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The Yakuza
The Yakuza (Japanese: ザ・ヤクザ, Hepburn: Za yakuza) is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. The film is about a retired American detective (Mitchum) who returns to Japan after decades away in order to rescue his friend's daughter, kidnapped by the eponymous crime syndicate.
The film was a co-production between Warner Bros. and Japan's Toei Company, and was filmed principally on-location in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. It premiered in Japan on December 28, 1974, before going into general release in the United States on March 19, 1975. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial disappointment, though in the ensuing decades it has been praised by filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.
Retired detective Harry Kilmer is called upon by an old friend, George Tanner. Tanner has been doing business with a yakuza gangster, Tono, who has kidnapped Tanner's daughter Louise to apply pressure in a business deal involving the sale of guns. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can rescue the girl using his Japanese connections.
Kilmer and Tanner had been Marine MPs in Tokyo during the post-war occupation. Kilmer became aware of a woman, Eiko, who was involved in the black market to procure penicillin for her ailing daughter. Kilmer intervened on behalf of Eiko during a skirmish, saving her life. After some time living together, with Kilmer repeatedly asking Eiko to marry him, her brother Ken returned from an island where he'd been stranded as an Imperial Japanese soldier. Both outraged that she was living with his former enemy and deeply indebted to Kilmer for saving the lives of his (apparently) only remaining family, Ken disappeared into the yakuza criminal underground and refused to see or speak to his sister. Eiko, cautious not to do anything to offend Ken further, broke off contact with Kilmer. Before returning to the US, Kilmer bought Eiko a bar (with money borrowed from George Tanner), which she still operates, named "Kilmer House" in his honor. Kilmer has never stopped loving her.
Ken's debt to Kilmer, giri, is a lifelong obligation that traditionally can never be repaid. Tanner believes that Ken would therefore do anything for Kilmer, including rescuing Louise. Traveling to Tokyo with Tanner's bodyguard, Dusty, they stay at the home of another old military buddy named Oliver Wheat. Kilmer visits Eiko at the bar's closing time, seeking to find Ken. Eiko's feelings for Kilmer are as strong as ever. He also becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who is delighted to see Kilmer again. Eiko tells Kilmer that her brother can be found at his kendo school in Kyoto.
Kilmer travels by train to visit Ken at his kendo school. Ken is no longer a yakuza member, but will still help Kilmer. They find and free Louise. In so doing, Ken "takes up the sword" once again, attacking one of Tono's men to save Kilmer. This is an inexcusable intrusion by Ken in yakuza affairs. Contracts on both Ken's and Kilmer's lives are issued. Despite Tanner's protests, Kilmer insists on staying until the danger to Ken can be resolved. Eiko suggests he see Ken's brother Goro, a high-level legal counselor to the yakuza chiefs. Goro is unable to intercede due to his impartial role in yakuza society, but suggests Ken can remove the death threat by killing Tono with a sword. The only alternative is for Kilmer to kill Tono himself, by any means (as an outsider, he is not bound to use a sword). Because Kilmer is known to Goro as an unusual gaijin who understands and accepts Japanese values, he proposes that Kilmer now has an obligation to Ken.
After an attempt on Kilmer's life at a bathhouse, he learns that his old friend Tanner has taken out the contract on him. Tanner is secretly broke and owes Tono a huge debt. Dusty discloses that Tanner and Tono are business partners. During a violent attack on Ken and Kilmer in Oliver Wheat's house, Dusty is stabbed to death with a sword, and Hanako is shot and killed.
Seeking advice again from Ken's brother, Goro advises them that they have no choice but to assassinate Tanner and Tono. This will embarrass the partners in the eyes of the yakuza. Goro discloses that he has a "wayward son" who has joined Tono's clan and asks that Ken protect him should he be caught in the battle. In private, Goro then discloses the shocking family secret to Kilmer: Eiko is not Ken's sister, but his wife, and Hanako is their only child. Kilmer understands the true meaning of Eiko and Ken's rift, as well as Ken's anguish over the death of Hanako, all of which is brought about by his repeated intercessions in their lives.
