Sympathy For The Underdog(1971) Movie Review

When Gunji, an old-time gangster is released after ten years of prison life, he comes home to see the remnants of his gang scattered, and worse, at the point of scraping the bottom. Having nearly being driven out of town by the now powerful Daitokai gang, Gunji and his remaining loyals plot a new course in Okinawa. Now surrounded by American GIs, foreigners of all kinds, and the roar of passing jets overhead, the small band of would-be captains face up against not only a number of treacherous characters, but of a possibly greater threat from the past. And before one says that much of the initial premise sounds strangely similar to Fukasaku's Street Mobster produced one year later, one would have to agree- but what makes this two sided coin of Yakuza films so special, is in how they spiritually aim to better understand two generations caught in the malestrom of the post war Japan experience. With Sympathy, Fukasaku's last movie with favorite, Koji Tsuruta in the lead, it is something of an elegy to a time that had only so long to live. Much more cool-headed and meticulous than the pure blazing anarchy of Street Mobster, this is a movie that both explores the pride, and perhaps even soul of the outsiders looking to make a mark despite the encroaching odds.

Also unlike Street Mobster, we are given just enough coverage regarding those coming along for the ride. Including the passionate youngsters , and even a battle-hardened family man, the film takes on more of a classy ensemble piece. Alongside Gunji and his gang, is Kudo (played brilliantly by one-time-real gang member, Noboru Ando, also in Street Mobster) who's outsider nature makes for an interesting wild card for them. And true to older forms, the narrative begins not unlike a classic caper film, allowing for scenes of planning between these characters. Which is how we are introduced to those who would rule the docks of Naha, and those lesser lieutenants working the smaller beats. These are cooler cats who are calm & collected, but erupt with great fury in short, effective doses.

So once Gunji and company begin to make their big moves within Naha's nightlife leaders, not only does the danger level rise, but the questions of worth in the entire operation begin to appear. It isn't very long before these seemingly nostalgic streets begin claiming victims, forcing Gunji and his men to reassess their choices. The loss of one big mover within this smaller than usual infrastructure opens up a world of trouble in the form of long boiling envies, long hoping for their share of the island community. Suddenly, this great assumption of Okinawa being the last truly free-market becomes a stage for a final showdown of ideologies, and splintered allegiances. A slow, creeping sensation begins to form that there is little where else to go, and that men of Gunji's stature and temperament are destined for merely stories in the future.

Having heard that Fukasaku was inspired largely by The Battle Of Algiers makes a great deal of sense when considering the choice of Okinawa, and everything it entails within the piece. With the central gang looking toward a new world of success in a land untouched by the corporate assimilation process in Yokohama, themes of displacement sink in when they discover that not all is hopeful and pleasant off the mainland. Even Gunji's prostitute companion/echo from days past laments life in Naha, and that there's little else for anyone to do here to survive. (In an interesting counterpoint to Mayumi Nagisa's character in Street Mobster, she seems well within her faculties to be her own person, just at the mercy of what fate has dealt her.) There also seems to be a grand concern regarding colonialism embedded here, not to mention the eradication of any sort of self-made individual within the criminal set. It is as if Gunji's gang remains the last of a more colorful time on a collision course with the growing mass of dark suits and ties that has inspired the major look of the Daitokai.  A ragtag bunch of passionates versus an all-consuming hive mind.

While every bit as bloody as Street Mobster came to be, there is a more contemplative game plan within Sympathy that perhaps even strengthens how we view Sugawara's unforgettable mad dog character in that film. By looking into Tsuruta's Gunji, we are looking into a generation scarred by the last days of war, reaching its sunset, longing for a respectful resting place. Those growing up throughout the end of World War II, saw much to repair and reconsider, while characters like Street Mobster's Okita were born in the sprawling confusion that came in years after. Both generations having little understanding of one another, and yet inextricably linked by way of the tide. While both are ready to go down fighting, one has clearly ruminated what is being lost, while the other cannot see much beyond the flames of conflict itself. While not necessarily portraying the gangs of old in a flattering light, Fukasaku's curiosity about a life alongside them, even in their final throes cannot be understated.

