Watched THE YAKUZA last night; Ive lost count of how many times Ive seen this film by now. Its definitely in the running for my all-time favourite film: beautiful, dark, melancholic and bleakly funny, with a haunting and gorgeous score by Dave Grusin and pitch-perfect performances from Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Kishi Keiko, James Shigeta and Richard Jordan. Ive loved it since I first saw it as a teenager; watching it again at 40, Im struck by the undertone of sadness and regret that underpins the whole thing. Lost love, lost children, good people broken on the wheels of duty and honour... The movie shows exactly what a superb director Sidney Pollack was, and the screenwriters? Robert Towne, Paul Schrader and Leonard Schrader deliver exactly what youd hope from writers of their calibre and pedigree. Takakura and Keiko are still going in their 80s, while the American stars - Mitchum, Jordan, Brian Keith - are all gone, as is Japanese-American actor James Shigeta, who passed away earlier this year. This is the film Ridley Scotts BLACK RAIN desperately wanted to be, and a million times better than anything tossers like Michael Bay could ever come up with. https://youtube/watch?v=qZNicPIILho
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 19:21:45 +0000