When a young Yakuza torments the customers in a rival crime family's nightclub, it is not long before his dead body is found. Soon, inter-family retaliation follows, resulting in the death for a prominent crime boss. Devastated by this turn of events, the temperamental Kenzaki vows to avenge his boss's death and, as bloody violence ensues, the body count reaches excessive proportions.
Direction
Miike's funeral-march pacing makes violence feel inevitable, not exciting.
Acting
Kato's Kunihiko simmers with repressed rage for two hours.
Cinematography
Nightclub scenes glow like wounded neon animals.
Director
Takashi Miike
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Miike called this his 'most personal' yakuza film—his father was a yakuza associate, and the generational decay mirrors his own disillusionment.
The 'thank you - and - fuck you - brother' line was improvised by Hakuryu after Miike told him to 'say something that sounds like you mean opposite things at once.'
JP
