The Jitsuroku eiga, as established essentially by Kinji Fukasaku's “Yakuza Papers”, is one of the most interesting trends in Japanese cinema, with the combination of realism regarding the lives of the yakuza after the war and the intense violence and sex creating a truly explosive combination that remains entertaining until this day. “A True Story of the Private Ginza Police”, which was released in the same year as “Battles Without Honour and Humanity” is a prominent sample of the category, as much as of Junya Sato's style.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
After a series of some footage stills that point towards a documentary, the film actually begins with a scene that sets up the tone of the whole thing quite eloquently. Watarai, a former soldier, returns to Tokyo in 1946, where he finds his wife having sex with a black GI, while...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
After a series of some footage stills that point towards a documentary, the film actually begins with a scene that sets up the tone of the whole thing quite eloquently. Watarai, a former soldier, returns to Tokyo in 1946, where he finds his wife having sex with a black GI, while...
- 4/11/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
1973 signaled Sadao Nakajima's first and last collaboration with Atg, with “Aesthetics of a Bullet” featuring some of the trademark elements of the company, including punk aesthetics, a genuine anti-hero, social commentary, while the artistic freedom Atg always granted its filmmakers, allowed Nakajima to retain his favorite Yakuza theme and include intense exploitation elements.
The movie starts with a rather impressive scene, where under a loud punk track that is also an ode to the overall punk philosophy, Nakajima sets the frame the story of the movie takes place in, showing people overbying, overeating, overpolluting while enjoying themselves in sex shows and hostess clubs. The protagonist, Kiyoshi Koike, is a direct product of this setting, as we first meet him peddling supposedly dwarf-rabbits on the street, only to make enough money to waste on drinking and gambling. His girlfriend, a prostitute, loves him dearly and is even willing to continuously...
The movie starts with a rather impressive scene, where under a loud punk track that is also an ode to the overall punk philosophy, Nakajima sets the frame the story of the movie takes place in, showing people overbying, overeating, overpolluting while enjoying themselves in sex shows and hostess clubs. The protagonist, Kiyoshi Koike, is a direct product of this setting, as we first meet him peddling supposedly dwarf-rabbits on the street, only to make enough money to waste on drinking and gambling. His girlfriend, a prostitute, loves him dearly and is even willing to continuously...
- 8/9/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Sadao Nakajima passed away from pneumonia on 11th June, 2023. He was 88 years old. Active as a director until just four years before his passing, Nakajima left behind legacy of work that most directors would dream of. Alongside Kinji Fukasaku and Junya Sato, he is credited as being one of the main names to define the Yakuza genre, with some of his greatest works coming within that genre for Toei Studios, showcasing a range of styles and narrative complexities while at it. Outside of the yakuza genre as well though, Nakajima made a number of terrific features, mixing a range of genres and filmmaking styles effectively over an illustrious career that lasted a little under 60 years, starting from his debut in 1964 all the way until his swansong in 2019.
Without further ado, we list 12 essential films by Sadao Nakajima that are not in the Yakuza genre, in chronological order.
1. Female Ninja Magic...
Without further ado, we list 12 essential films by Sadao Nakajima that are not in the Yakuza genre, in chronological order.
1. Female Ninja Magic...
- 7/11/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Sadao Nakajima passed away from pneumonia on 11th June, 2023. He was 88 years old. Active as a director until just four years before his passing, Nakajima left behind legacy of work that most directors would dream of. Alongside Kinji Fukasaku and Junya Sato, he is credited as being one of the main names to define the Yakuza genre, with some of his greatest works coming within that genre, showcasing a range of styles and narrative complexities while at it. Having joined Toei Studio in 1959, he worked primarily at Toei's Kyoto studio, despite running his contract out and going independent in 1967. In fact, the majority of the titles we list here are productions from after he left Toei as a contracted director and yet continued to work for the Studio as a freelancer, likely because of the freedom it provided him and his relationship with their existing roster of actors and crew,...
- 6/21/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
by Nathan Stuart
On June 11 2023, Sadao Nakajima sadly passed away in Kyoto after a bout of pneumonia at the age of 88. He leaves behind a rich and deep cinematic legacy, one that has rightly been praised in his home of Japan, but one that has never received its proper recognition in the West, much in part to his work being overshadowed, ironically, by that of his friend Kinji Fukasaku. Outside of niche circles of fans who have zealously consumed as much of his work as possible via bootlegs, not much has been said or written about Nakajima, despite his 1976 Jitsuroku classic ‘Okinawa Yakuza War' already having a cult following, even without a legitimate disc release.