Street Mobster (1972) Movie Review

The moment Okita found himself out of the joint, the world outside had changed dramatically, right down to even how gang life operated. Ten years had indeed done quite a bit to Japan, one wonders how a street tough like him could even remotely fit in. And in Kinji Fukasaku's brutal character study, it's all about things that could never be. Bunta Sagawara makes an indelible impression as a product of much more fist-to-face era in Post-War Japan at odds with the more ingrained reality of the late 1960s. With a main character who's constant sneer toward authority, and impossible to snuff rage at any and all around him, the audience can only wonder just how far the film is willing to go in regards to his inner savagery without cutting away to some semblance of safety. It's the chinpira drama that helped pave the way for Fukasaku's Yakuza Papers series to come to fruition, and it's a merciless one at that.

For those unfamiliar, Fukasaku's films became well known for their unflinching look at the outsiders, the wandering souls still reeling in the years after WWII, often into violent lives, filled disastrous decisions, and tragedy befalling even those nearest. Not unlike Blackmail Is My Business, the film takes a look at the life of one unwilling to easily fit into the new Japan, and ready to take on larger forces they are wholly unprepared for, and incapable of understanding. This time, instead of the Japanese governmental infrastructure, it is the hierarchy of the contemporary Japanese underworld, where allegiances are tenuous, and face is everything. Whereas many other filmmakers of the era often portrayed the gangster as something of a folk hero, Fukasaku was unafraid to call out a harsher reality to matters, often portraying his characters as conflicted, and even completely unsympathetic to a whole new generation of filmgoers. And Street Mobster does this with the grit and grime still fresh on its coattails decades later as Okita attempts to make a name for himself in a world simply not fashioned for him, despite what seems to be working for him in the moment (a place Okita only seems to live in, while simultaneously being locked in an endless time loop).

Practically programmed to rape and beat at will, Okita is poised to meeting his destiny by way of some bizarre turns during his one-man campaign to regain what he claims is his. Almost immediately, he is granted his own little gang of underlings who offer him a girl for the evening, only to the startling realization that his "gift" was amongst one of his many victims in the salad days. A country girl, now a prostitute, Kinuyo (Mayumi Nagisa) begins what can only be described as a tormented relationship with Okita after this chance encounter. At once deeply scornful of his terrible nature, and yet violently jealous when pushed aside, Kinuyo is in many ways not unlike him in that no matter the circumstance, they are inextricably self-destructive despite the potential surrounding them in a nation now ready to embrace something resembling a "normal" existence. All of this comes to a head when it is learned that the two largest power players on the streets are what stands between Okita and possible glory.

Enter Fukasaku's hidden gut punch in the form of rival gang leaders, now owning and running large business sections of the city, often with buildings overlooking the organic spoils of modern success. With the slightly still rough around the edges Takigawa running his gambling establishments et al on one side, and the cool-headed businessman, Yato (Noboru Ando) on the other within his glass tower. Quickly after essentially bailing the loose-cannon Okita on more than one occasion, Yato takes him under his wing, granting him a place within the organization to the behest of many around him. The now calm, collected leader sees a reflection of his more rough & tumble past in him, and sees potential despite all the nattering happening on both sides, clueless as to why he would give such a hopelessly two-bit sociopath such a shot. It is within the endless turmoil that occurs here, that allows Street Mobster to be more than merely another exercise in anti-hero melodrama, but rather a requiem for a Japan that has become something where the rage has been put on permanent boil, rather than made to face itself- to the detriment of all involved.

Bringing to life such a character study could have easily become something designed only for those eager to wallow in the muck of it, but Fukasaku, Sugawara and company make the film into a surprisingly potent human affair in that it somehow balances the anarchy of Okita's life with the lives that share it to startling effect. The director's signature freeze frames, disorienting action shots, and rapid editing are well intermingled with the often very busy blocking often making the frame a lively one from frame one to the last. And Sugawara's portrayal of an out-of-time loser is strangely compelling, not to mention iconic of a day when unbridled passion could get one far suddenly faced with a radically systemized world, ready to consume his energy whole in the name of progress. An easy film to dismiss for being too bleak, but ultimately far too potent to resist.