Member laagi Posted September 14, 2021 Member Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) This is first and foremost a drama. Which for the predominant part works remarkably well. This is largely due to believable characters and the outstanding performance by Go Ayano as Kenji Yamamoto. Whom we follow thru the course of 20 years as a Yakuza. Which means wee see Go Ayano as bleached haired hoodlum, a hardened Yakuza and later just a guy looking to find his peace in life. What the movie does very well is giving emotion to its characters. Which in return at least to me made me care about them. You don't just see the Yakuza but human beings. One could question if we should be made to care for criminals. I'm not sure. Also the unforgiving punishment by society once you choose this path. While I'm not aware of the realities of former members of the Yakuza. But if only half of it is true you basically lose any human rights. Again, one could argue this was their choice in the first place. I can see that some might be turned off by its runtime (135 minutes) or overly dramatic approach at times. There is one plot point which I found very predictable but I can certainly see why it was done. I would recommend checking this out if you're looking for a different and at least to me fresh approach to the Yakuza genre. Not a lot of glamour or badassery left here. Last but not least I think it's worth mentioning that I found it a interesting cinematic choice that they changed the aspect ratio towards the end of the movie. Since we follow our protagonist thru a different phase in his life. Not to mention that for the most part it's a very well shot film. Edited September 14, 2021 by laagi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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