Yakuza In Love
Director: Rokuro Mochizuki
Cast: Eiji Okuda, Yuna Natsuo, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Yukio Yamanouchi
Auteur Rokuro Mochizuki (ONIBI: FIRE WITHIN, ANOTHER LONELY HITMAN) continues to toy with the genre conventions of the yakuza film, bringing the unexpected element of romantic comedy to this masterly effort.
Kinichi (Eiji Okuda) is a hit man in an ill-fated gang, the small Okudo sect, which is fighting a losing battle with their rival Uzaki gang. Kinichi is sent on an important job with his friend Hamaoka, to carry out a hit against a top Uzaki boss.
En route, however, Kinichi encounters a pretty young waitress named Yoko and promptly falls in love, taking a detour to her cafe to try to get a date. He slips some heroin into her food in order to get her into bed, and upon awakening Yoko realizes the true nature of his occupation.
Meanwhile, Hamaoka attempts to do the job himself, bungling it horribly and essentially dooming his drug-addled gang. In a last-ditch effort to save the situation, Kinichi kidnaps his true love and sets out with Hamaoka to attempt a dangerous redemption. Intense performances, plenty of violence, and graphic sex alternate with successfully comic and truly tender moments.
2001 Color Widescreen 110 Min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
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