His 2001 'Agitator', however, while having its fair share of extreme violence goes more for the straight-and-narrow of yakuza films, though manages to steer it away from a tedious shout-fest. Takashi Miike has more than dabbled with the yakuza genre, but more from an angle of extreme violence and gore than hierarchical struggles. The ensuing power struggle brings with it a lot of characters, often resulting in confusion as to who's who, who's working with who and who just got stabbed in the melee. In the mould of Kinji Fukusaku's yakuza films from the Seventies, the formula is usually that of a rogue frustrated by the rigid structures of organised crime. Reviewed by politic1983 7 / 10 Big brother beat

A bleak world view for a non-yakuza, but still, this is a very thought-provoking movie. While in Bollywood movies police is a toothless tiger, but at least cruises around in jeeps sometimes, here it is just non-existent. What surprised me (but then, I'm a Miike newbie) was the total absence of The Law. The subplot of the noodle-delivery boy being turned into a yakuza apprentice, tattoo and all, was very strong. And such scenes tend to settle deeper in me than yet another blood gusher. That may even be looking at a flower, or a child playing an electric organ, or spoon-feeding a tied-up prisoner. The other half is a mix of seemingly documentary material (with too brief sketches of childhood and romance), giving some impression of what else is in a yakuza's day's work besides shootings. The (often bloody, then again often quite management-like) power struggles inside the organization make around half of the film. And it sure was delivered - but in a way that keeps me wondering.

Having checked IMDb and Wikipedia before, I was prepared for yakuza violence. Quite a package.įrom Miike, I had watched Bird People before, which I liked very much. I ended a week-end of Japan movies with Agitator (others were Drunken Angel, Ikiru, Memoirs of a Geisha, Letters from Iwo Jima, Sky High). Reviewed by suchenwi 8 / 10 All in a day's work

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