The Yakuza
The Yakuza (Japanese: ザ・ヤクザ, Hepburn: Za yakuza) is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. The film is about a retired American detective (Mitchum) who returns to Japan after decades away in order to rescue his friend's daughter, kidnapped by the eponymous crime syndicate.
The film was a co-production between Warner Bros. and Japan's Toei Company, and was filmed principally on-location in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. It premiered in Japan on December 28, 1974, before going into general release in the United States on March 19, 1975. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial disappointment, though in the ensuing decades it has been praised by filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.
Retired detective Harry Kilmer is called upon by an old friend, George Tanner. Tanner has been doing business with a yakuza gangster, Tono, who has kidnapped Tanner's daughter Louise to apply pressure in a business deal involving the sale of guns. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can rescue the girl using his Japanese connections.
Kilmer and Tanner had been Marine MPs in Tokyo during the post-war occupation. Kilmer became aware of a woman, Eiko, who was involved in the black market to procure penicillin for her ailing daughter. Kilmer intervened on behalf of Eiko during a skirmish, saving her life. After some time living together, with Kilmer repeatedly asking Eiko to marry him, her brother Ken returned from an island where he'd been stranded as an Imperial Japanese soldier. Both outraged that she was living with his former enemy and deeply indebted to Kilmer for saving the lives of his (apparently) only remaining family, Ken disappeared into the yakuza criminal underground and refused to see or speak to his sister. Eiko, cautious not to do anything to offend Ken further, broke off contact with Kilmer. Before returning to the US, Kilmer bought Eiko a bar (with money borrowed from George Tanner), which she still operates, named "Kilmer House" in his honor. Kilmer has never stopped loving her.
Ken's debt to Kilmer, giri, is a lifelong obligation that traditionally can never be repaid. Tanner believes that Ken would therefore do anything for Kilmer, including rescuing Louise. Traveling to Tokyo with Tanner's bodyguard, Dusty, they stay at the home of another old military buddy named Oliver Wheat. Kilmer visits Eiko at the bar's closing time, seeking to find Ken. Eiko's feelings for Kilmer are as strong as ever. He also becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who is delighted to see Kilmer again. Eiko tells Kilmer that her brother can be found at his kendo school in Kyoto.
Kilmer travels by train to visit Ken at his kendo school. Ken is no longer a yakuza member, but will still help Kilmer. They find and free Louise. In so doing, Ken "takes up the sword" once again, attacking one of Tono's men to save Kilmer. This is an inexcusable intrusion by Ken in yakuza affairs. Contracts on both Ken's and Kilmer's lives are issued. Despite Tanner's protests, Kilmer insists on staying until the danger to Ken can be resolved. Eiko suggests he see Ken's brother Goro, a high-level legal counselor to the yakuza chiefs. Goro is unable to intercede due to his impartial role in yakuza society, but suggests Ken can remove the death threat by killing Tono with a sword. The only alternative is for Kilmer to kill Tono himself, by any means (as an outsider, he is not bound to use a sword). Because Kilmer is known to Goro as an unusual gaijin who understands and accepts Japanese values, he proposes that Kilmer now has an obligation to Ken.
After an attempt on Kilmer's life at a bathhouse, he learns that his old friend Tanner has taken out the contract on him. Tanner is secretly broke and owes Tono a huge debt. Dusty discloses that Tanner and Tono are business partners. During a violent attack on Ken and Kilmer in Oliver Wheat's house, Dusty is stabbed to death with a sword, and Hanako is shot and killed.
Seeking advice again from Ken's brother, Goro advises them that they have no choice but to assassinate Tanner and Tono. This will embarrass the partners in the eyes of the yakuza. Goro discloses that he has a "wayward son" who has joined Tono's clan and asks that Ken protect him should he be caught in the battle. In private, Goro then discloses the shocking family secret to Kilmer: Eiko is not Ken's sister, but his wife, and Hanako is their only child. Kilmer understands the true meaning of Eiko and Ken's rift, as well as Ken's anguish over the death of Hanako, all of which is brought about by his repeated intercessions in their lives.