There recently was a feature on Japanese action director Kinji Fukakatsu in Film Comment, that inspired me to track down some of the movies I hadn't seen, which is what led me to Yakuza Graveyard (1976). This film stars Tetsuya Watari as Kuriowa, a cop with ties to the yakuza-he gets caught up in between rival factions during a war. The Nishida family has a formidable female boss played by Lady Snowblood herself, Mieko Kaji. Kuriowa is dating the drug addicted prostitute former girlfriend of a yakuza he killed in the line of duty. Kuriowa follows his own code and feels no allegiance to either the cops or the yakuza. Fukasaku is known as a impresario of violence and employs his trademark hand held camera during the fight scenes. The period details added to the enjoyment of this film for me.
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