Matt Cooper Films

Gonin (1995) by Takashi Ishii

Five men attempt to escape the brutal vengeance of the Yakuza after stealing 100 million yen from them. Club owner Bandai (Koichi Sato) is in debt to the Yakuza who come to his club to harrass him. He recruits knife-weidling fraudster Mitsuya (Masahiro Motoki), ex-detective Hizu (Jinpachi Nezu), violent tearaway Jimmy (Kippei Shiina), and an unemployed salaryman (Naoto Takenaka), all of whom either have monetary worries or a vendetta against the Yakuza, in a daring raid on the offices of the group. Following their heist, the Yakuza hire two hitmen, played by Takeshi Kitano and Kazuya Kimura, to find the men responsible.

Written and directed by Takashi Ishii, “Gonin” is a stylish crime thriller with a great cast of central characters. The slight backstories give us enough to sympathise with them, through their planned robbery and the merciless hunting of them that follows. This group of anti-heroes all have their own peculiarities and the film lets us see the psychological turmoil they are going through. The early part of the film takes its time to establish their circumstances, which makes the final third even more thrilling as we watch their attempts to escape the hitmen that have been assigned to kill them. The film’s oppressive noir atmosphere is perfectly encapsulated in the various night-scenes and shootouts in the pouring rain. This is a world that is awash with violence, drugs, avaricious mobsters, and brutal repercussions and the superb score by Goro Yasukawa underlines the tensions and tragedy of those involved.

“Gonin” presents the image of a deeply depressing world, where no deed goes unpunished. The senseless violence drives home the point that any involvement with the criminal underworld is likely to end poorly, whatever your intentions. Violence begets violence and the cycle continues. The film also forefronts homosexuality, with both the protagonists and antagonists, which nods to the idea that heroes and villains are distinguished only by their actions. The final shot of the film also highlights this duality in man and we are left to wonder what will become of a world in which violence is permitted to flourish.

Matt Cooper Films

Family 1&2 (2001) by Takashi Miike

After a traumatic childhood, the three Miwa brothers, Hideshi (Koichi Iwaki), Takashi (Kazuya Kimura), and the youngest Takeshi (Taishu Kase), become involved in a life of crime, the elder siblings working as underbosses for a major crime family, while Takeshi becomes a professional assassin. When Takeshi kills the leader of a rival gang it sparks a conflict that threatens to spiral into an all-out war.

“Family 1&2” features many of the usual tropes of Yakuza drama, but with very little impact. The film begins with a rape scene in which Haruko Miwa, the mother of the three protagonists, is assaulted after her husband is unable to pay his debts. As shocking as this scene and others like it are, they function as plot mechanics rather than having any real impact on the characters, and by extension the audience. The film continually swerves any moments of real drama, such as Hideshi’s wife confronting him about the danger they are in, or the brothers’ relationship with their mother; instead layering scenes that fail to develop the characters, but serve to showcase stereotypical gang violence. It feels like a series of subplots jumbled together without any central story or message. Usually, a Yakuza gang war would be the backdrop to a human drama, while here it is the whole point. There is a tonal inconsistency that makes it hard to take anything seriously and undermines what should be devastating moments. The sequence in which Takashi’s wife is being raped, while Takashi and his brother arrive in a tank to take on the gang is one example of this mismatch in tones, trivialising a horrifying experience. The film is based on a manga by Hisao Maki, which may account for some of the more bizarre elements and outrageous characterisation (Takeshi is a preternaturally gifted gunman), but it is a poor excuse for the lacklustre storytelling. Part daytime television drama, part hardcore Yakuza film. Miike’s direction shows signs of his usual creativity, until the strain of attempting to elevate the material becomes too much. Sadly, the film’s flashes of brilliance are outweighed by its meandering, emotionally-detached plot, and low-budget elements.