I COULD BE WRONG.
But I get the feeling this a fictional doco. The head or "main guy" (sorry i forgot), should take up acting, seriously.
Oyabun...
I don't know. He's acting, yeah. But I think he's acting in everyday's life. Maybe he tries to act like a... yeah... oyabun ;)
I THINK the guys were real. Maybe they acted cause of the cameras...
Try to interview someone on the street. They won't act normally, they'll try to look cooler, sound wiser, whatever ;)
I also had a hard time believing it was a 'real' documentary. I must have checked the info twice to double check that it said it was a doc. It really seems like it's fake a lot of the time.
shareI agree! I also had to check to see if this was real or not. That's how I ended up responding to this post! They are way too unconcerned about being in front of the camera. The payday scene looked more like a company luncheon than mafia men. Maybe I am spoiled by too many episodes of the Sopranos?
shareJust consider where the Yakuza stand in Japanese society and how that status has changed over time. They're trying to put the best face forward. If anything, the film was made with an understanding that the gang would look good, sound good and appear to be a honest and integral part of society. I believe it's real, just highly edited and approved by the yakuza.....
shareThis all looked really staged, but I can understand why. First Yakuza aren't exactly open and up front about their activities. Second they speak completely different, very different from what you see in the film, which I think was the yakuza trying to tone down their image. Yakuza today are nothing like what you see in the films or the game.Most of their money is made from selling towels, to hostess bars, massage parlors, etc..Bars usually don't even pay them anymore because there isn't much of a threat. The hostess bars love them because they can help with unruly customers and the like.
The whole movie just seemed very blocked and set-up. I am going to say it was one of those drama's that is based on real life events....
ACTUALLY.....
If you read more about the film you will learn that the Yakuza mob boss gave the filmmakers permission to film. The film is very much real.
I lived in Japan for a few years. Believe me, this dude isn't acting. Japanese people are usually this reserved and soft spoken. Especially since they are being filmed. I thought it was funny that the dude was a Catholic/Christian. That was classic.
I have one Japanese friend who is outspoken, opinionated, and a little on the obnoxious side. Nonetheless, he has accepted his life as a cog in the big wheel. He went back to Japan, got a job, complained to me about it, and then finally married. Poor bastard.
My roomate in college was totally passive. Would do anything for me. I felt bad, but I did my share of chores. However, when all the Japanese students would come over to our place, they would pay him a lot of respect because he was older, and was soon to manage his father's roof tile company in So Cal. I remember the "lower" members of the group giving him a massage when he asked for it, getting drinks, etc. Pretty interesting social order the Japanese have.
Nonetheless, this was a cool documentary, and it's interesting to see how hard the Japanese are coming down on this once "necessary evil". Japan saw a need for a balance between good and evil, but I think their economic times have forced the hand of the government. I know that yakuza in the past have sold guns to civilians which were used in murders. They had rules they were supposed to obey, that Yakuza leaders and the Police came to agreement on, but once the yakuza's money flow dried up, lower bosses broke the rules, so it opened up this crack down I suppose. The history of the Yakuza is interesting, if you liked this film, read a book about it. Pretty interesting stuff. They mention that YA KU ZA is a term from a game. The game was Hanafuda I believe (the dude is shuffling those cards in the beginning) and YA KU ZA was a losing hand..
The organization in the documentary is a real Yakuza subfamily of the Inagawa-Kai, the third largest Yakuza organization in Japan. Their office is in the Shinagawa district in Tokyo and they operate in several neighboring districts. Their full family name is actually longer than what is mentioned. This subfamily's current boss is the tenth generation since the family was founded. On their blue uniforms, the right side says their family name "Kumagai-Gumi" and the left side says "Inagawa-Kai."
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