Ryuji tries quitting the yakuza to actively support his wife and daughter; as he's used to easy money, it's a difficult transition.
Acting
Shōji Kaneko's shoulders carry the weight of impossible choices.
Direction
Kawashima finds poetry in fluorescent-lit failure.
Production
Dreary '80s Japan as its own suffocating character.
Director
Tōru Kawashima
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of the 1980s 'jitsuroku' movement—yakuza films stripped of romanticism, reflecting Japan's economic anxiety and collapsing social contracts.
Eiko Nagashima was primarily a pink film actress; this rare mainstream dramatic role was specifically requested by Kawashima who saw her untapped melancholy.
JP
