Yakuza and the Family

Solid portrayal of Yakuza life that quickly drew us into Kenji Yamamoto's character. Michihito Fujii brought modern perspective through cliché-ridden gangster crime and family drama. Ayano left huge impact with such emotional performance mostly in second half.

Everything had changed.

A young man being taken into a yakuza group at a young age was put into prison. 14 years later, he came back and everything had changed.

The first half of the movie was pretty alright. It showed the life of our main character before and during his time as a yakuza. The problem was that we knew very little what exactly the yakuza business was. The movie only showed our main character at a club that he's in charged of, and not much else behind the scene. The yakuza do a lot of corrupt and dirty stuff, and not much was shown here.

Another problematic aspect was the main character's romance with a college student. I know that the movie wanted to show that our yakuza was awkward, but the romance had little screen time and felt weird and rushed.

The second half became significantly better. It showed an unforgiving view of the yakuza in modern time. I couldn't help but feel terrible for our main character even though he was a yakuza. Becoming a yakuza in the modern age is like a taboo, and one is destined for loneliness.

The theme of the movie was about the downfall of yakuza compared to the past in terms of philosophy and views by others. It is the type of movie that glorified the once notorious character whose life spiraled apart and found his old job the only thing he could cling into. It's similar to The Wrestler or The Wolf of Wall Street. Here, the only thing our main character could cling to was his family, the yakuza family.

Overall, despite the decent first half, the second half made for one of the most unforgiving movie I have watched this year. 8/10.

It's fantastic but if you are expecting a action movie you are knocking on the wrong door, This movie is more about human fragility. It shows you the thin line between success and failure, reminding you change is everlasting while our past is haunting.

Gave this movie a 10. Now, I never give 10's but I'm trying to offset this ridiculous 6.9 score. But it's a legit 8.5.

The acting is superb. The story line totally original and captivating. For anyone reading this review, it's not a feel good movie. It's heart wrenching to say the least. But it's raw man. It's one of the most legit movies I've seen all year. It's not like a Guy Ritchie or Tarantino gangster flick. And it's not the God Father either. If I had to compare it to Hollywood , I'd say more like Donny Brasco or Good fellas. But it's a really a quite unique take on gangster movies. I don't ever leave spoilers so all I can say is it is dynamite. I will find out who Directed this movie and check out more of his work. Thank goodness for some good reviews or I would have passed it up. This is not one to miss.

Just as most yakuza movies, this one also possesses the same core themes such as family element, betrayals, illegal businesses, fights and aura of luxury, however, it's just a small portion of "goods" that make this movie good, or rather - brilliant.

What makes it so good is how all these qualities that are mandatory for yakuza movies are portrayed. Instead of hearing verbal "we are family" you can feel it. It also stays grounded and showcase the struggles that yakuza have experienced and are experiencing nowadays. It feels like a documentary (due to the attention to the details that make this story realistic), yet, it compacts so much emotion (hence, it being a drama movie, rather than action).

I have watched at least 60 yakuza-related movies and this one is my favourite. It is a must watch for both, people that are interested in the topic and people that like powerful dramas.