Battles Without Honour and Humanity (1973)
"Jingi naki tatakai" (original title)

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza... See full synopsis »

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Koichi Iiboshi (story), Kazuo Kasahara

Stars:

Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Kunie Tanaka

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bunta Sugawara	...	Shozo Hirono
Hiroki Matsukata	...	Tetsuya Sakai
Kunie Tanaka	...	Makihara Masakichi
Eiko Nakamura	...	Suzue Kunihiro
Tsunehiko Watase	...	Toshio Arita
Gorô Ibuki	...	Ueda
Nobuo Kaneko	...	Yamamori
Toshie Kimura	...	Mrs. Yamamori
Tamio Kawaji	...	Kanbara Seiichi
Mayumi Nagisa	...	Akiko Shinjo
Asao Uchida	...	Okubo Kenichi
Shin'ichirô Mikami	...	Shinkai Uichi
Hiroshi Nawa	...	Doi
Shinji Takano	...	Kaneko Shoichi
Keiji Takamiya	...	Yamakata Shinichi

Storyline

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

finger cut off | betrayal | prison | extortion | crime boss | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

13 January 1973 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Yakuza Papers, Vol. 1: Battles Without Honor and Humanity

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the first film, US military police show up on the scene in a jeep with "MILITALY POLICE" painted under the windshield.

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Connections

Referenced in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Jingi naki haisetsu/Desu resu nisenju (2010)

User Reviews

Great Tale of No Honor Among Thieves

Based on a true story Battles Without Honor is a kick ass trip through the rise of the yakuza in post war Japan. Beginning in 1945 and traveling through the next 12 or so years this is the tale of a group of friends who come together in order to survive the cruelties of post-war, and post-bomb Japan and then spend the next decade killing each other as they change sides in a perpetual gang war.

This film has just about everything. Moments of violence, hysterical comedy (The finger), drama, and there is even hints of romance as a moll tries to hide her beau. Its brutal and nasty and probably very close to reality.

Some reviews paint this as having come in the wake of the Godfather, but while that may have gotten the movie made, the tone is different. There is no honor, there is no loyalty, there is only violence, violence and more violence, usually ex-friend on ex-friend. Despite there being "gangs" its really everyman for himself. American and European films of the same period often painted things as much less cut throat and that there really was familial loyalty, that idea is somewhat alien here as people switched sides if it kept them alive.

This is a near perfect film in many ways. It picks you up from the opening minutes and carries you along to the end. Its wonderfully of a time and place and extremely well acted all around.

There are only two problems which are minor. First, I think the film requires a bit more familiarity with what was going on in Japan post war. While I have had some knowledge of that, I was a tad lost at the start since I wasn't instantly aware of what I was seeing. The second minor flaw is that its jump through time story telling can be a bit disorienting. Its not that the plot threads are lost, its just that it takes a minute to know who the older people are.

Over all a great film.

8 out of 10, although it probably should be 9 out of 10, since I'm just in a down mood.