A war breaks out on the streets between rivalry Yakuza clans.Read More »
Junya Sato
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Jun’ya Satô – Soshiki bôryoku (1967)
Jun'ya Satô1961-1970CrimeJapan -
Jun’ya Sato – Zoku soshiki boryoku AKA Organized Violence II (1967)
Jun'ya Satô1961-1970ActionJapanPolitics
Letterboxd-Review:
A superb proto-jitsuroku type yakuza film by Junya Sato. Fumio Watanabe (in probably his best role) is a wonderfully cast against type as a crime boss who actually cares for his men and is the first one to barge into fight when rivals come knocking on the door. Powerful political figure Eijiro Yanagi becomes his consultant, after which short tempered rival boss Ryohei Uchida starts feeling the fire under his arse. Things get even more heated after Watanabe takes a Ginza gambling joint from the Chicago mafia with the assistance of machine gun happy lone wolf Noboru Ando. Tetsuro Tamba, Hideo Murota and Rinichi Yamamoto are a detective squad in a desperate battle against red tape while trying to bring the gangs down. The story is fictional, but the film feels like a jitsuroku movie. Sato draws an entire underworld map with cops, gangsters and political players all placed on the same chess table. The film is talkative, but never boring, feels extremely matter of fact, and comes with a fabulous musical score by Masaru Sato.Read More » -
Jun’ya Satô – Bakuto kirikomi-tai AKA Gambler’s Counterattack (1971)
1971-1980AsianCrimeJapanJun'ya Satô
Bakuto kirikomi tai (1971) Synopsis (from Letterboxed):
Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect him. So he becomes a consultant to another gang who are about to be clobbered by a much larger gang moving in from out of town. Aiba proves a crafty tactician, and does very well at playing gangs off against each other in order to save the smaller gang. His advice is not always taken by those he tries to help, but he is generally proved right.Read More » -
Jun’ya Satô – Ningen no shômei AKA Proof of the Man (1977)
Junya Sato1971-1980CrimeDramaJapan
Ningen no shômei (1977) When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police Detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York City. There he is joined by Detective Shuftan, and together they sort out the crime.Read More »
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Jun’ya Satô – Shinkansen daibakuha AKA The Bullet Train (1975)
1971-1980ActionJapanJun'ya SatôThriller
Ken Takakura stars as a mad bomber who plants a device on a high-speed Japanese train, programmed to detonate if the train’s speed drops below 80 kilometres per hour. The trains conductor (Sonny Chiba) must keep the train moving whilst the police track the madman down.
Most well-known for inspiring the 1994 Hollywood blockbuster Speed, The Bullet Train is a remarkably tense thriller from director Junya Satō.Read More »
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Jun’ya Satô – Kuruwa sodachi AKA Red Light District Upbringing (1964)
1961-1970AsianDramaJapanJunya Sato
Tamiko has been with a geisha house since she was little. Torn between staying in the only world that she knows but also loathes, and a normal life on the outside, Tomiko becomes more and more desperate. Times are also changing, it isn’t easy to keeps the books balanced and there is a new law under debate that may end this way of life for good.Read More »
