood's older leading men who had been real studs in the forties and fifties (Robert Mitchum, Bill Holden, Brian Keith ) were turning out some superior movies with intelligent scripts.
After his daughter is kidnapped by the Yakuza, an international businessman by the name of "George Tanner" (Brian Keith) asks an old Army buddy named "Harry Kilmer" (Robert Mitchum) for help in freeing her.
I especially liked the acting of Ken Takakura and the different cultural aspects this film brought to bear.
I am writing this as a lifelong movie fan, a great admirer of Sydney Pollack's skill at directing everything from the genres of "Jeremiah Johnson" to "Tootsie" to "Out of Africa," someone with a graduate degree in Japanese psychological anthropology from Sophia University, Tokyo, and someone who lived in Japan for 30 years.
An attempt on Mitchum's life in a Japanese bathing house is certainly quite memorable, but for a film credited as an Action movie on IMDb, the thrills and exciting moments are few and far between.
Retiring detective Robert Mitchum (as Harry Kilmer) is called by full-haired friend Brian Keith (as George Tanner) because the latter's daughter Louise has been kidnapped by "The Yakuza".
The young couple has surprising appeal and re-writes giving them more time on screen together would have been a good idea.***** The Yakuza (1974-12-21) Sydney Pollack ~ Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Richard Jordan, Brian Keith.
Only towards the end of the film does Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) become fully assimilated into another culture, and truly realise so much pain he has caused to Ken Tanaka (Ken Takakura), and performs the Yakuza ritual of Yubitsume, cutting off his little finger.I can't imagine a better choice for the role of Harry Kilmer than Robert Mitchum.
What I also love about the film is the touching love story between Harry and his Japanese love Eiko Tanaka (Keiko Kishi), a love of two people from different worlds made forbidden due to family ties, made all the more poignant with Mitchum being superb at portraying characters who are tough yet also tender.Hollywood has had a long fascination with the Far East, producing movies which aren't entirely very thoughtful or sensitive; The Yakuza is the more well-researched effort to say the least.
Either way, it looks cool.The Yakuza acts like a time capsule of 1970's urban Japan, just take the scene in which Harry walks through the streets of Tokyo at night to meet his old love after 20 years.
They captured Japan's outdoor beauty, the sets are striking (really dig Herb Edelman's open floorplan house), and the Kyoto Convention Center is amazing.But the film's real power lies in its well-written story, which drags grizzled Robert Mitchum back to Japan only to be mixed up in the workings of the Japanese mob.
It's hard to see how a bad film could have been made out of it, but with veteran director Sydney Pollack calling the shots that was never going to happen.Robert Mitchum is the big draw, providing a lovable, grizzled lead through whose eyes we witness the dark side of Japanese culture.
Violence, obligation and a bittersweet ending...a fine movie with Robert Mitchum and Takakura Ken. Despite (or maybe because of) the gusts of mayhem which blow regularly through this film, the underlying tone of The Yakuza is of a kind of thoughtful sadness.
Even Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum), who honors his obligations in an American way, finally understands how to honor them in a Japanese way.
In this film, Brian Keith is an old friend of Robert Mitchum.
However, rescuing the girl isn't really a problem--the problem only just begins once this rescue mission appears to be completed.When I saw that Robert Mitchum was in a movie called "YAKUZA" I was prepared to hate it.
Here, like Zatoichi, Mitchum is in Japan fighting evil Yakuza, though it's set in modern times.
Ken Takakura and Richard Jordan are very good as man of honor and young, intelligent, feeling thug respectively.The best way to stand this movie is seeing it as a tragic comedy.
Like the highly acclaimed "The Godfather," released two years earlier, "The Yakuza" takes us into an exotic milieu dominated by honor, ritual, and violence.Mitchum is Harry Kilmer, once part of the occupation army in Japan, who had a girl friend, Eiko.