Reviews & Ratings for
Yakuza no hakaba: Kuchinashi no hana More at IMDbPro »

8 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Yakuza fun, 24 January 2003

Author: Minority_Report from uk

This is a good movie. It's directed by Kinji Fukasaku who's a top director. There's lashings of style and substance to the film with a pace that never lets up throughout the film. It's like a gritty Pulp Fiction, but with the characters more low-key and more attention paid to the story line. Anyway, a good score, great acting and plenty of fights makes this a must see for anyone keen on the Yakuza or stories like The Limey. The story centers around an undercover cop, who is reassigned to a new precinct and sets out to put the mobsters behind bars. Along the way he gets involved with the people he is trying to put away, finding them to be the victims of fate rather than the villains they appear to be. This part of the story is offset around a larger picture of police corruption with the Yakuza pulling their strings. A cinematic masterpiece by a fascinating director.

8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Excellent crime drama which will appeal to Beat Takeshi fans., 17 September 2003
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

How ironic that director Kinji Fukasaku began to get a LOT of attention for his final movie (the amazing 'Battle Royale' - watch it today!) after a career spanning some forty years and sixty movies in many genres! How many other directors are unfairly languishing in obscurity because they aren't Anglo-American or talked up by Quentin Tarantino? 'Yakuza Graveyard' is a fascinating and brutal crime thriller that really impressed me. Along with Oshima's 'In The Realm Of The Senses' and Imamura's 'Vengeance Is Mine' it shows that there was some amazing films being made in mid-70s Japan. Films that are only now getting the attention they deserve! Tetsuya Watari (star of the extraordinary 1960s cult movie 'Tokyo Drifter') plays a cop who forms a friendship with a local criminal and eventually falls for the man's sister. Yes, it's the old "what side am I on?" plot we've seen many times, but it's done very well. Watari later had a small role in Beat Takeshi's 'Brother', and fans of Takeshi's yakuza movies would do well to track 'Yakuza Graveyard' down as it no doubt was a strong influence on Takeshi's movies like 'Violent Cop' and 'Hana-bi'. I really enjoyed watching 'Yakuza Graveyard' and highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates intelligent and uncompromised crime dramas, Japanese or otherwise.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A compelling story of police corruption and a cop on the edge, 8 December 2002
Author: Reuben Heller (mcyifrh3) from London, England

Fukasaku's film, also known as "Yakuza Graveyard," is a compelling Japanese crime drama, from the director of "Battle Royale."

The plot centres on a 'cop on the edge,' played by Tetsuya Watari, a character far more disturbed than, say, Dirty Harry or Popeye Doyle from "The French Connection." Indeed, Watari's rebelliousness seems far more shocking in the context of Japanese society, where respect for authority and conformity are supposedly ingrained.

Equally interesting is the portrayal of the Yakuza. It is a crime family in the mould of "The Godfather," but more prosaic and less self-important than the clan created by Francis Ford Coppola. Above all, the film's theme is the lack of honour in Japanese society. The police are corrupt, and in many respects indistinguishable from the Yakuza. The central character develops a close relationship with one of the mobsters, whom he discovers is far more honourable and trustworthy than his police colleagues.

All in all, a fascinating and fast-paced movie.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Blistering, no-nonsense crime action by the undisputed master of the genre, 26 October 2008

Author: chaos-rampant from Greece

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.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Outsiders and insiders, 27 November 2006

Author: allenrogerj from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

An interesting aspect of Yakuza Graveyard is that it is also an attack on Japanese cultural and ethnic xenophobia: Kuroiwa himself is Japanese but born in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, Keiko is half-Korean, Kuroiwa's Yakut's friend is Korean, one of Kuroiwa's street-thug followers is is half-black. All of them, it is made plain, were bullied in childhood for their differences and that is what has made them what they are. Kuroiwa and his friend are also differentiated by the way they dress- from the start Kurowaiwa is dressed in street clothes, his friend changes from the formal suit and tie of a senior yakuza's in the course of the film. Police and yakuzas are portrayed as representatives of business, dressed in salary-man suits and following strict codes of behaviour.

Interesting, but rough....very, very rough., 8 February 2011

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is a frustrating film to watch, as some of it is quite interesting and some of it is awfully rough and certainly could have used improvement. With A LOT of polish, this could have been a much better film.

Kuriowa is an insane cop. This is the only way to understand the guy. He is full of rage and angry at the world. While the rest of the police force doesn't seem very interested in doing anything other than accommodate the Yakuza (Japanese mobsters), Kuroiwa wants actions--and it means beating prisoners to get it, it's fine with him. Oddly, his superiors don't mind a little of his mindless violence...to a point. The bottom line is that the cops are happy to keep the status quo--to allow their friends to run their 'business' as they like as long as they follow some guidelines (i.e., don't make waves).

Although it's obvious that the cops are in league with the mob, it's clear that they favor one of the Yakuza families more than the other. Here, it gets pretty weird. Although Kuriowa hate the mob, he begins to hate the cops even more. So, because the cops favor one family, suddenly Kuriowa pals up to their rival gang. Now, he goes from angry cop to loyal follower of this clan. Where all this goes next, you'll have to see for yourself.

This is a film aching to be remade. While the basic story idea is good (especially the part about Kuriowa finding himself drawn to the one Yakuza leader), the way the film is made isn't. Too much of the film just looks amateurish--with shaky camera-work and MANY scenes where people are just screaming and look like they are ad libbing it. It looks very rough and the acting, at times, is pretty goofy. And, because the style is so rough, I could see the film alienating many viewers. An interesting failure that is worth seeing but far from a must-see.

Majestic stuff from old school Japanese crime master Fukasaku, 15 May 2008

Author: t-birkhead from United Kingdom

I'd like to say straight off that I freakin love Kinji Fukasaku films. I think the man was a genius and I regard every one of his films that I have seen thus far as awesome. This may bias me somewhat Although there are one or two that i like more I still regard Yakuza Graveyard as exceptional. The story follows a predictable arc, but not the fine acting and characterisation do not. There are many films, from Hollywood and elsewhere that try to make us sympathetic towards gangsters because of their upbringing, but most stray into glib justification. Yakuza Graveyard shows how bad upbringings and societal pressures lead to antisocial behaviour without showing this behaviour in a way that condones it. It also shows how a police officer can come to an understanding of this and become, in the eyes of the law though not necessarily the eyes of the sensible, corrupt, without making him seem like just an ordinary decent guy. The main cop in in is pretty mental, and very well played, as are all the other roles. The incredibly fine Meiko Kaji appears and does well, turning the more melodramatic parts towards the end into something really moving. Although I perhaps could have done with more savagery and a more advanced plot, nonetheless this is pretty immense stuff. Just, in my opinion a tiny rung below some of Fukasaku's other work.

Add another review

Related Links