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| Images courtesy of Radiance Films |
For awhile there, Japanese filmworker turned signature
auteur with a distinctive frenetic handheld Dutch-angled style was insanely
prolific and remains the top dog as far as cranking out gritty underground
yakuza actioners quickly and unmistakably of his creative output. Directing sometimes as many as three or four
films in a year, the auteur briefly slowed down in 1971 following the
tumultuous American-Japanese co-production of Tora! Tora! Tora! notoriously
picked up by Fukusaku after Akira Kurosawa dropped out. Instead focusing on just one film production that
year instead of several, having had the wind knocked out of him by the previous
Hollywood film, Fukusaku regained his footing just a couple of years before
unveiling his tectonic Battles Without Honor and Humanity yakuza film
series. With the only film he tackled in
1971, Sympathy for the Underdog, audiences saw Fukusaku getting back to
rough and ragged basics with a straight-laced yakuza widescreen color
yarn.
Following a decade long prison sentence, former gang-leader
Gunji (Koji Tsuruta in his last film for Fukusaku) returns home to learn his territory
in Yokohama has been overrun by his longstanding arch-rival having formed a
near indefatigable crime syndicate in Tokyo.
Reuniting with his old crew of fellow yakuza, he sets his sights on
Okinawa where he plans on establishing a bootlegging operation. However as before, the same set of
antagonists descend upon Okinawa intending to seize control of his territory
again, sparking an all-out war and battle for survival as Gunji and his men are
outgunned and outnumbered but press on valiantly like The Wild Bunch anyway. As he rekindles lost love relations from his
past, the heat is dialed up as the small posses is besieged by attacks from all
sides and the intensity and violence of the film rises with the body count.
The unofficial ninth film in the Gambler film series
prominently starring Koji Tsuruta, the film is characterized by having
predicted what would or wouldn’t become the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate in
Okinawa once US occupation of the land ended.
Originally planned as a sequel to Japan Organized Crime Boss before
a screening of The Battle of Algiers shifted direction for the film to
be largely about foreigners and/or resistance groups inside the framework of
the yakuza, the film is almost like a clean slate wiping of what we thought we
knew about Kinji Fukusaku’s style. Filmed
on location in rough, gritty and sometimes luminescent widescreen by Hanjiro
Nakazawa of Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion and gifted an appropriately
moody if not somber jazzy score by Takeo Yamashita of Lupin the Third, Sympathy
for the Underdog at day is bright and blue but at night becomes a kaleidoscopic
neon-lit promenade that dazzle the eyes and ears.
The ensemble cast is splendid with Koji Tsuruta as the chilly
cool and unshakable Gunji largely hidden behind large-rimmed sunglasses donned
in his yakuza suit giving off an energy that feels genuinely dangerous. Take for instance a scene where an adversary,
Yonabal, played by Lone Wolf and Cub actor Tomisaburo Wakayama, closes
in on Gunji and his crew. Despite being
outnumbered, the unwavering fierce gaze of Gunji is more than enough to scare
off Yonabal and his cronies, more fearful of Gunji’s guts than his gun. Aiding the proceedings is Noburo Ando who
himself was a former yakuza donning a real-life barfight scar on his left
cheek, an additional layer of realism predating the street casting of the Pusher
film series.
Released by Toei in 1971, the film like many of Fukusaku’s
quick but sharply defined productions slipped through the cracks outside of its
country of origin and remained largely unseen until Home Vision Entertainment
released a remastered DVD of the film in the US in 2004. Circa 2024, boutique releasing label Radiance
Films have gone an extra mile in securing the world blu-ray premiere rights in
a newly minted limited edition replete with the company’s time-honored OBI
spines, collectible booklet and reversible sleeve art. Always a director cinephiles should pay
attention to and investigate beyond the ongoing aura of Battle Royale with
arguably his best years consisting of the 1970s, Kinji Fukusaku’s oeuvre
comprised of all the good and the bad (see Message in Space) gradually
coming stateside is an important addition to world cinema libraries and fans of
the rough and tough yakuza epic.
--Andrew Kotwicki
