SYMPATHY FOR THE UNDERDOG (1971) Radiance Films Blu-ray Screenshots + Review
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SYMPATHY FOR THE UNDERDOG (1971)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating:
Duration: 92 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: Japanese PCM 2.O Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Koji Tsuruta, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Noboru Ando, Tsunehiko Watase, Akiko Kudô, Kenji Imai, Harumi Sone, Tôru Yuri, Asao Uchida,Hideo Murota, Keijirô Morozumi, Keiichi Kitagawa, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Shôken Sawa, Kaku Takashina, Takashi Hio, Genji Kawai, Shinobu Miura
In director Kinji Fukasaku's (Yakuza Graveyard) Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) former Yakuza gang leader Gunji (Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss) has just been released from prison after a ten year stint, discovering that his former gang in Yokohama has been broken up by a modern corporate-fronted gang. He re-assembles a small group of his former gang members to start a new one that is unaffiliated with the usual Yakuza families, but finds that there is no room for a new gang in the well-established Yokohama territory. He moves his gang to the island of Okinawa, which is occupied by American military after WWII, where there is much less mainland gang influence, getting a foot hold by taking over the profitable bootleg whiskey business, before setting his sights on the docks. This hostile takeover of turf angers the other local Okinawan gang bosses, leading to some uneasy alliances and bloody confrontations. It doesn't exactly rewrite the book on Yakuza cinema but its razor-sharp and visceral. As the anti-hero Koji Tsuruta is terrific, always wearing sunglasses and looking cool at all times, only taking his shades off to have sex - now that's just cool. He's an magnetic character, sticking to his Yakuza code but finding that honor has little place among the new corporate gangs they face, managing to take on powerful syndicates in Okinawa with a relatively small but deadly loyal gang of his own, driven by honor and determination. Eventually one of the gangs teams up with Yakuza from the mainland leading to a total nihilistic blood-soaked finale.
The setting on Okinawa adds a new visual wrinkle to the well-worn Yakuza tale, and the cool jazz score by Takeo Yamashita adds another layer to it that stands apart. It's a terrific watch, if you're not too familiar with Yakuza cinema and are curious about it I would say check this out of you have an affinity for violent spaghetti westerns, Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, or Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, there's familiar themes here that I think will cross-over nicely.