Twilight of the Yakuza (2013) User Reviews

Mixed feelings

[d-31550 · 7/10 · 30 September 2022]

First of, i love everything Japan.

The culture first and foremost.

I am not Pro mafia or gangsters at all even though i lived a similar life before, which i am not proud of.

But i must admit that there is something interesting about this documentary and the yakuza in general, they Seem like they are die hard members who would do everything for Their clan, and they follow the code.

But this guy who is acting drunk and idiot all the time, ruins it a little in the documentary.

I dont know what he is trying to portray, or why he is in it at all, perhaps because most documentaries like this one, need to have some weird angle to make it look like they are all just dumb, But this guy is on another level, he is probably not dumb at all, But just acting extremely tough. Without any reason. . I wouldnt trust him with my life, that is for sure. You Can see that he is a snake. :)

I would have given it 9 stars if this guy wasnt there.

Try to avoid the Nakamura parts

[vegeta-07512 · 3/10 · 4 June 2022]

Watching this documentary whilst Nakamura was on screen really made it look like a parody.

Old guy pretending he was some tough guy constantly made the whole thing off putting.

A very interesting documentary

[aldrichg-81958 · 8/10 · 8 December 2022]

Boxed in under increased police pressure and with a shortage of new members, the Yakuza have no place left in modern Japan and are going extinct. Interviewed in this film are current Yakuza members, a tattoo artist, a journalist, a policeman and a recently excommunicated gang member.

Founded on principles of showing strength to the strong and compassion to the weak, they had a code of honour not found in modern gangs.

I found the ex-member (Nakamura) sections to be quite sombre as gang life was all he had known for 37 years and now he is struggling to adjust to the normal world. Yes seeing a weird old man acting like he's still tough can be strange to watch, but he gives a lot of insight into his former life. His story is a sad one as he despairs over friends abandoning him and some failed business ventures, becoming visibly drunker and more emotional as the film progresses. To then hear that he perished soon after the film whilst in hiding from debt collectors is perhaps symbolic of the Yakuza as a whole slowly floundering and dying out in modern times.