Sympathy for the Underdog: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1971
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writers: Kinji Fukasaku, Fumio Konami, Hiro Matsuda
Cast: Kôji Tsuruta, Tomisaburô Wakayama, Kenji Imai, Hideo Murota, Keijirô Morozumi, Noboru Andô, Asao Koike, Tadao Nakamaru, Rin'ichi Yamamoto

Release Date: June 24th, 2024 (UK), June 25th, 2024 (USA)
Approximate running time: 92 Minutes 53 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Japanese
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK), $39.95 (USA)

"Returning from a ten-year prison sentence, former gang leader Gunji (Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss) finds that his turf has been taken over by his former enemy, now a large crime syndicate with a legal corporate front. Looking for new opportunities, he gathers his old crew and heads for the island of Okinawa, a legal grey zone ripe for the taking." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Sympathy for the Underdog was transferred in High-Definition by Toei Company Ltd and supplied to Radiance Films as a High-Definition digital master."

Sympathy for the Underdog comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.2 GB

Feature: 28.4 GB

Flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, mage clarity and compression are solid, contrast and black levels are strong throughout, and there does not appear to be any digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. The audio is in great shape. Dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 47 seconds, LPCM mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), a video essay on Okinawa titled That Distant Territory (25 minutes 51 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Kinji Fukasaku biographer Olivier Hadouchi (27 minutes 5 seconds, LPCM stereo French with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with yakuza film expert Nathan Stuart, reversible cover art, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 24-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) cast & crew information, an essay titled Sympathy for the Underdog - A (Hi)story of Consideration written by Bastian Meiresonne, an archival review of Sympathy for the Underdog written by Tetsuo Iijima, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Though Kinji Fukasaku had directed a few yakuza films before Sympathy for the Underdog, it was a film that set the stage for the yakuza films that ruled 1970s Japanese cinema. Speaking of influences, Sympathy for the Underdog can also be seen as a possible influence on 1980s Hong Kong Heroic Bloodshed films. Gamblers in Okinawa (the film's original international title) is an alternate title for Sympathy for the Underdog.

The narrative revolves around Gunji, who returns home after ten years in prison. Things have drastically changed since he’s been away; his clan has disbanded, and now all territory is controlled by the man responsible for killing his boss. Not willing to let old grudges die, he reforms his old clan with the intention of killing those responsible for his boss's murder.

Sympathy for the Underdog breaks new ground when compared to yakuza films that came before it. The opening moments recap why the protagonist, Gunji, went to prison and how things have changed in the ten years since, notably the transformation of the Yakuza into a more modern businessman instead of your typical street thug. Sympathy for the Underdog is an early example of Kinji Fukasaku using on-screen text to introduce each character; this is something that he would use in most of his 1970s yakuza films.

When you have seen a few 1970s Japanese yakuza films, you instantly recognize actors, mostly in secondary roles, who seem to pop up in just about every one of these films. That said, the cast is all great, especially Kôji Tsuruta in the role of Gunji. He delivers a restrained performance that perfectly contrasts with the operatic performance that dominates Sympathy for the Underdog. Noboru Andô (By a Man's Face, Shall You Know Him), whose former life as a yakuza adds realism to his performance, and Tomisaburô Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub), in the role of a one-armed yakuza boss.

Though Okinawa would become a more common location in yakuza cinema, Sympathy for the Underdog was one of the first films to exploit this location, which gives it a foreign look with its use of iconic American images like Pepsi and Coca-Cola billboards. The fish-out-of-water plot device is one of Sympathy for the Underdog's strongest assets. Kinji Fukasaku experiments with editing, sound, and how he frames compositions, which heightens the mood. In one scene, there is a group of assassins playing pool while their targets, Gonji and his clan, sit in the next room. They wait until an airplane flies overhead before unloading a flurry of bullets. Ultimately, Sympathy for the Underdog is an underrated film that is on par with Kinji Fukasaku’s most celebrated yakuza films, the Battles Without Honor and Humanity films.

Sympathy for the Underdog gets an exceptional release from Radiance Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer