The Yakuza (1975)

Directed by Sydney Pollack. Starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Keiko Kishi, Brian Keith, Richard Jordan, Herb Edelman, James Shigeta, Eiji Okada, Christina Kokubo, Kyosuke Machida. [R]

Retired detective Mitchum travels to Japan on behest of old friend Keith to help rescue Keith’s daughter, kidnapped by Japanese gangsters from the yakuza. While there, he reconnects with former flame Kishi and spars with her brother (Takakura), a former wartime enemy who owes Mitchum a debt. Violent action pic stumbles over its overly elegiac, even wistful first half that spends too long introducing and explaining the yakuza association (and not always clearly), as well as a largely redundant love story that never takes flight or serves much of a purpose. Unusually high pedigree for this kind of bloody genre piece, directed by Pollack and written by debuting screenwriter Paul Schrader (with an assist by his brother Leonard, and a rewrite by Robert Towne). Mitchum’s weary cynicism is well suited for the lead role; Takakura’s masculine solemnity seizes interest in an archetypal role.

68/100