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The Yakuza Papers, Vol. 5 - Final Episode
List Price: $19.95Our Price: $17.99 You Save: $1.96 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780029316
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0780029313
Label: Homevision
Languages: English (Subtitled), Japanese (Original Language),
Manufacturer: Homevision
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Homevision
Region Code: 1
Release Date: December 07, 2004
Running Time: 98 minutes
Studio: Homevision
Theatrical Release Date: 1974
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Editorial Review:
While The Godfather romanticized the American Mafia in the early 1970s, Kinji Fukasaku's five-film series known as The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor & Humanity revolutionized the Japanese yakuza film with unprecedented intensity. A post-World War II epic that broke Japanese box-office records, this complex, utterly authentic cycle of gangster films replaced the popular ninkyo or "chivalry" films of the '60s with jitsuroku, an entirely new breed of gangster film that rose from the ashes of Hiroshima and post-war reconstruction, depicting a meticulously detailed "alternate history" (as Japanese film expert Tom Mes observes in the accompanying booklet) that had been ignored by the "official" factual record. Beginning with 1973's Battles Without Honor and Humanity and continuing through four hugely popular sequels, these are bracingly intricate studies in shifting loyalties and gangland chaos, tracking the yakuza career of Shozu Hirono (played by charismatic star Bunta Suguwara), who rises from lowly soldier status in 1946 to "sworn brotherhood" and respected retirement in 1970. Across this quarter-century of death, power, and betrayal, Fukasaku orchestrates nearly 50 characters in four major cities, all vying for dominance in a familial structure so complex that a helpful flow-chart is provided to follow the shifting balance of power.
Western viewers may struggle with the social context of these films, but as a gangster epic of escalating scope and power, The Yakuza Papers offers a universally energizing DVD experience. Fukasaku (who died in January 2003 while filming his 62nd film, Battle Royale II) was a master of cinematic pulp, and these films represent the pinnacle of his frenetic, deliberately chaotic hand-held camera style, which strongly influenced American urban crime films of the '70s (as French Connection director William Friedkin notes on the feature-packed supplement disc). Rough-edged and thematically rich, the five films presented here--all in pristine digital transfers and brilliantly translated by ace subtitler Linda Hoaglund--combine to form a sprawling milestone of Japanese cinema. Home Vision's packaging and comprehensive supplements pay honorable tribute to Fukasaku's achievement, with bonus features that provide all the necessary background needed to fully appreciate The Yakuza Papers as a raw, ambitious masterpiece that fully deserves its widespread acclaim. --Jeff Shannon
In the wake of a big police crackdown, Akira Kobayashi's icily sun- glassed Takeda attempts to transform the Hiroshima yakuza families into a legitimate political organization: The Tensei Coalition. When the young Matsumura ascends to the chairmanship of the coalition, the older, hardened yakuza led by Jo Shishido (BRANDED TO KILL) seize one last opportunity to stir up chaos and bloodshed. Culminating with the arrests, deaths, or retirement of the first postwar yakuza generation, this milestone series draws to an ambivalent close.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Tough Guy Classic
This is a great 5-part series detailing the rise of the Yakuza in post-war Japan, more or less based upon real events. Forget about wide-shots: Director Kinji Fukasaku starts with action and keeps it going through all five chapters with hyper-kinetic camera work that was pretty much the opposite of what Kurosawa and Ozu had done in the past couple of decades. You are not observing it from a distance, you (and the camera lens) are RIGHT in the middle of it.. and it's happening all around you, for ... Read More
Rating: - The Yakuza: Men Without A Moral Compass
Director Kinji Fukasaku's five part film set of "The Yakuza Papers" is an important addition to anyones Asian film library. A little background on Kinji Fukasaku might help those to understand why he chose to portray the yakuza as men without honor or decency. Prior to these films, most viewers were most often given the portrayal of the yakuza as having some sort of honor: A sort of 'Bushido Code' similar to the ways of the ancient Samurai. And there were many films which portrayed the yakuza in such ... Read More
Rating: - Quality in Quantity
If you like gritty gangster movies, buy this boxed set right now. It is a shame that Fukasaku-san is no longer with us, he had a lot of lessons that he could have taught the people who produce and direct todays gangster-pablum. I have recently recieved these episodes from an online movie rental service, my interest in Fukasaku-san's films being piqued by "Battle Royal", and I was not disappointed.
The films are all brilliantly written and brilliantly directed. When this is paired with the ... Read More
Rating: - Amazing Gem of Japanese Cinema
I loved these films. A classic set of Japanese yakuza movies for your own private viewing. It's so complex that it'll make the American Noir films look like Soap Operas. A little more violence than expected, The Yakuza Papers displays a cinematic dynamicity, that few movies had during the 70's. Clear portrayal of Japanese post-war, or should I say post-Nuclear era.A revolutionary masterpiece. Somebody said before that they "look like a Sonny Chiba movie", but it's quite the opposite. They look indeed very ... Read More
Rating:  - Hen Pecked Fingers
Opening with an image of the atomic bomb reducing Hiroshima to ashes, Fukasaku Kinji's Battles without Honor and Humanity begins a series of five movies depicting the chaotic life of Hirono Shozo a former soldier who is trying to survive in the chaotic world of the black markets in postwar Japan. A pretty even-tempered man, the viewer first witnesses Hirono lash out in violence when a group of American GIs try to rape a woman. Amidst the chaos of the black market with its prostitutes, underground rice kitchens, ... Read More
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