Tetsuro Haga is a troubled gangster, living under the assumed identity Ise for ten years, to escape jail for gunning down his cruel adoptive father. His life begins to unravel when a journalist following him takes an interest in the wife of a boyhood chum, and the wife of another close friend takes an interest in Ise. A couple of murders later, Ise/Haga goes on the run and also sets out for revenge.
Acting
Koji Yakusho's simmering restraint before explosion
Direction
Negishi's patient unraveling of masculine codes
Cinematography
Rain-soaked Yokohama never looked so hopeless
Director
Kichitaro Negishi
Koji Yakusho
Takaaki Ise / Tetsuro Haga
Ken Watanabe
Detective Sako Akio
Yumi Aso
Yousuke Saito
Masashi Fuda
Houka Kinoshita
Shinji Miyake
Kumiko Tsuchiya
Chikako Fujishirô
Mansaku Ikeuchi
Detective Okubo
Yoshihiro Katō
Hiroshi Okahori
Masahiko Tsugawa
Deputy Superintendent Kohashi
Taketoshi Naitō
Mr. Soga
Haruko Katō
Mrs. Soga
Bengal
Doctor
Midori Hagio
Fumie Haga
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of Koji Yakusho's first leading roles after Shall We Dance? made him a star—he took it specifically to avoid being typecast as charming.
The 'yakuza film' was commercially dead in 1998 Japan; Bonds barely screened and disappeared until Yakusho's international fame resurrected it on boutique labels.
JP
