Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

Japanese release poster
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Written by Kazuo Kasahara
Koji Shundo (concept)
Kōichi Iiboshi (original story)
Starring Kinya Kitaoji
Shinichi Chiba
Bunta Sugawara
Meiko Kaji
Mikio Narita
Narrated by Tetsu Sakai
Music by Toshiaki Tsushima
Cinematography Sadaji Yoshida
Distributed by Toei
Release dates
 April 28, 1973
Running time
 100 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (Japanese: 仁義なき戦い　広島死闘篇 Hepburn: Jingi Naki Tatakai: Hiroshima Shitō-hen) is a 1973 Japanese yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It is the second film in a five-part series that Fukasaku made in a span of just two years. It is the only movie in the series not to focus on Bunta Sugawara's character Shozo Hirono, instead it follows the rise and fall of Shoji Yamanaka played by Kinya Kitaoji.

Plot

In 1950 Hiroshima City, Shoji Yamanaka is involved in a fight over cheating in a card game and stabs several men. He is sentenced to two years in prison, where he befriends Shozo Hirono. When he is released from prison, the waitress at a restaurant offers to let him eat for free but a gang led by Katsutoshi Otomo, the rebellious son of Choji Otomo, beat him. He is saved by Otomo senior and is offered to join the yakuza by Muraoka, the waitress Yasuko's uncle. Yamanaka serves under Muraoka's sworn brother Kunimatsu Takanashi, until he is chased out of Hiroshima by Muraoka for beginning a romantic relationship with the widowed Yasuko.

Yamanaka redeems himself a year later by performing an assassination for the yakuza family he was staying with, and Muraoka welcomes him back as a formal member in a ceremony witnessed by Kanichi Tokimori. Katsutoshi Otomo is kicked out of his family by his father for causing problems with Muraoka and aligns himself with Tokimori, however, Tokimori is then banned from working in Hiroshima. Tokimori flees to Kure, while Katsutoshi attacks the Muraoka office starting a war.

In Kure, Hirono's former boss Yamamori pays Hirono and his small family to protect Tokimori while he works to resolve the dispute. However, when Yamanaka shows up in Kure, Hirono decides to sacrifice Tokimori to prevent further bloodshed. Muraoka settles with the Otomo family, on the grounds that Katsutoshi disband his family. Muraoka also gives his blessing for Yamanaka to pursue Yasuko, but soon after calls on him to kill three of Katsutoshi's men who planned to take over the Otomo family and continue war against him. Yamanaka is arrested for the murders and sentenced to life in prison.

Takanashi informs Yamanaka that Muraoka is forcing Yasuko to marry her dead husband's brother, and Yamanaka subsequently escapes from prison. Muraoka makes it seem as if Takanashi was lying and Yamanaka asks to allow him to kill Katsutoshi. While he only succeeds in injuring him, Katsutoshi is arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Muraoka then has Yamanaka kill Takanashi under the guise that he lied to Yamanaka about Yasuko. After finding out that Muraoka was the one lying, Yamanaka is cornered by police and shoots himself.

Cast

Release

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima has been released on home video and aired on television, the latter with some scenes cut. A Blu-ray box set compiling all five films in the series was released on March 21, 2013 to celebrate its 40th anniversary.[1]

All five films in the series were released on DVD in North America by Home Vision Entertainment in 2004, under the moniker The Yakuza Papers. A 6-disc DVD box set containing them all was also released. It includes a bonus disc containing interviews with director William Friedkin, discussing the influence of the films in America; subtitle translator Linda Hoaglund, discussing her work on the films; David Kaplan, Kenta Fukasaku, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a Toei producer and a biographer among others.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "<初回生産限定>仁義なき戦い Blu‐ray BOX [Blu-ray]". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  2. ↑ Erickson, Glenn (November 2004). "The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor And Humanity: The Complete Box Set". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2014-09-19.

External links