STREET MOBSTER (1972)
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Bunta Sugawara, Noboru Ando, Mayumi Nagisa
Genre: Yakuza
Running Time: 89mins

Rating:

Following his imprisonment for the murder of a rival Yakuza, Okita is released from prison into a new underworld, far from the post-war depression in which he made his name. Whereas once there were alleyways of filth and opportunities to scrape money from petty crime, now there is a community of freedom, youth, and the old Yakuza wars are concealed within the facade of legitimate businesses. And so Okita's return to this sedated world is one of rage and violence, his aim is simple, to take anyone and everyone on with his own gang, to be boss, to start a turf war, and win.

Street Mobster seems very familiar, and it’s no wonder really, as – essentially – the plot and characters are almost a complete mirror image of those seen in Fukasaku’s Graveyard of Honour. Okita isn’t a far cry from Ishikawa in terms of his wildly violent behaviour, and his determination to disrupt and abandon the code of the Yakuza. Much like Ishikawa, he is free-spirited, reckless, unattached and dangerous. There is even his affinity to a prostitute (Kimiyo) – again a relationship that stems from rape – this is certainly not feminist territory.

Having said that, in Fukasaku’s hands you would expect a film that resembles one of his finest to excel and succeed as another entry to his Yakuza master class. Unfortunately, such is not the case. It seems that Graveyard of Honour (made after Street Mobster) had learnt from the mistakes of its predecessor.

It’s difficult to pin-point just what it is about Street Mobster that fails to work. Technically Fukasaku continues to maintain his distinctly European style with disjointed freeze-frames and hand-held cinematography infused with a jazz score; the startlingly violent imagery once more hidden within the chaotic nature of his composition. There are moments where the cinematography falters (rushed zooms, poor framing and some of the worse tracking I’ve ever seen), however, for the most part Fukasaku is in control of his vision with symbolic imagery and dizzying excesses to match the free-fall structure of its soundtrack.

I guess where Street Mobster is most lacking is within its almost non-existent emotional core. You never really care for the characters, especially Okita, who it seems is set out on destroying the lives of everyone he meets. The attempts at establishing a relationship between Okita and rape victim Kimiyo are not so much misjudged as completely misogynistic, and downright insulting. It’s a factor that prevents any connection with the films protagonist and as such it suffers. It seems that in spite of Fukasaku’s poorly constructed attempts at garnering sympathy in Okita’s lost childhood history there is simply no depth to his character, only surface.

The events that unfold are entertaining however, and you will never lose interest as Fukasaku drives the camera through each street battle with a cinema verite feel. It’s just a shame that throughout Street Mobster you will also never really care a damn about anyone. That, it seems is the films biggest let down. Don’t be fooled into believing that all Fukasaku’s films are strong social commentaries, while it was a clear element in Graveyard of Honour, there is no real display here. It may have been his intention to make a comment on post-war Japan but it is in no way a clear cut, visible message.

Street Mobster is nothing more than something to pass the time with, a curiosity. No emotional engagement, a fairly simplistic plot – just switch your brain off and view. It’s very easy to enjoy – so long as you never expect it to rise above what it is. Just another movie.