Well, its finally happened. Japan Organized Crime Boss is on Blu-ray and it pretty much feels like a dream come true. This is one I had on DVD with what feels like it was many generations ago via the Eureka DVD which even as a product of its time, had A LOT of room from improvement. It looked like something that aired on an old TV from 1975. Thankfully all of that is now behind us and the Radiance release is a marvel to look at.
First the film. When you start the film you're probably going to feel slightly confused with the narration of all the factions at play. This film has a lot of characters, or at least that's what it seems like initially. Once things settle, that's when the juicy elements come into play. The late 60's to early 70's were a transition era for Japanese Yakuza films, and this one was truly planting the seeds for what would come in the 70's.
You get a lot of top Japanese actors in this film, but the stand out is Tomisaburo Wakayama, in one of his best and complicated performances. He comes off strong and brutish when we first meet him, but there are many layers to his characters and ultimately it comes down to him chasing something that seems to have eluded him for quite some time. Honor, and brotherhood. His last scene where we see this tough guy quiver over a phone call, but accepts what he must do, is one of Wakayama's best scenes in a filmography that spans over 200 roles.
The film still hinges on Koji Tsuruta who while playing the cool cat similar to his performance in many other films, here he isn't as weary and disillusioned as he often appears. He has hope for his friends and the organization he has taken responsibility for, and wants to do right in a world that is vile and full of deceit. You can only imagine what's in store for his world he holds onto.
The 4K remaster is stunning to look at and it might be one of the better looking Fukasaku films because of it. We get an archival interview with Fukasaku himself, interview with yakuza pro Akihiko Ito, and a pretty cool visual essay from Nathan Stuart who goes into a lot of details about main man Koji Tsuruta from his early life, to his death in the mid 80's.
The fact that we got this and it's spiritual sequel Sympathy for the Underdog in the same year is almost impossible to believe. These have been two of my most wanted films on Blu-ray since the inception of the format and honestly at many points I believed it would never happen. Patience is a virtue I suppose, or at least sometimes.
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Kinji Fukasaku's Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969) (Radiance Films)
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