‎The Yakuza (1974) directed by Sydney Pollack • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Yakuza

1974 Directed by Sydney Pollack

A man never forgets. A man pays his debts.

Harry Kilmer returns to Japan after several years in order to rescue his friend George's kidnapped daughter - and ends up on the wrong side of the Yakuza, the notorious Japanese mafia...

Robert Mitchum Ken Takakura Brian Keith Herb Edelman Richard Jordan Keiko Kishi Eiji Okada James Shigeta Kyosuke Mashida Christina Kokubo Eiji Gô Louis Chirillo M. Hisaka William Ross Akiyama Harada

112 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Kaijuman ★★★★½ 7

"Ken is a relic, a leftover of another age, of another country."

Robert Mitchum vs. the Yakuza. When I heard that I thought it would be this action packed good time. Instead The Yakuza is a thoughtful, somber tale with some quick scenes of brutal violence. If it had turned out to that action packed movie in my mind, I don’t think it would have been as powerful as a film.

Robert Mitchum returns to the land of the rising sun after being stationed there during Japan’s occupation to rescue the daughter of an old war buddy. Once there he reunites with his old flame and more importantly, her brother, Ken (played terrifically be Ken Takakura). Ken holds a strange…
Review by Steve G ★★★★

The 1970s Crime Season!

It seems amazing to me that The Killer Elite, which I reviewed last night and thought was an absolutely ridiculous film, was made a year after The Yakuza.

I would have liked to have thought that Sam Peckinpah would have watched this splendid film and actually gained something about how you can marry together the west and the east, not just in terms of culture but in terms of bringing together a highly impressive action film. There are no ninja assassins or stupidly sketched stereotypes here and any of the culture clash narrative that does result is respectful, interesting and even educational.

Then again, from what I've seen of their respective work, I would personally say…
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★½ 4

A wonderful film that has my admiration for its simple yet profound themes! A thoughtful slow burn with occasional outbursts of violence!

The grand finale fight scene is really something to behold!
Review by Steve P ★★★½ 2

Movie club - just pop by and say hello - we're all very friendly

I didn't really know what to expect going into Yakuza. A cursory glance at Google quickly showed it wasn't particularly well received on release. I was also under the preconceived notion that this would be one of those American in Japan films that would be less than flattering to the people of its setting. Fortunately I found the film to be far more enjoyable than its reputation and loved the lead character who had a real reverence for Japanese culture and its people.

Robert Mitchum’s Harry Kilmer by any rights should have be an iconic character who appeared in a string of movies. A turtleneck sweater,…
Review by Steven Sheehan ★★★½

No doubt Paul Schrader's screenplay came into being off the back of America's growing fascination with Asia's martial arts, with Bruce Lee building himself into the icon of the scene. The film was shot mostly on location in Japan and the story builds itself around samurai tradition without weighing itself down with too much history.

Working with Schrader was Robert Towne, who had just written Chinatown and this film goes to show that consistency is just as hard to find holding the pen as anywhere else. This is certainly no classic but it does contain some solid action scenes built around a fully believable friendship between Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura who steals the show from the Hollywood veteran.

Mitchum…
Review by matt lynch ★★★★

"It is Eiko, of course, but it is also Japan."

not so much leisurely as patient, not so much relaxed as resigned, a fish-out-of-water thriller in disguise. the west presumes to be able to navigate the otherness of Japan, an otherness its "victorious" privilege prevents it from dispelling, and instead is confronted by the tormented identity crisis that privilege helped create.

Recent reviews

Review by Henry Baker ★★

Robert Mitchum's shambling corpse is somehow animated for two hours of po-faced line readings, but warmth, humanity and humour are too much to ask of a cadaver it seems. Possibly the most unmagnetic performance by an actor of his stature I can think of. What a disaster.

I thought with Schrader and Towne penning the script this might at least take a dumb, ill-advised white saviour premise and produce something pulpy and well-told, but instead what we have is a trudging, self-serious narrativisation of a Wikipedia entry on the Yakuza (factoids and mountainous exposition are a fine replacement for thematic depth, right?). Truly, deeply unimaginative and offensively familiar. I can forgive a rendering of the Japanese people that indulges in Orientalist tropes (within reason), but I can't forgive a rendering of the Japanese people as boring.
Review by Chase Weaver ★★★★½

Warm, calm, and collected. One of the most satisfying surprises I’ve had in awhile.

