Yakuza Films
Japanese Gangster films .
There are basically two sorts of yakuza films -
Those set in the late 19th / early 20th centuries , with traditional dress and swords and knives .
Modern day , 50s / 60s / 70s , with guns .The modern ones can then be split with the noir influenced , Japanese New Wave style from the 60s - ie the Seijun Suzuki , Nikkatsu films .
Then there are the more violent 70s films , and the later Takeshi Kitano style films from the 80s and 90s .
( Films like the Zatoichi series , or Red Peony Gambler , are included as Samurai films - though the characters are yakuza , they fight samurai with swords . )
Not in any order .
There are basically two sorts of yakuza films -
Those set in the late 19th / early 20th centuries , with traditional dress and swords and knives .
Modern day , 50s / 60s / 70s , with guns .The modern ones can then be split with the noir influenced , Japanese New Wave style from the 60s - ie the Seijun Suzuki , Nikkatsu films .
Then there are the more violent 70s films , and the later Takeshi Kitano style films from the 80s and 90s .
( Films like the Zatoichi series , or Red Peony Gambler , are included as Samurai films - though the characters are yakuza , they fight samurai with swords . )
Not in any order .
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- DirectorKazuo IkehiroStarsRaizô IchikawaYukiji AsaokaShiho FujimuraAfter the victory of Japan-Russia War, boss of the Nanjo family is stabbed to death. His son abandons his naval position in order to succeed as the new boss of the family.
- DirectorKazuo MoriStarsRaizô IchikawaMikio NaritaYumiko NogawaA former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.
- DirectorKazuo MoriStarsRaizô IchikawaIchirô NakataniKô Nishimura
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsRaizô IchikawaJûshirô KonoeMachiko HasegawaA debt collector visits a gambling den in search of a gambler - the gambler's wife and daughter are sick; unknown to the debt collector he kills the gambler. He learns more about his wife and family and forms a bond; as a result he tries to distance himself from his Yakuza clan.
- DirectorTai KatôStarsRyôhei UchidaJûshirô KonoeHiroko SakuramachiRichshaw man Tatsu has wandered to Osaka from Tokyo. He has quarrels with Kimiyakko, a geisha, and throws her into the river. But later, he falls in love with her. Yasaburo, the oyabun of the Nishikawa Gang, loves her very much too. However, as he likes Tatsu's dynamic personality, he volunteers to become a go-between for their marriage. Yasaburo gets tipped off by Yajima who wants to take over the territory of the Nishikawa Gang, and is arrested and imprisoned. After his release, Yajima tries to kill him. Ginjiro, a lover of Tamaryu respects Kimiyakko as an older sister and a follower of Tatsu, is murdered. After the third marriage ceremony just between Tatsu and Kimiyakko, Tatsu goes off to the place of fighting.
- DirectorTsuneo KobayashiStarsShigeru AmachiShin'ichi ChibaSumiko FujiKoji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an ambush. It turns out the man is the head of a hard working clan appointed to a railway construction project. A ruthless Yakuza gang is also trying to get their share of the project and attempts to sabotage the work.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKen TakakuraSumiko FujiTetsurô Tanba
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKinnosuke NakamuraKen TakakuraMinoru ÔkiA timber merchant and haulage firm in late 19th century Tokyo is in trouble. The widowed lady owner is being threatened by a scheming competitor who is offering much cheaper labour. X has just left the army, and his buddies in the firm beg him to rejoin them as second in command, which he does. Thus emboldened, the firm tries to make a deal to stay in business, which launches a serious turf war.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKen TakakuraHideo MurataAsao Uchida
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKen TakakuraYuriko HoshiSumiko Fuji
- DirectorShigehiro OzawaStarsRyô IkebeTakuzô KawataniAkira Shioji
- DirectorKôsaku YamashitaStarsBin AmatsuTatsuo EndôSumiko Fuji
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKen TakakuraKanbi FujiyamaRyuko Azuma
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKen TakakuraSumiko FujiMinoru Ôki
- DirectorSadatsugu MatsudaStarsHashizô ÔkawaMinoru ÔkiTakashi ShimuraA good set-in-per-WW2 ninkyô type film with outstanding performances.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsKôji TsurutaSumiko FujiMinoru Ôki
- DirectorKôsaku YamashitaStarsKôji TsurutaSumiko FujiMinoru Ôki
- DirectorSadao NakajimaStarsHideo MurotaShigeru AmachiKen TakakuraThis was one of director Nakajima's first films.
- DirectorKiyoshi SaekiStarsKen TakakuraRyô IkebeYoshiko MitaAfter World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in Enko area.