The Yakuza Papers

In the ruins of Hiroshima an ex-soldier, Hirono Shozo, dealing on the black market just to survive, shoots and kills the drunken yakuza who attacked his colleagues. Sent to jail, Shozo shares a cell with another yakuza who has his boss, Yoshiwara, bail Hirono out and give him a place in their organisation.

Hirono soon proves his loyalty and rapidly rises through the ranks, culminating in his undertaking a dangerous hit on a rival gang boss that lands him back in jail.

Meanwhile, the gang wars continue unabated in his absence…

Inarguably the most important yakuza film, or giri-ninjo, of the 1970s, Kinji "Battle Royale" Fukasaku's The Yakuza Papers, inspired by the prison memoirs of a real-life mobster, Mino Kozo, presented the yakuza in an unfamiliar light. Through the 1960s countless programmers – many from the same Toei Studios – had flattered the gangsters somewhat, painting them as "men of honour", their traditions one of the few vestiges of the Samurai ethic left. Fukasaku chose, instead, to present the gangsters as men "without honour and humanity", as the film's alternative title puts it.

His protagonist, Hirono, vividly brought to life by genre star Bunta Sugawara, only becomes a yakuza because few other options present themselves and his personal qualities – loyalty, bravery and other conventionally positive attributes – suggest an elective affinity with their way of life. The other yakuza exploit Hirono's basic decency whilst themselves paying only lip service to their codes of honour. The finger amputation scene, a staple of the genre, encapsulates the film's position in a nutshell: Following an error of judgement Hirono offers to chop off his pinkie in penance, believing that that is what a good yakuza should do. The other yakuza are ignorant of the ritual he should follow, but nevertheless keen to see him follow through on his pledge.

If one is lacking this context, one is left with Fukasaku's impressive direction, crackling with raw energy; his unflinching depiction of violence; and an extremely swinging theme that coolly reworks Ennio Morricone's titlepiece for The Sicilian Clan with a Japanese twist.

Whether this is enough in its own right, and whether or not the succession of slashings, beatings and shootings that more or less seem to comprise the film contribute to or undercut the director's critique, is perhaps debatable.

But, then again, this is surely the central paradox of the gangster in Hollywood as well as in Japan: His power is an appealing, seductive one.

Eureka's Region Two DVD of The Yakuza Papers is available both as a stand-alone disc, under this title, and as part of a three disc box set, packaged under the Battles Without Honour and Humanity name along with two other Fukasaku entries, Yakuza Graveyard and Street Mobster.

Since both versions seem to retail for the same price, I assume someone somewhere was making a mistake and went for the box set.

Anyway, no big issues with either picture or sound, the film being presented in 16:9 television enhanced anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen and rather less impressive glorious mono.

Most viewers will, of course, watch the film with subtitles. These are, alas, a bit awkward in their reliance on American Mafia-isms like "underboss" and "Godfather", with the contrast between these and an more or less untranslateable Japanese insult about palanquins being all the more telling when you half expected one yakuza to accuse the other of trying to "bust his balls"

The only extras are a small stills gallery and a Kinki Fukasaku biography/filmography.

All told, decent for 1/3 of a £20 box set, but if I'd paid full price I'd be less happy.