Violent Streets
A flamenco bar seems incongruous on the streets of Tokyo, but to former Yakuza member Egawa it is all he has, a gift from the leader of the Togiku family upon his release from prison after his own clan was taken down in a bloody battle, thanks for the time he lost and perhaps also for Yuko, the woman who stood by Egawa’s side that gang leader Gohara took from him, parading her as a servant where once she was loved.
Now, with the Togiku apparently under threat from the expansion of their rivals based in Osaka, Gohara’s lieutenant Yazaki has told Egawa the Madrid is a key asset in a disputed territory and they want it back, but who is really behind the incidents between the factions, bar fights escalating to stabbings and the kidnapping and ransom of Togiku financed pop starlet Minami? Despite his efforts to remain uninvolved, Egawa is given little choice by those around him.
Joining Eureka’s Masters of Cinema collection, Violent Streets (暴力街, Bôryoku gai, also sometimes known as Violent City) was originally released in 1974, directed by Hideo Gosha from a script by Masahiro Kakefuda and Nobuaki Nakajima and starring Noboru Andô as Egawa, himself a former Yakuza turned actor, singer and novelist who had spent six years in prison for his crimes and carried the scars to prove his past.
A film of contrasts and the unexpected, there is much of performance amidst the action and powerplay – the flamenco performers of the Madrid, strip bars, the television show which stars Minami (Minami Nakatsugawa) who is assaulted and murdered even as her inane pop anthem plays in the background, and a sense of the influence of American cinema of the period in the urban decay of the locations, junkyards where cars are scrapped, a graveyard of mannequins which bear witness to gangland executions, even a transvestite contract killer played by the incongruously named Madame Joy.
The Togiku having spent a decade reinventing themselves as “an honourable company” in the same way that Egawa chose to retire to a simpler life, their attempts to not be drawn back into the fight are undermined by those close to them who wish a return to the old ways, Violent Streets becoming a desperate free-for-all as those left standing realise they have nothing left to lose, though focused on the men deep character is secondary to stoic reserve, Egawa’s love for Yuko (Miyoko Akaza) supposedly a factor driving him even though her name is not actually given until after her death.
Presented as a 2K restoration from the original film elements, the new Blu-ray release of Violent Streets is supported by an interview with Tony Rayns who discusses the history of the Yakuza genre and the Toei Company who made many significant contributions to it and a video essay by Jasper Sharp who describes the film as “a pretty eccentric feature in a genre hardly recognised for its restraint.”
Violent Streets will be available on Blu-ray from Eureka from Monday 23rd January
