Tough ex-cop Joji Mizuno (Joe Shishido) plays two rival yakuza gangs against each other as he tries to find out who killed his former partner. Directed by Seijun Suzuki, the nihilistic gangster film is full of macho posturing and casual brutality - less 'slick' than contemporaneous American films but tougher. Joe Shishido, whose one-of-a-kind look comes from cheek implants, plays his usual tough-guy character and the most of the Tokyo underworld that he takes on are standard ciphers although Hideo (Tamio Kawachi), a gay, razor-wielding killer with a mother-obsession is a bit out of the ordinary. The movie is somewhat slow moving and the action sequences unconvincing (by modern standards) but the plot spools to an interesting twist ending. Definitely worth watching for fans of the genre.
Review of Youth of the Beast
