Shin jingi naki tatakai (2000)

Director:

Junji Sakamoto

Writers:

Koichi Iiboshi (story)
Kôji Takada (writer)

Release Date:

25 November 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Etsushi Toyokawa	...	Kaneo
Tomoyasu Hotei	...	Chan-ryon
Shô Aikawa
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Awano
Kôichi Satô	...	Nakahira
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Seizo Fukumoto
Shigeki Terao

Also Known As:

Another Battle (International: English title)
Battle Without Honor (literal English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Company:

Toei Satellite TV Company

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Soundtrack and Cinematography a plus

Shin Jingi Naki Tatakai may be a little slow and lacking in action for most, but what it misses in this area is made up by the stylish combination of the soundtrack and cinematography that you don't find in the typical Japanese Yakuza movies. Director Junji Sakamoto uses the music to add directly to the scenes, much like Quentin Tarrantino (and keep an eye out for the scene that inspired the slow-motion walk of Lucy Liu and her cronies near the end of Kill Bill), to great effect. Unfortunately this is only done in a few scenes. The movie is ostensibly a story about two childhood friends who end up taking different paths in life - one becomes a Yakuza, and another a businessman who despises Yakuza and all they stand for. However, there is little interaction or connection between the two until almost the end of the movie, as if them growing up together was little more than a footnote. A better than average Yakuza movie, although slower than many. Not the best Yakuza film out there by any means, but worth a look for the few stylized scenes that interplay perfectly with the soundtrack.