Director: Kinji
Fukasaku
Notable Cast: Bunta
Sugawara, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Reiko Ike, Nobuo Kaneko, Sanae Nakahara, Kunie
Tanaka, Shingo Yamashiro, Jo Shishido
Kinji Fukasaku’s intense and impressively crafted original Battles Without Honor and Humanity
series was perhaps the epic highlight of his career with dense character
builds, massive gangster plotting, and gritty execution of striking effectiveness.
It was also notably popular with theater goers in the mid-1970s that pulled in
some serious box office revenue. So it’s perhaps not all that surprising that
Toei would eventually want to keep it running. By eventually, I mean that the
first entry of the New Battles Without
Honor and Humanity trilogy would be released the same year as the fifth
installment of the original series. Toei and Fukasaku didn’t waste any time, I
suppose. This new chapter of the series, with no connection to the original
five, would see the director and new writers Fumio Konami and Misao Arai start
to take the franchise in a new direction with three unconnected stories using
many of the same principal cast members from the original series as new
characters with new stories to tell under the banner. The results, while
intriguing, are mixed and don’t nearly hold a candle to the original run. The
first film of the series has its merits and stands on its own decently well,
but considering some of the phenomenal films that Fukasaku released in this
period it does seem to be a step back in quality which should be noted even if
fans are certain to find plenty of enjoyment out of them.
For the first of this “reboot” trilogy, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity revisits a lot of the same
themes, character traits, and concepts that the original series covered over
the five films released in the years prior. In a way, this is problematic for
the film as it simply can’t compare to the execution and writing of its
predecessors. Many of the issues that arise in this entry are due to the
writing of the film itself, which lacks the depth, subtlety, and immense
networking of characters that made the previous entries so phenomenal to
experience. It attempts to hit many of the same thematic set pieces as our
hero, Miyoshi (played once again with intense and screen devouring presence by
Bunta Sugawara,) sacrifices a good chunk of his life in prison on a failed
assassination attempt assigned to him by his boss. He’s released, more mature
and perhaps a bit smarter in his intent to play the yakuza chess game more
effectively, and finds himself in the crossfire between the head hauncho and a
conniving lower boss, who is played in an almost unrecognizable manner by Tomisaburo
Wakayama in a stark contract to the sheer intensity and straightforward effect
of his assassin role in the Lone Wolf and
Cub films. The intent is intriguing as New
Battles would attempt to recreate many of the same plot elements of the
original Battles film, but the
writing is not quite as tight and effective as before and flounders for much of
the middle portion of the film as our protagonist is bounced around like a ping
pong ball between two increasingly violent bosses and increasing tension.
There is an interesting sense in New Battles that the character Miyoshi has simply gone from one
prison to another, but the film fails to capitalize on the subtext of that idea
beyond a general tone. The manner that he is trapped by his position between
his bosses and the subtle detail that every time he travels he must get it
approved by some government authority adds to this tone. Unfortunately, the film
doesn’t necessarily use its concept to maximum effect as the characters all
seem weirdly disconnected from one another (perhaps intentionally?) and there
are only a few highlights in New Battles
that seem to work, including a smaller role for Hiroki Matsukata as a fellow
inmate who befriended Miyoshi. Truthfully, the one thing that perks the most
interest and works as a slightly more unique approach to the film is the
arrival of Reiko Ike as a Korean call girl that Miyoshi makes a connection
with. However, she is only in a few scenes for a brief stint before
disappearing from the plot. Ike and Sugawara have impeccable onscreen chemistry
and the previous Battles films rarely
had any female characters of any importance so it’s this secondary plot in the
film that stands out the most.
For fans of the Battles
Without Honor and Humanity, the extension of concept that is New Battles Without Honor and Humanity will
satiate the craving for realistic and gritty yakuza material. It’s not nearly
as effective as most of the original series and still falters a bit to other films
from the era from Kinji Fukasaku (Arrow Video also released Cops Vs Thugs recently which is one of
my favorites), but it’s still a strong film with some great performances and
impactful moments. The release that Arrow Video dropped does have a nice
interview on it that goes into the trilogy of films within context of their
release and the booklet has some fascinating pieces in it on each film for
those collectors looking for features. The booklets in these Arrow releases
always come out as highlights for these sets for me. New Battles Without Honor and
Humanity may not be his best, but it’s still a worthy little side stepping
reboot for fans of the style.
ARROW VIDEO FEATURES:
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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