Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Direction
Fukasaku's handheld carnage—every frame feels like combat journalism.
Acting
Kinya Kitaoji's desperate Yamanaka breaks your heart before breaking skulls.
Score
Toshiaki Tsushima's jazzy panic attack of a soundtrack.
Director
Kinji Fukasaku
Bunta Sugawara
Shozo Hirono
Kinya Kitaoji
Shoji Yamanaka
Meiko Kaji
Yasuko Uehara
Sonny Chiba
Katsutoshi Otomo
Hiroshi Nawa
Tsuneo Muraoka
Mikio Narita
Hiroshi Matsunaga
Gin Maeda
Koichi Shimada
Asao Koike
Kunimatsu Takanashi
Shingo Yamashiro
Shozo Eda
Hideo Murota
Keisuke Nakahara
Tatsuo Endō
Kanichi Tokimori
Yoshi Katō
Choji Otomo
Kinji Nakamura
Toshio Kuramitsu
Nobuo Kaneko
Yoshio Yamamori
Toshie Kimura
Rika Yamamori
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
JP
