tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post1242608294944829480..comments2024-02-10T01:22:29.316-08:00Comments on Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies: Sydney Pollack: The YakuzaKevin J. Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-67748373800955130752012-07-23T12:48:24.868-07:002012-07-23T12:48:24.868-07:00I've never seen this, but I'd like to, esp...I've never seen this, but I'd like to, especially after reading this. It does seem like an atypical film for Pollack (and I have to confess, I sometimes confuse Sydney Pollack with Sidney Lumet). I always assumed that Takakura Ken played a Japanese cop, which would have dovetailed with his later role in Ridley Scott's <i>Black Rain</i>, but it sounds like both films do highlight the "begrudging partnership," as you say, between a Japanese native and a gaijin.Michael Groverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11415848614028804767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-70331501444593103432012-07-21T13:14:05.262-07:002012-07-21T13:14:05.262-07:00Right you are, Peter. I omitted that bit about Sco...Right you are, Peter. I omitted that bit about Scorsese from my piece, and I wish I would have kept it in there. I believe he had just finished BOXCAR BERTHA for Corman and was looking for his next project. It's odd that Schrader insisted on an A-list director considering he was such a film buff and fan of genre pictures (as Pollack states in that interview linked in my piece). It's interesting to think of what Scorsese could have done with this material knowing what we know with hindsight about the relationship he and Schrader (and the great films they would create) have and how well they work with one another. <br /><br />I also agree with the notion that because of the odd hybrid this movie is, it's one of Pollack's most interesting films; I don't know that I would call it one of his best movies, but it certainly stands out in an otherwise consistent oeuvre. <br /><br />Thanks for the comment, Peter!Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-21521202527805872712012-07-21T13:09:02.015-07:002012-07-21T13:09:02.015-07:00Thanks, Lee. You're right about the most inter...Thanks, Lee. You're right about the most interesting thing about the movie being the two leads. I love the way Pollack juxtaposes their natures in that final bloody battle: Ken is smooth and patient with his sword -- graceful even -- while Mitchum is very much like the bull that Pollack likened him to: he bursts through those walls/doors shooting anything that moves. And I love that even though the film plays the begrudging partner angle, it doesn't split them off at the end -- they rely on the other to make their moves. It's a great piece of staging and editing, that final scene. <br /><br />I like your comparison to SEXY BEAST. In fact, I need to see that again...<br /><br />Thanks for the comment!Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-69677081827123823822012-07-21T12:50:10.316-07:002012-07-21T12:50:10.316-07:00One might also wonder if Schrader's insistence...One might also wonder if Schrader's insistence on an A-list director backfired. Martin Scorsese was very interested, but even after <b>Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore</b>, lacked commercial clout for consideration. Schrader later complained about Pollack's approach falling in the middle, neither extremely visceral nor emphatically artistic. In spite, or maybe because, of the conflicts in making this film, it's still more interesting than several of Pollack's other films.Peter Nellhaushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04161286159856159772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8785859730868628316.post-11787700777969164532012-07-20T14:50:37.288-07:002012-07-20T14:50:37.288-07:00Very good review. The "Yakuza" is a stra...Very good review. The "Yakuza" is a strange hybrid of a picture, but it's one of my all-time favourites, maybe just because it's so off center. It all hinges on the characters, of course. Mitchum and Takakura Ken's ultimate tough-guy relationship is the central thing that drives a by-the-numbers noir/action plot, that is shallow on detective work and sub plots. I think it could have used some more focus on the supporting characters, but that's a minor detail. I love the extended fight with the gangsters where all bets are off on who is living and who is dying. In the end our two heroes have nothing left because of the lives they've led, except each other, and they both understand that they need to put their differences in their past if they are to salvage anything at all. Much like "Sexy Beast" it's the performances that elevate in the end.Lee Russellhttp://houglyreviews.blogspot.ca/?zx=eddd6c561e43b400noreply@blogger.com