Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Screenplay: Kôji Takada
Starring: Hiroki Matsukata, Yumiko Nogawa, Shin’ichi Chiba, Mikio Narita, Kô Nishimura, Yôko Takahashi
Country: Japan
Running Time: 98 min
Year: 1977
BBFC Certificate: 15
I’ve discussed this recently in another review but Kinji Fukasaku is best known, to many, as a director who made jitsuroku (true-account) Yakuza films. He certainly found great commercial success with these, particularly the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. However, he only made them for a relatively short period of his long career, roughly between 1969 and 1977, depending on what you class as his first (I’m starting from Japan Organized Crime Boss but some don’t feel this is a ‘true’ title in his famous run of jitsuroku).
You might wonder why Fukasaku stopped when he did, as the films he made during this period were generally popular and the Japanese studio system was fairly rigid, sticking to genres and formulas to keep ‘bums on seats’, so to speak. Well, interest in jitsuroku films was beginning to wane as the late-70s approached, but there’s a more shocking reason why Fukusaku and studio Toei stopped making them, in particular.
Screenwriter Kôji Takada, when beginning work on Kinji Fukasaku’s Hokuriku Proxy War, took inspiration from a real-life Yakuza boss, Hiroshi Kawauchi. As was often the case when writing these jitsuroku films, Takada even met with the figure, to interview him to help inform the script.
A couple of months after the film was released, however, Kawauchi was murdered in a location incredibly similar to one in which his on-screen avatar was nearly killed. It’s believed the film may also have been part of the reason his rivals carried out the assassination.
Shocked and disturbed by this incident, Fukasaku and Toei stopped making jitsuroku (true-account) Yakuza films from that point on. Thus, the director’s impressive run of crime classics came to an end.
I’ve been gradually working my way through the raft of Fukasaku jitsuroku titles that have been released on Blu-ray over the past decade or so, and I’ve enjoyed every one of them. There are still a few that haven’t made it to disc over here though and one I hadn’t seen was Hokuriku Proxy War, so I was thrilled to hear that Radiance Films would be releasing it on Blu-ray. I got my hands on a screener and my thoughts follow.
The film centres around Kawauchi stand-in Kawada Noboru (Hiroki Matsukata), a yakuza in the Tomiyasu Group based in Fukui. Prior to the point at which the film starts, he had been promised control of a speedboat racetrack security business by his boss, Yasuhara (Kō Nishimura), in exchange for a murder. After Kawada serves time in prison for this, Yasuhara reneges, prompting Kawada to violently seize control of both the speedboat and bike race security. This attracts the attention of the ruthless Kanai Group from Osaka, led by Kanai (Sonny Chiba), who, under the Asada Group umbrella, aims to take over Fukui. They send a large force of assassins to take out Kawada.
Kawada survives the attack but fakes his death and hides with his lover, Kiku (Yumiko Nogawa). He initially rejects an offer of support from the Asada Group through Mr. Kubo (Mikio Narita), sent by Mr. Okano, preferring to handle the Kanai threat himself. After a near-fatal attack, Kawada’s own group, now led by Mantani (Hajime Hana), Kanai’s sworn brother, is seen as compromised.
While recovering with Kiku’s family, Kawada begins a relationship with her sister, Nobuko (Yôko Takahashi). He then violently targets Mantani, further fueling the escalating yakuza war.
Sometime later, after another prison stint, Kawada returns to a changed landscape. His former ally, Takashi (Kiku’s brother), is now a Kanai branch leader and has been ordered to kill him. Kawada evades these attempts, reconciles with Mantani, and reveals his intention to marry Nobuko to Kiku. He then aligns with the Asada Group, who also see Kanai as a threat, and embarks on a campaign of violence against the Kanai organization.
Fukasaku was an old hand at these films by this point and it’s filled with the touches that make them so good. His frames are filled with activity, emotions are heightened and action is fast, messy and visceral. It’s got your usual complex plot too, that’s full of characters and webs of allegiances.
Changing the location to the Hokuriku region gives the film a slightly different flavour though. The landscape is often thick with snow and characters have different attire to fit the climate (one goon even sports some ear-muffs that you wouldn’t usually see on a gangster!). It also leads to some rivalry and comparison between the city Yakuza and their ‘country bumpkin’ counterparts. The Hokuriku Yakuza, and even their lovers, seem to be made of harder stuff, being stubborn, committed and unafraid of going all out to set things right, even if the odds aren’t in their favour.
Having said all that, I didn’t fall as deeply in love with Hokuriku Proxy War as I did most of Fukasaku’s jitsuroku films. I can’t think of a good reason why though. I just grew a little weary towards the end. It didn’t feel slow, necessarily, so perhaps I just didn’t have the energy for a Fukasaku jolt that night.
I still found a lot to enjoy though. The opening and closing sequences, with their shocking torture methods, are particularly eye-opening. I also thought the performances were strong. Sonny Chiba isn’t in it nearly as much as I expected but he’s wonderfully brash when he does crop up. Hiroki Matsukata is the star here and he’s excellent. Like writer Kôji Takada, Matsukata also met with the real-life gangster Kawauchi and looked for quirks in body language that he could use for the character. You can see how Matsukata rocks around when worked up, for instance, as though he’s fit to burst from the energy building up inside him.
I appreciated the two strong female characters too. Kiku debases her own life in order to protect Kawada and Nobuko is a rougher, less graceful woman than is typical in these films. She gets some powerful scenes later on in the film, as her character goes through the ringer.
Overall then, Fukasaku ends his run of jitsuroku Yakuza films with a bang. It’s perhaps not my favourite of the bunch but it has enough attention-grabbing scenes, memorable characters and energy to impress.
Film: 
Hokuriku Proxy War is out on 24th February on region A&B Blu-Ray, released by Radiance Films. The transfer is impressive, with pleasing colours and clear details. There are some very light marks here and there but these are likely only noticeable on very large screens or through a projector. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks. It sounds decent too.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
– High-Definition digital transfer
– Uncompressed mono PCM audio
– New interview with actress Yoko Takahashi (2024, 15 mins)
– New interview with screenwriter Koji Takada (2024, 19 mins)
– Yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito on the real-life Hokuriku Proxy War murder case (2024, 15 mins)
– Trailer
– Newly improved English subtitle translation
– Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
– Limited edition booklet featuring newly translated archival writings on the film
– Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Writer Koji Takada is interviewed. He reminisces about the film, which he thinks fondly of. He also looks back at his films made with Fukasaku, as a whole, particularly discussing the roles of women in them. He later talks about the real-life case linked to the film.
Akihiko Ito is also interviewed. He talks about the real-life figure the film is based on and what happened after its release. It’s a fascinating piece.
Actress Yoko Takahashi also talks about the film in an interview. She has plenty of anecdotes to tell, making for an enjoyable featurette that gives you a sense of the atmosphere on set.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, unfortunately.
So, it’s another strong package from Radiance, who have swiftly earned a place among the very best ‘boutique’ labels in a relatively short space of time.
Disc/package: