Arrow Video, a subsidiary of Arrow Films, humbly describe themselves as merely a “Distributor of classic, world, cult and horror cinema on DVD & Blu-ray.” But we film geeks know them as the Britain-based bastion of the brutal and bizarre, boasting gorgeous Blu-ray releases with high quality artwork and packaging and bursting with extras (often their own productions). Their collector-friendly releases had traditionally not been available in the U.S, but now Arrow has come across the pond and this column is devoted to discussing their weird and wonderful output.
Even before Kinji Fukasaku had finished shooting the conclusion to his five part Yakuza epic Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Toei had approached the director hoping to capitalize on the success of the franchise with even more direct sequels. While Fukasaku did decide to stick around, instead of true sequels he decided to do more of a reboot of the franchise. Using some of the same actors, but in different roles, Fukasaku set off once again to explore the gritty underworld he crafted on screen. Starring the charismatic Bunta Sugawara, the three films (which were released by Arrow in a Limited Edition Box Set) would tell three unique stories instead of telling one continuous narrative, giving the studio what they wanted while giving the director something different to sink his teeth into.
Actually coming out the same year as Final Episode (December 28, 1974), New Battles Without Honor and Humanity channels the same source material once again focusing on the Yamamori crime family, and has Bunta Sugawara starring as Miyoshi Makio. As the film opens the low-level assassin bungles a hit, landing him 8 years in prison. While serving his stretch, Makio is courted by his boss to kill Aoki, a rising member of his clan who’s looking to take control of the family. In true Battles fashion, Aoki is also looking to recruit Makio’s support in his bid for power to kill the boss when he gets out of prison. When Makio is finally released his struggle to find an honorable solution to this dispute makes him a liability to both sides.
The first film revisits a lot of similar themes and situations the series has dealt with before. Bunta here turns in the kind of stern charismatic performance we’ve seen previously, and while it’s nothing really new, it’s still enjoyable as ever. New Battles is very much another dose of blood-soaked loyalty and honor, but it appears to lack the metaphor of the previous series, where it felt like those films used the rise of the Yakuza as an allegory for Japan. This new series genuinely feels like the director this time around is simply going for sheer entertainment, as exhibited by later entries. Also of note in this entry we have the hilarious Nobuo Kaneko back again as the cowardly and super cheap boss Yoshio Yamamori. Kaneko is one of the only characters to reprise a role from the previous Battles in this new series.
With the conclusion of the last film it almost feels like this would be a continuation, but The Boss’s Head (November 1, 1975) is another new story. The film starts out much like the last entry with Bunta Sugawara this time a drifter named Shuji Kuroda, who actually makes the hit at the beginning of the film. Shuji ends up doing 7 years in prison for killing the head of the Kyoei Group when he was originally was only supposed to take the fall for the hit for Tetsuya Kusunoki, the future head of the Owada family. Unlike previous entries Kuroda (Sugawara) has no family affiliation and his prison stint was meant to be an in to the Owada family since he was promised to be made a brother to Kusunoki when he got out of jail.
Upon Kuroda’s release jail he goes looking to be sworn into the family only to find his future brother is not the head of the Owada family, but now a heroin addicted disgrace. The film then has Kuroda, “the stray dog,” trying to get the yakuza to pay the debt he’s owed as he maneuvers through the backstabbing and double dealings that are by now hallmarks of the series. This entry has Bunta definitely leaving the loyalty and honor at the door as Kuroda, who does whatever he can to get what he believes is due to him. Once he is finally sworn in though, his brother is forced to disown him by a young upstart who then offs the boss. Not too happy with this outcome, Kuroda goes on a rampage to kill the new boss to put his brother in his rightful place at the head of the organization.
With its third act full of dizzying car chases, frantic cinematography, and all out gun battles, The Boss’s Head is probably the most fun of the trilogy as we get to see Bunta drop the code and really get his hands dirty. While Kuroda still is just trying to get what is due to him, because he has absolutely nothing to lose, this gives him an advantage over the Yakuza hunting him. One thing that becomes apparent in this entry is women play a much larger role this time around in the series, with a young Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood) playing the boss’s daughter who can’t seem to leave the heroin addicted Tetsuya behind. I felt this subplot, along with the boss trying to get his “little girl” to get out of the destructive relationship, was a refreshing addition to the testosterone-fueled honor-bound world of Battles.
Finally, the third and most lurid film in the series, The Boss’s Last Days (released April 24, 1976), finally gives us something a bit different plot-wise and a grand finale worthy of the trilogy. This time around Bunta plays Shuichi Nozaki, the hardworking and humble member of the Kawahara family, who is currently at war with Osaka’s Sakamoto family thanks to an altercation between a few young punks. After retribution leads to the death of Nozaki’s boss Iwaki at the hands of a transvestite hit man, both families attempt to call a sort of truce that would simply keep the killing to the lower ranks. With Nozaki chosen as Iwaki’s successor, in true Yakuza fashion he refuses to take his post until his boss’ life has been avenged.
Out of fear for their own lives the heads of the families hope to pass the truce protecting anyone above syndicate boss. But Nozaki’s need for retribution sends him on a mission to do the unthinkable — kill the head of the entire Sakamoto family to plunge all of western Japan into chaos. While the films have had plenty of bloodshed up until this point, to kill the big boss has always been off the table; that is, until now. That, coupled with a strange incest subplot involving Nozaki and his sister, makes this one of the strangest entries in the series. The film also has Sugawara turning in his best performance of the franchise, thanks to a few quiet moments of reflection that shed some much needed light on just why Nozaki will never give up his mission to take out the boss or die trying.
It’s this “let the world burn” attitude combined with the action of the previous film that makes The Boss’s Last Days my hands down favorite of the trilogy. It’s a shame that just when the series had seemingly found its footing Fukasaku called it quits. It could also easily have been due to television’s impact on Japanese theaters, since this is also around the time the studios started to run into trouble due to low attendance and would later turn to more graphic subject matter to get patrons in seats. That being the case, the trilogy as it stands still holds up as an entertaining dose of pulpy exploitation that showed why Fukasaku was one of the best to tackle this genre.
The films are presented in their English-language home video debut in HD remasters furnished by the Toei Company. If you have seen previous Japanese releases from Arrow Video with legacy masters, you know the drill here. While I will say there is a better consistency with these transfers, they do feel a bit muted and dull color-wise compared with other transfers handled in house by Arrow. Even with that being the case there is a good bit of detail here, and this gives these discs a very “film-like” look. All films are presented in their original aspect ratios of 2.35:1 and with their original uncompressed mono audio, which definitely highlights the funky musical score by composer Toshiaki Tsushima.
As far as extras go we get a few engrossing featurettes and interviews. First up is Beyond the Films: New Battles Without Honor and Humanity, a new video appreciation by Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane, and New Stories and New Battles and Closing Stories, encompassing two new interviews with screenwriter Koji Takada. Takada speaks rather candidly about his work on the second and third films in the trilogy and how he tried to bring women to the forefront in the series. Given how little is out there on the web about these films, while a bit sparse the extras presented definitely give fans some great insight on the making of these films and some interesting bits from behind the scenes.
Simply put. if you’re a Kinji Fukasaku fan or a Battles Without Honor fan you need this set! While the transfers here leave something to be desired, it’s still worth the price tag to be able to watch and own these classics on Blu-ray. Arrow is doing an amazing job culling through and releasing some great Japanese genre that wouldn’t have seen the light of day otherwise. While Without Honor and Humanity is like a five course meal, New Battles definitely functions as a guilty pleasure dessert. Without the heavy themes or allegories the films simply have Fukasaku making Bunta Sugawara look as badass as possible as he takes on the Yakuza with the odds increasingly stacked against him, film after film. For the completist or for the fan this is definitely a great package.