Men Who Live Without A Code Of Honor: The Yakuza!, January 3, 2007

This Japanese film, "Graveyard of Honor," intrigued me for a long time, therefore, I decided to purchase it a few years ago, and was not disappointed. Having seen many Japanese films: mainly samurai, drama, horror and some comedy; I decided to take a deeper look at the yakuza. And I found a film that I would highly recommend to all viewers. If you ever wondered just how far the world of the yakuza has strayed in terms of honor, then this film will enlighten you. Director Kinji Fukasaku, who is well known for his yakuza films, has probably made his best one with this film. He shows the viewer just how far the yakuza has strayed from its once code of honor and ethics. The film, released in 1975, takes place in post-war Japan.The main antagonist in the film is based on the real life yakuza Rikio Ishikawa (Tetsuya Watari). The film is done in a 'mockumentary' style where the viewer is allowed to see just how debased the yakuza have become: And these yakuza are not very...

the violence in this film is extremely senseless, ruthless, brutal and crazy. there's also a very weird development in this movie: the tragic young woman, a virgin, who was at first raped by that rikio, fell for the guy wholeheartedly. it looked somewhat ridiculous but somehow quite possible. maybe she owed him in her former life and got to pay him back in this horrible way. a woman sometimes inexplicably fell for the guy who treated her badly. this crazy yakuza psychopath was such a violent species that ran parallel with 'ichi, the killer', both were senseless, mindless, witless stone-cold killers, even worse than a wild animal. animal only killed when felt hungry, but this guy killed people not even for his fun. this rikio/ishimatsu guy was actually an idiot with a knife and a moron with a gun, a pitbull dog-like jerk who abused the friendship and betrayed the brotherhood. there's absolutely no honor and honest in his conscience. it's a big laugh if you consider his wrongdoings...

I have not yet seen this DVD version of the film, but I assume that this Home Vision Entertainment DVD has a much better picture quality - keeping in mind that this film is from the 70s. It is a very entertaining and stylish yakuza film from famous Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku. Fukasaku was made famous because of his great yakuza films including this film and the "Battles without Honor" (aka Yakuza Papers) series. This is highly recommended to anyone who likes gangster films.