Synopsis
Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza.
1971 ‘ごろつき無宿’ Directed by Yasuo Furuhata
Young coal miner Takeda leaves Kyushu in search of a better job in Tokyo, only to fall into the lucrative yet dangerous life of a yakuza.
Gorotsuki mushuku, ごろつき無宿, ごろつきむしゅく
Isamu (Ken Takakura), a young coal miner from Kyushu, travels to Tokyo in search of work to provide for his mother after his father dies in a mining accident. After finding employment as a day labourer for Karasawa (Fumio Watanabe), his actions inadvertently cause a scrap collector to die. He finds out that Karasawa is actually a Yakuza backing a chemical corporations ruthless expansion efforts that are destroying the fishing trade and quits, before being taken in by Boss Asakawa (Takashi Shimura), whose family run an honest, hard working street vendor operation. He quickly takes to the job, but Karasawa harass him at every turn and despite his best efforts not to fight back, his patience can only last so…
Bit of a feel good sentimental movie which is fine. Ken Takakura is really likeable in this as just an all around good dude trying to work to bring his Ma to Tokyo but Yakuza gonna do what Yakuza gonna do, which is basically to takeover the fishing village, knock over cotton candy/banana carts, export, lie, cheat, kill. Ends with a nice bloody showdown and slightly sad but a charming drama throughout.
Thanks to JSlattery and Nathan for putting this on my radar.
Ken Takakura is a naive,earnest 'country bumpkin' coalminer who relocates to Tokyo in search of steady employment,only to find he's working as a laborer for the bad guys,the aptly named 'Toei Chemicals'. Ken is great in this highly enjoyable, sometimes very funny 'fish out of water' story,as he learns the ways of the 'Tekiya' street peddlers under the watchful eye of kindly boss Takashi Shimura. Shamelessly sentimental and heartstring tugging at times, especially in the subplot about an orphan boy who, wrongly,blames Ken for his father's death. It should be excruciating,but Kens subtle performance and Yasuo Furuhata's skilful direction somehow make it work, prepare to wipe away a tear or two .Not as action-packed as some of these films, most…
More of a character piece than a full on genre movie, but I enjoyed how emotional and heartfelt this was. The Yakuza storyline almost feels like an afterthought, with the movie mainly focusing on Takakura’s journey learning how to be a street vendor for the honorable clan in a fishing town, including his sweet friendship with a young boy. Things of course come to a head in the finale, with satisfyingly bloody results.
Far from the most exciting Yakuza movie you’re ever gonna see but if you’ve seen a good amount of Ninkyo and want something with a different, more personal flavor, this would be well worth a look.
In this long yakuza melodrama a country bumpkin relocates in Tokyo and after a brief stint at a yakuza-owned factory, he is given an offer to work as a street vendor by an old boss. He promises him not to indulge in fights and violence but the yakuza hoodlums keep harassing his people. For how long will he control himself?
Takakura was way too old to play this character: he does a good job despite being blatantly miscasted. The mid section of the film relies too much on unnecessary comedic scenes in which the protagonist tries to master the vendor lingo but the final showdown is very well executed and it seems the only reason why Ken has been chosen.
P.S. The evil company is named toei (yes...TOEI... :D )
Ken Takakura, sporting an unusually shaggy hairdo, leaves his small mining town in Kyushu to make money in Tokyo and support his mother back home. He is employed as a tekiya salesman under the leadership of Takashi Shimura, and defends them and the local fishermen from some unscrupulous yakuza.
It’s a typical ninkyo eiga, which is kind of interesting to see from Yasuo Furuhata knowing the films that he’d go on to direct. But while it’s formulaic, it is good. The tekiya gang are lighthearted and surprisingly funny. And Takakura has a cute friendship with a young boy.
While Takakura and Shimura are predictably good, I also really enjoyed Rinichi Yamamoto as the head of the fishermen. It was endearing to see Takakura practice and practice his salesman routines. He’s no Kiyoshi Atsumi though, and he never got good at them.