Born in Togane City in 1934, he lost his father at the age of 10 to the Second World War and would go on to graduate from Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School in 1954, before spending a further...
On June 11 2023, Sadao Nakajima sadly passed away in Kyoto after a bout of pneumonia at the age of 88. He leaves behind a rich and deep cinematic legacy, one that has rightly been praised in his home of Japan, but one that has never received its proper recognition in the West, much in part to his work being overshadowed, ironically, by that of his friend Kinji Fukasaku. Outside of niche circles of fans who have zealously consumed as much of his work as possible via bootlegs, not much has been said or written about Nakajima, despite his 1976 Jitsuroku classic ‘Okinawa Yakuza War' already having a cult following, even without a legitimate disc release.
Born in Togane City in 1934, he lost his father at the age of 10 to the Second World War and would go on to graduate from Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School in 1954, before spending a further...
- 6/20/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
The school of Yakuza films Kinji Fukasaku set up with Yakuza Papers found a number of students in the following years, implementing his frantic pace in the editing, the intense action, and the occasional news strip presentation of the real events. Sadao Nakajima is one of those “students” with his “Terror of Yakuza” following the path of the second part of the quintology, “Hiroshima Death Match”. The movie was initially banned in Okinawa because the local government feared it would incite too much interest in the local yakuza and reignite the rather violent events the story is based on.
“Terror of Yakuza” is screening at Japan Society
These events took place in Okinawa in December 1971, the year before its reversion to Japan and resulted in the 4th Okinawa conflict. In this setting, Hideo Nakazato, a yakuza who has just been released from prison, is trying to adapt to all the changes that he sees happening,...
“Terror of Yakuza” is screening at Japan Society
These events took place in Okinawa in December 1971, the year before its reversion to Japan and resulted in the 4th Okinawa conflict. In this setting, Hideo Nakazato, a yakuza who has just been released from prison, is trying to adapt to all the changes that he sees happening,...
- 5/7/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reverting from American to Japan, our friends at New York’s Japan Society will host, from May 13 to June 3, Visions of Okinawa, a retrospective that “documents the dynamic historical, political and cultural spaces of Okinawa around this pivotal point in history through in-person screenings and streamed films exploring the legacies of the Occupation, WWII and imperialism.”
We’re proud to debut the trailer for their series, which mixes “mainland filmmakers, native Okinawans and documentarians,” the series includes Chris Marker’s Level Five and Oshima’s Dear Summer Sister, which I don’t recall ever screening in New York—much less on a 35mm print. The Focus on the Nihon Documentarist Union (Ndu) documentaries will be screening for the first time outside Japan and streaming worldwide (except Japan and Taiwan). Being that Go Takamine’s Paradise View (another one I don’t think...
We’re proud to debut the trailer for their series, which mixes “mainland filmmakers, native Okinawans and documentarians,” the series includes Chris Marker’s Level Five and Oshima’s Dear Summer Sister, which I don’t recall ever screening in New York—much less on a 35mm print. The Focus on the Nihon Documentarist Union (Ndu) documentaries will be screening for the first time outside Japan and streaming worldwide (except Japan and Taiwan). Being that Go Takamine’s Paradise View (another one I don’t think...
- 4/25/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Marking 50 years since Okinawa’s reversion from American sovereignty back to Japan, Visions of Okinawa documents the dynamic historical, political and cultural spaces of Okinawa around this pivotal point in history through in-person screenings and streamed films exploring the legacies of the Occupation, WWII and imperialism. Primarily focusing on films made around the time of or dealing with the 1972 reversion, Visions of Okinawa addresses issues of identity, race and borders by presenting diverse and complicated reflections on the prefecture from mainland filmmakers, native Okinawans and documentarians.
In-theater Screenings
All in-person screenings will take place in Japan Society’s auditorium, located at 333 E. 47th Street in New York, NY.
Paradise View
Friday, May 13, 2022 at 7:00 Pm
Dir. Go Takamine, 1985, 117 min., Dcp, color, in Okinawan (Uchinaaguchi) and Japanese with English subtitles. With Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Togawa, Haruomi Hosono.
North American Premiere of 2021 edit. Go Takamine’s rarely screened first theatrical feature is...
In-theater Screenings
All in-person screenings will take place in Japan Society’s auditorium, located at 333 E. 47th Street in New York, NY.
