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| Images courtesy of Radiance Films |
Kinji Fukusaku was something of an insanely prolific
godfather when it came to the yakuza subgenre in Japanese film. Between his Battles Without Honor and
Humanity series, Cops vs. Thugs, Graveyard of Honor, Street
Mobsters and Sympathy for the Underdog, the man cranked out more
gritty yakuza films at a faster rate than his successor Takashi Miike sometimes
making as many as four films within a year.
In 1977, just after wrapping up his secondary New Battles Without
Honor and Humanity trilogy and Yakuza Graveyard, Fukusaku pumped the
brakes and delivered not only two features but perhaps his final yakuza effort:
Doberman Cop and today’s Radiance Films World Blu-Ray Premiere of the
snowy wintry Hokuriku Proxy War restored in 4K.
Mikuni based peasant Kawada Noboru (Hiroki Matsukata)
becomes a gangster in the Tomiyasu Group in Fukui upon his release from prison
in 1968. Opening amid a freezing
beachside winter with yakuza boss Mr. Yasuhara (Ko Nishimura) buried up to his
head in snow, the fierce and reckless Noboru drives about threatening to crush
Yasuhara’s head until he relinquishes control of the security business of
bicycle and speedboat racing. Meanwhile
in retaliation, Yasuhara contacts the Kanai Group in Osaka led by Kanai Hachiro
(Sonny Chiba) who in turn send dozens of assassins to kill Kawada and further
destroy Fukui. Both yakuza factions see
Noboru as a proxy pawn in their own guerilla warfare, but alas Noboru remains
true to his vocation and isn’t prepared to be taken advantage of in this way.
Said to be the maestro’s very last yakuza film before
shifting gears towards contemporary drama, the thriller film and occasional
camp, Hokuriku Proxy War is best remembered for being outside of Tokyo
Drifter one of a handful of yakuza films set in the ice-cold winter. Full of frequent scenes of snowfall, ice
covered waves crashing on the shoreline and yakuza warfare playing out amid
snowfall with crimson red blood coloring the white snow, this might be the
chilliest yakuza epic ever made. Originally
intended to be a fourth iteration in the New Battles Without Honor and
Humanity series before actor Bunta Sugawara dropped out and the project was
revised as a standalone piece, Hokuriku Proxy War boasts scenic
widescreen photography by Doberman Cop cinematographer Toru Nakajima and
a moody guitar strumming score by Graveyard of Honor composer Toshiaki
Tsushima.
Performances across the board form a solid ensemble piece
boiling down to two principal characters played with gruff roughness by Hiroki
Matsukata and Sonny Chiba in an unlikely role as a reckless blowhard
yakuza. Ko Nishimura as the nefarious
Mr. Yasuhara is best remembered by cinephiles as a longtime stalwart of Akira
Kurosawa films, having appeared in everything from The Bad Sleep Well, Yojimo
and High and Low. Fukusaku
fans are also inclined to look for Mikio Narita who also appeared in Fukusaku’s
subsequent films Message from Space and Samurai Reincarnation. Though the film’s primary star is the ice-and-snow
covered wintry locale of Hokuriku itself with recurring images of freezing
crashing waves, brutal snowy winds and slippery white terrain occasionally
painted red with bloodshed. It is bad
enough dodging bullets and surviving stab wounds already, throwing in frostbite
too adds an additional layer of endurance for the cast of characters.
Released by Toei in 1977, this would be Fukusaku’s hanging-of-the-hat
on the yakuza subgenre as he would pursue an altogether new direction which
included contemporary dramas and youth movies including but not limited to the
eventual teen violence epic Battle Royale. Looking back on it years later, yes it has
all the trademark grittiness and shaky frenetic camerawork Fukusaku has become
known for and the unforgiving violence with this hitting new heights of cruelty
and viciousness. Featuring two of
Fukusaku’s strongest female leads in a saga frozen with cold water yet
occasionally fresh with warm blood, Hokuriku Proxy War represents one of
the director’s classiest farewells to the genre that made him a namesake in
Japanese film. Radiance Films’ package
with original essays, interviews, the OBI spine and reversible sleeve art is
fabulous and Fukusaku completists will not be disappointed in this spectacular
release!
--Andrew Kotwicki
