After going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, Seji Iwahashi (Tatsuya Nakadai) gets released early -- only to find that his former gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, how long will it be before the bloodshed begins anew? Set in 1926 Japan, this serpentine crime thriller from director Hideo Gosha also stars Toshio Kurosawa and Isao Natsuyagi as Iwahashi's closest ally.
Os Lobos, Shussho Iwai, Les Loups, 出狱祝贺, 출소축하, Волки
Japan
USANR
Japan
USA
Say it with me: HIDEO GOSHA! Love this director.
Three Outlaw Samurai has been a longtime favorite, and when I discovered his masterpiece, and my absolute beloved Goyokin shortly after, I went on a buying spree of his films on DVD (thank you, GoHastings - you were a true hero of my collection). This is one that's been on the shelf for years, without a watch. Today I fixed that. Today... is a good day.
An aptly titled film. If there was ever a movie to be simply called The Wolves, this is it. Gosha is kind of like Sergio Leone to me. He makes epics in size and in scope with unforgettable characters and entertaining, wholly satisfying endings. The Wolves…
I would like to call this the Magnificent Ambersons of the Yakuza genre but sadly I'm watching the pisspoor, faint, soft and colour saturated ArtsMagic UK DVD, which is basically a 2nd gen NTSC master placed on DVD... BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!
It is like if someone sent me a jpg image of a Rothko painting to an old Nokia phone, it's at times a blurred mess. If i squint hard enough I can see the visual magic. All of the subtle coloring, and unique framing is soft and fuzzy; as the stately visual construction is done a massive disservice.
One nice thing is the colour separated subs, so if two people are talking, the second subtitle is a different color. That actually…
Fresh out of prison, haunted yakuza Iwahashi (Tatsuya Nakadai) returns to his family after 4 years to find a new peace between the rival Kan'non and Enoki Yakuza clans. Oaths have been sworn, new bosses sit in power and a marriage is set to solidify the bonds even further. But old feuds are hard to stay buried and when a forbidden love rears its head alongside revealed secrets, it's up to Iwahashi and his old rival Ozeki (Noboru Ando) to try and make things right.
It had been many years since I had seen Hideo Gosha's much-loved The Wolves, possibly the best known and most respected Ninkyo here in the West. But after a few conversations with a friend recently…
1971 In Review - November
#3
In 1923, Japanese mobsters Seiji Iwahashi and Gunjiro Ozeki are arrested in the midst of a violent gang battle. Four years after their conviction, there is a regime change in Japan, and the new emperor pardons many prisoners, including Iwahashi and Ozeki. When they reunite with their former associates, they find that the criminal codes they live by have been abolished. Worse, their gang has deadly new leaders who don't take kindly to Iwahashi's mistrust of change.
The Wolves follows Iwahashi as he is released early from prison, after being put away for homicide after killing a rival boss (this all occurs within the first 10 minutes of the film, in flashback form). When…
Personally, I think putting your trust in any crime organization is a mistake. Or any organization for that matter.
Gosha seems like more of a vibes guy with narrative taking a backseat. This like Tenchu feels slight and the set up here didn't need to be that long but Gosha once again does really well crafting a great atmosphere, this is quite effective as a mood piece with meditative pacing. Also Gosha's eye for compositions is wonderful, visually this is absolutely stunning with many beautiful images — combined with that lovely score, the mood is sweet. At least unlike Tenchu, the experience here was more rewarding with second hour being really good especially final 30-35 minutes are terrific. Could have been better with a shorter runtime but still enjoyable and worth sticking around for that finale.
Operatic, beautifully mounted Revenger's Tragedy in the 1920s. The characters may not be drawn with any eye for individual detail, but the mise en scene provides enough grandeur to compensate for that; in particular, that stretch of beach with the two half-sunken tankers interrupting the surf is a location worth going back to over and over again.
Who’d have thought the great Tatsuya Nakadai could be acted under the table by anyone, let alone by an ex-gangster turned movie star with a big fuck-off scar running the length of his face? Yet here we are and Noboru Ando manages to do just that! What a beautifully measured performance from the actor this is
“The Wolves” is one of the finest ninkyo films out there and I’m glad I finally got to it. This is a film of much beauty and surprising emotional depth that caught me quite unawares. Gosha’s direction is superb, balancing great beauty with great, often horrific, violence, in what has ended up being my favourite film of his from what I’ve seen so far (admittedly…
If there's ever a pure film on Yakuza genre, then this has to be it. The film is filled with moments of cinematic artistry. The plot is simple; though takes a little time to develop. The indoor and outdoor framing are effectively used more in storytelling (for different characters) when compared to his previous film, "Hitokiri". The background score is perfect too.
The film is quite slow and methodical (in the killing) to a certain point. Though the revenge element is the theme, its importance is limited to an extent, to show the idiocy nature of the Yakuza honour. The female umbrella assassin scenes came as a surprise and it elevates the film to a certain degree. Gosha's themes were…
Pretty damn fantastic. The cast is great, Nakadai looking almost comically weary in every shot, Noboru Andō is great and icy cool as ever, love Tamba playing the manipulative elder role, Isao Natsuyagi is excellent (also I somehow hadn't connected him as Kiba in Samurai Wolf despite seeing him in all these yakuza movies a bunch)... really loved the music here too, kind of sparse downtempo jazz that worked really well, I felt. Gosha's direction is really strong in this one (excellent blocking as others call out -- read today that Gosha had no formal education in film which is wild for how good he can be) and Kōzō Okazaki on cinematography really hits hard; tons of arresting shots and…
A highly poetic and stylized yakuza movie, rich in color and textures. I especially loved the love scenes with Kyôko Enami. Wonderful film.