Paradise View
Friday, May 13, 2022 at 7:00 Pm
Dir. Go Takamine, 1985, 117 min., Dcp, color, in Okinawan (Uchinaaguchi) and Japanese with English subtitles. With Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Togawa, Haruomi Hosono.
North American Premiere of 2021 edit. Go Takamine’s rarely screened first theatrical feature is...
- 4/15/2022
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Tetsuya Watari, the Japanese actor who worked with international cult favorites Seijun Suzuki and Kinji Fukasaku on some of their best-known films, died on Aug.10 of pneumonia at age 78. His death was announced Friday following a private family funeral.
Joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1964 after graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University, Watari soon became a mainstay of its action line-up, starring in Suzuki’s 1966 “Tokyo Drifter” and Toshio Masuda’s 1968 “Outlaw: Gangster VIP,” which became a six-part series. Both films have been widely screened abroad, and since rereleased for home entertainment.
After Nikkatsu turned over production to softcore porn in 1971, Watari left the studio and joined Ishihara Promotion, the talent agency started by Nikkatsu mentor and megastar Yujiro Ishihara in 1963.
In 1975 Watari starred in Fukasaku’s action biopic “Yakuza Graveyard,” playing a self-destructive gangster who was based on a real-life model. But he was prevented by illness from appearing in Fukasaku’s signature gangster series,...
Joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1964 after graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University, Watari soon became a mainstay of its action line-up, starring in Suzuki’s 1966 “Tokyo Drifter” and Toshio Masuda’s 1968 “Outlaw: Gangster VIP,” which became a six-part series. Both films have been widely screened abroad, and since rereleased for home entertainment.
After Nikkatsu turned over production to softcore porn in 1971, Watari left the studio and joined Ishihara Promotion, the talent agency started by Nikkatsu mentor and megastar Yujiro Ishihara in 1963.
In 1975 Watari starred in Fukasaku’s action biopic “Yakuza Graveyard,” playing a self-destructive gangster who was based on a real-life model. But he was prevented by illness from appearing in Fukasaku’s signature gangster series,...
- 8/15/2020
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
Seeing that the time-off in between films was working nicely for the franchise, this fourth and final entry in the ‘Sister Street Fighter’ series now arrives with a full year break in between the releases, in a sequel in name-only since it was graced with a new creative team in director Shigehiro Ozawa and writers Isao Matsumoto and Motohiro Torii.
Trying to please her mother, young Kiku Nakagawa continually leaves their successful kimono shop business in order to take martial arts at a local dojo. Her friend at the dojo, Michi becomes concerned about her stepbrother Jim (Ken Wallace) going missing one day, eventually learning that he’s been in the employ of movie studio owner Fujiyama, who’s been using the studio as a base for a series of smuggling operations and the film shoots as a front for the activities. Taking the situation up with police detective Takagi,...
Trying to please her mother, young Kiku Nakagawa continually leaves their successful kimono shop business in order to take martial arts at a local dojo. Her friend at the dojo, Michi becomes concerned about her stepbrother Jim (Ken Wallace) going missing one day, eventually learning that he’s been in the employ of movie studio owner Fujiyama, who’s been using the studio as a base for a series of smuggling operations and the film shoots as a front for the activities. Taking the situation up with police detective Takagi,...
- 3/14/2019
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Bloody havoc reigns! Kinji Fukasaku's no-holds-barred vision of ugly violence and uglier politics on the streets of Hiroshima is a five-film Yakuza epic that spans generations. The film amounts to an alternate history of postwar Japan, that puts an end to the glorification of the Yakuza code. The enormous cast includes Bunta Sugawara, Tetsuro Tanba, Sonny Chiba and Jo Shishido. Battles without Honor and Humanity Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video 1973-74 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 760 min. / Limited Edition Boxed Set Street Date December 8, 2015 / 149.95 Starring Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Tetsuro Tanba, Kunie Tanaka, Eiko Nakamura, Sonny Chiba, Meiko Kaji, Akira Kobayashi, Tsunehiko Watase, Reiko Ike, Jo Shishido Cinematography Sadaji Yoshida Production Designer Takatoshi Suzuki Original Music Toshiaki Tsushima Written by Koichi Iiboshi, Kazuo Kasahara Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In the 1990s the American Cinematheque was headquartered in various places, but settled for a few years in a large...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In the 1990s the American Cinematheque was headquartered in various places, but settled for a few years in a large...
- 12/22/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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