Set design, action choreography, and Okazaki’s cinematography are gut-punch gorgeous. Didn’t see that the Schraders wrote this until halfway through, and I’m not necessarily convinced Taxi Driver is the greater accomplishment.

You couldn’t be blamed for thinking Mitchum’s in a bit over his head (he mostly is), but his technically fraught carryover into New Hollywood only emphasizes his character’s strain as a carryover from occupied Japan to modernized Japan, replete with apartment complexes, bullet trains, and newly-forged economic friendships.

~Spoilerish~
The twist re: Eiko is one of my favorites ever. Not just new information, not just shocking, but repaints the entire inner life of another character instantly. It’s incredibly subtle, partly because it wasn’t even necessary, and introduces even more depth than was already there.
Review by Mark Gubarenko | Марк Губаренко ★★★★½ 2

Восхитительно. Полу Шрейдеру позвонил брат, который временно жил в Японии, и сказал, что в восторге от местной звезды Кена Такамуры, давай мой напишем сценарий. Больше месяца они смотрели японские фильмы, а потом за день благодарения и рождество написали сценарий. Сценарий продали, на главную роль взяли Роберта Митчума, ну и само собой Такамуру. Режиссером взяли Олдрича. Но Митчем уже работал с Олдричем и поменял (звезда же) его на Поллака. Поллаку захотелось смягчить сценарий, но с относительно молодым Шрейдером он не сработался, и захотел взять кого-то своего возраста. Так сценарий переписывать пришел еще один великий персонаж - Роберт Тауни. Оператора взяли родного, японца Козо Оказаки, который нихуя не понимал по английски, а Поллак по японски - общались они своей выдуманной системой карточек. А музыку писать попросили Дэйва Грузина. Вообщем все эти талантливые люди своей несовместимостью смогли снять охренительный фильм из моего любимого временного промежутка и в моей любимой Японии. Хайли рекомендед.
Review by Christopher Reese ★★★½

This is an unusual film. In many ways it feels like a 70's style crime thriller such as Friends of Eddie Coyle (and this is not just because the presence of Robert Mitchum in both . . . although it helps). But it also borrows, in a surprisingly respectful way, many of the tropes of the Yakuza films of this era and before. My knowledge of Yakuza films is not huge, but I have seen enough to see the connection between what this film is doing and that tradition.

While you do have much of the inner dealings of crime lords and violence that you would expect from either of these genres, at the core of this film is a…
Review by Korlis ★★★½

Nothing about this movie, that sees Robert Mitchum heading to Tokyo and getting embroiled in the Japanese underworld, ought to work. Somehow, though, the writer-director team-up of the Schrader brothers manage to capture a lot of what makes yakuza cinema of that era great (apparently after binge-watching plenty of 'authentic' Japanese yakuza movies). Definitely worth checking out if you like yakuza movies and/or gangster cinema in general.

Read my full review on Kino 893.com.
Review by Larry Yoshida ★★★★½

Excellent combination of the noir and yakuza genres, this is the story of two men, one American one Japanese, each with his code of honor. What makes this great is that it benefits from several incredible pairings. In his first screen outing, Paul Schrader (who would go on to write TAXI DRIVER and HARDCORE) partners with Robert Towne (CHINATOWN) for a compelling story of honor, betrayal, and forgiveness. The teaming of yakuza film legend Takakura Ken and world weary tough guy Robert Mitchum is perfect (I can't see original choice Lee Marvin having the same impact... and this is from a Marvin fan). It's also great seeing Mitchum working with Richard Jordan again, as THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is my favorite film from both men. With Brian Keith and James Shigeta. The print on FilmStruck is near perfect.
Review by James Aldridge ★★★★

This was such a wonderful surprise.

I expected very little from this movie and yet I was all in. Robert Mitchum is great (as always) but Ken Takakura is exceptional as the stoic but scary Yakuza gone straight.

I had a blast watching this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a less obvious 70s flick.
Review by baerdrew ★★★★½

Such a beautiful film with a great story. Some of these scenes made me so tense, literally leaning forward in anticipation. Will definitely be revisiting this to mimic its cinematography when I can
Review by Shuy Mexicali ★★★

El tiempo le está ganando terreno, aún así, la cinta se deja ver, al mero estilo de Paul Schrader, una violencia contenidad que termina por explotar en momentos críticos.

El estilo que maneja Sydney Pollack no me convence tanto, sobretodo la forma de editar las escenas de acción.

Más profunda de lo que aparenta, esta cinta noir con elementos samurai tiene su encanto.

6.5/10.