Sympathy for the Underdog (Fukasaku, 1971): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm
This film is part of the Radiance Presents season at the Prince Charles. Details here.
Little White Lies review:
“I don’t do things halfway,” says gangster Noburo Kudo (Noburo Ando),
about halfway through Kinji Fukasaku’s film, “We’re into it now, let’s
go all the way.” His former rival turned friend Masuo Gunji (Kōji
Tsuruta) can only agree. Fresh out of a ten-year stint in a Yokohama prison, Gunji has
reassembled the remnants of his old gang, and moved in on Naha, Okinawa,
whether for the criminal opportunities the American-occupied island
capital offers, or perhaps because he is looking for his ex-lover there.
This leads to conflicts with new local gangs, as well as with his old
enemies from the mainland, as he and Kudo prove gutsy albeit outnumbered
underdogs in some very unfair fights. The ninth and final entry in Toei Studios Bakuto (‘Gambler’) series,
this may be a yakuza film, but it plays more like noir, not least thanks
to Takeo Yamashita’s hard jazz score, the flashbacks told in stylised
photomontages, and the brooding fatalism that pervades everything. These
characters are all in, even if they know there can be no going back,
and as Gunji, sporting his characteristic shades, cuts a cool figure,
this will also be his last stand, and his glorious revenge.
Anton Bitel
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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