On the 15th of October, 2025, someone who I would argue was the most gifted director to work within the 60s/70s Japanese Yakuza film scene died. That was Kazuo Ikehiro. He joined Daiei Films, a company that at one point owned their own baseball company, and currently no longer exists. But, back in the day, this used to be up there with the big names like Toho in the Japanese industry.
For those not in the know, Yakuza films aren’t about the 20th/21st century hand-chopping-off gang. It’s about feudal Japan and the “gangsters” (not really gangsters as we think of them) who roam around. Kenji Misumi may be the biggest name in the space, creating the Lone Wolf and Cub franchise and six films in the Zatoichi series. Some may argue that he’s the most influential… and they’d probably be right.
See, I’m not here to claim that Ikehiro started the scene, or is the most influential, or whatever. What I am trying to argue is that he was the best director in the scene. You can tell when it’s Ikehiro behind the camera. When he makes a flick, and despite how much I like them, they’re flicks, not films, it feels more like a mixtape than a straight-forward story. I don’t think I’m seeing the story, I think I’m seeing the story told in a very specific way. Through his stylisation, he almost makes what isn’t shown as important that is.
And, it’s also really fuckin’ cool.
While his 2nd/3rd (depending on the source) film, his first one that isn’t lost to time. The story is classic Yakuza - young, good looking gangster gets hired to take out a fellow Yakuza. He’s about to, but then finds out he’s a family man. He refuses. But the gang takes him out anyway. Feeling guilt, the gangster helps the widow (who of course falls in love with him and - SPOILER - tragically dies at the end of the tale) and kid moves back to the widow’s parent’s town. Once he does that, we have a gambling scene. You need a gambling scene. It’s like a T-Series movie without a fucking dance number. These films live and die on the strength of their gambling scene. While not as inventive as something like Zatoichi either cheating or discovering cheating, due to the Ikehiro of it all, oh - this film lives. Of course, the gang who killed the family man comes to the town, looking for blood. He defeats them, single-handed… and then walks away. The kid screams his name as he walks away, but he can’t raise him - he’s a Yakuza, and any kid with such a dishonorable father figure is surely damned.
To highlight a single piece of brilliance from Ikehiro, would be when the gang marches with flaming sticks. He, like a genius, waited until it was really windy to shoot it. He then got the gang to march into the wind. You may wonder why? Because then, the flame flew behind the stick, almost like a flag. A flag of flames - a PERFECT metaphor for Yakuza gang violence and conquest in feudal Japan.
Ichikawa Raizo, the star, plays the role as a playful charismatic figure with a dark past. Kinda like Matt Smith and David Tennant (the first time) as the Doctor. It works WONDERS, and neither half of this complicated portrait feels limited by the other.