Ferocious Fukasaku: Two Films By Kinji Fukasaku – Film Movement Classics (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Japan, 1964 (Wolves, Pigs & Men), Japan, 1976 (Violent Panic: The Big Crash)
Director: Kinji Fukasaku (Both Films)
Cast: Ken Takakura, Kin'ya Kitaôji, Jirô Okazaki, Renji Ishibashi, Rentarô Mikuni, Shôken Sawa, Hideo Murota (Wolves, Pigs & Men), Tsunehiko Watase, Miki Sugimoto, Yayoi Watanabe, Hideo Murota, Takuzô Kawatani, Ryô Nishida, Yûsuke Kazato (Violent Panic: The Big Crash)

Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Approximate Running Times: 95 Minutes 12 Seconds (Wolves, Pigs & Men), 84 Minutes 36 Seconds (Violent Panic: The Big Crash)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Japanese (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $49.98

"Fukasaku's 1964 breakthrough Wolves, Pigs and Men finds three brothers pitted against each other as rivals in the Yakuza underworld. Jiro, alongside his girlfriend Mizuhara, devises a scheme to rob his younger brother Sabu's gang. However, when the eldest brother Kuroki learns of this, he seeks to conspire against them to take it all for himself in a treacherous nightmare of unbridled violence.

While lesser known, 1976’s Violent Panic: The Big Crash wreaks havoc across the streets of Japan with stylishly nihilistic aplomb. After expert bank-robber Takashi's big job is foiled, he goes on the lam. Trailed by the police, his lover, his partner-in-crime’s brother, and countless others, Takashi becomes the target of a manhunt filled with twists, double-crosses, and explosive action that gives the 70’s car chase genre a run for its money." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (Wolves, Pigs & Men), 4.5/5 (Violent Panic: The Big Crash)

Wolves, Pigs & Men comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.7 GB

Feature: 27.6 GB

This disc is identical to Eureka Video's 2024 Blu-ray.

Violent Panic: The Big Crash comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 25.7 GB

Feature: 22.8 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, black levels are strong, image clarity and compression are solid, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.5/5 (Both Films)

Both films come with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, balanced, and surprisingly robust.

Extras:

Extras for this release Wolves, Pigs & Men a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 53 seconds, LPCM mono Japanese with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Kinji Fukasaku’s biographer, Sadao Yamane (12 minutes 28 seconds, LPCM stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with producer Tatsu Yoshida titled Slums, Stars & Studios (20 minutes 36 seconds, LPCM stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Junya Sato titled Socially Aware Violence (20 minutes 14 seconds, LPCM stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp.

Extras for this release Violent Panic: The Big Crash a theatrical trailer (1 minute, LPCM mono Japanese with non-removable English subtitles), a video essay by Tokyoscope author Patrick Macias titled Fast, Furious, Fukasaku (9 minutes 55 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.

Other extras include a spot glass slipcover (limited to 2,000 units), and a 16-page booklet with cast & crew information for both films, and an essay titled Chaotic Morality written by Kenji Fujishima.

Summary:

Wolves, Pigs & Men: Organized crime is something that Kinji Fukasaku would return to throughout his career. And though he began his career with four crime films that starred Shin’ichi ‘Sonny’ Chiba, there is little in these initial offerings that resemble his crime films from his peak period in the 1970s. In his early forays into crime cinema, Kinji Fukasaku created films similar to Nikkatsu's productions. By the time he made Wolves, Pigs & Men, he was ready to venture outside of the already established formula, resulting in a film that foreshadows where he would go with crime cinema in the 1970s.

Wolves, Pigs & Men is a story about three brothers; the oldest brother, Kuroki, is a yakuza yes man; the middle brother, Jirō, is a troublemaker who recently spent 5 years in prison; and the youngest brother, Sabu, was forced to take care of their ailing mother, who passed away. After years of not seeing each other, Jirō comes up with a plan to rob the clan that Kuroki works for, and he enlists Sabu and his friends to help him pull off the job. What should have gone off without a hitch quickly spirals out of control when Sabu, who does not trust his brother, hides the money and drugs.

Though honor and loyalty are the backbone of yakuza cinema, in Wolves, Pigs & Men, it's honor and loyalty not to the yakuza but to your family and where you come from. The dysfunctional family, where no one trusts each other, puts the loyalty of the three brothers to the test. And despite Kuroki’s best efforts to look out for his two brothers, they see him as an outsider who betrayed them. Jirō is a loner, always looking out for himself, while Sabu’s friends are his new family.

Throughout Wolves, Pigs & Men Kinji Fukasaku explores classism and the desire to escape where one came from. Though all three brothers desire to leave their lives growing up and living in the slums, only Kuroki is ashamed of where he came from. Unlike Kuroki, his brothers, when faced with giving up their ideals, decide it's better to die than give in.

The performances are excellent, especially Ken Takakura (Abashiri Prison) in the role of Jirō and Kin'ya Kitaôji (Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima) in the role of Sabu. Ken Takakura portrays a self-assured character who rarely allows someone to get the drop on him. Kin'ya Kitaôji portrays a jaded character whose anger at the world clouds his judgment. Both of these actors deliver masterclass performances in which they fully immerse themselves into character. Despite portraying a character that is difficult to sympathize with, Rentarô Mikuni (Vengeance Is Mine) in the role of Kuroki is this Wolves, Pigs & Men's most underrated performance.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Wolves, Pigs & Men do not excel. Its narrative quickly draws you in with a stylized opening sequence that does a superb job laying out all the three brothers' backstories. Also, despite being a film about organized crime, the yakuza’s presence is minimal. Wolves, Pigs & Men’s grimy locations are the opposite of the visually appealing locations that one expects from a yakuza film. Not to be overlooked when discussing Wolves, Pigs & Men is its unflinching in your face, moments of torture. Ultimately, Wolves, Pigs & Men is an early masterpiece from Kinji Fukasaku that's a must see if you're a fan of yakuza cinema.

Violent Panic: The Big Crash: Two criminals commit bank robberies to finance their escape to Brazil. During one of their getaways, one of them dies, disrupting their plan.

Kinji Fukasaku knows how to set the foundation for a story. Violent Panic: The Big Crash opens with a frantic pre-credits sequence that perfectly sets the tempo for what follows. Also, in these opening moments, the narrative does a fantastic job providing backstory for all of the key characters via flashbacks. After everyone's backstories are established, the narrative maintains a relentless pace, propelling towards the demolition derby finale.

Though the main narrative revolves around Takashi, the bank robber who survives, there are three other subplots that intersect with his story. These are the other characters whose stories collide with Takashi’s: a ditsy prostitute named Midorikawa Michi, a corrupt cop who is the brother of Takashi’s dead partner, a young man with a criminal past who works at a car repair shop, and an inept police officer named Hatano. Though there are a lot of moving parts in the narrative, things never get too complex, and everything perfectly comes to head.

Though the main performance is Tsunehiko Watase (Sympathy for the Underdog) in the role of the protagonist Takashi, it is actually the two female leads, Miki Sugimoto (Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs) and Yayoi Watanabe (School of the Holy Beast), who steal the show. In the new role, a character that is the polar opposite of the tough characters Miki Sugimoto portrayed in Pinky Violence films is given to her. Yayoi Watanabe’s character, a nympho policewoman, provides most of this film’s humor. Of course there are many moments where they are topless. That said, all of the performances are great.

One should not overlook the way Kinji Fukasaku uses the camera when discussing his films. In Violent Panic: The Big Crash, there is an immediacy to the visuals; the kinetic camerawork often stalks characters as they move throughout the frame. The most surprising aspect of the visuals is how well Kinji Fukasaku films the car chases and crashes. Kinji Fukasaku had no experience working on car chases or crashes, and at that time in Japanese cinema, these types of scenes were not a common occurrence.

The 1970s were Kinji Fukasaku’s busiest decade as a filmmaker; most years he directed two or three films. And though he worked at a prolific rate, there was never a dip in quality. That said, even lesser Kinji Fukasaku films are better than most films directed by his contemporaries. Ultimately, Violent Panic: The Big Crash is a film that stands up well when compared to Kinji Fukasaku’s best films, despite not being as well known.

Ferocious Fukasaku: Two Films by Kinji Fukasaku is an excellent release from Film Movement Classics that gives two Kinji Fukasaku films solid audio/video presentations and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer