On DVD: Graveyard of Honor

Directed By: Takashi Miike

Screenplay By: Shigenori Takechi

Starring: Goro Kishitani, Narimi Arimori, Ryousuke Miki, Shingo Yamashiro, Tetsuro Tamba

Takashi Miike has remade Graveyard of Honor, the classic filmed in 1975 by Kinji Fukasaka (best known for Battle Royale) based on the novel by Goro Fujita which was, in turn, based on the real mayhem and infamy of Yakuza member Rikuo Ishimatsu. This film is a flood of nonstop violence, showing how much destruction one man can do to a city and to himself.

The Movie

Goro Kishitani (One Missed Call, Returner) plays what is probably the baddest villain Miike has ever brought to the screen. I’m not referring to ‘bad’ in the slang sense, where ‘bad’ means ‘good’ and ‘hot’ means ‘attractive; and ‘cool’ can be used in many ways. Rikou Ishimatsu is bad. Violent. Sadistic. Almost invulnerable. In the first brief minutes of the film, we see how he rises from a dishwasher who saves the life of the local Godfather to one of the top Oyabun (bosses) in the Yakuza. After the public, blood-soaked knifing of a rival, he is sent to prison for five years. Once out of prison, a couple of misunderstandings lead to the death of his mentor and his friend by his own hand. He goes into hiding, then seeks revenge when his wife, who he first met by raping her, is beaten by the men looking for him. He comes out of hiding and delivers far more carnage with a lead pipe than most John Woo heroes flying through the air with two guns blazing. Don’t make the mistake that he’s being noble, however. Those he thinks have wronged him personally get the full force of his fury, whether they have done anything to him or not.

It would be too easy and too predictable to make Ishimatsu likeable in some way, like some sort of killer with a heart of gold. Miike doesn’t take the easy out, making this an action film that doesn’t stop for us long enough to think about how unlikable the protagonist really is. Ishimatsu never removes the hard mask of the loner, the survivor, the indestructible force of the underground until a climactic moment near the end. Here, perfectly acted by Kishitani where no words are necessary, we see Ishimatsu let his guard down at the moment he realizes he’s lost the most important thing in the world to him

Although I wouldn’t recommend this film over Ichi the Killer to someone who hasn’t seen that one yet, it was a powerful force of a movie that I think will revitalize the Yakuza movie genre. This is a must-see for Miike purists and action film buffs. The warning on the DVD case mentions the standard fare (Nudity, Language, and Violence) but the warning of RAMPANT NIHILISM sums up everything here; one definition I found online describes NIHILISM as “total and absolute destructiveness, esp. toward the world at large and including oneself”

The film is enjoyable, but not perfect. We watch the characters wade through blood for most of the film and the only likeable character is a gangster of a rival clan who befriends Ishimatsu but cannot save him and, eventually, this good deed does not go unpunished. Where the film succeeds by not romanticizing the Yakuza as other movies do, it then presents us with a clan who seem to have a twisted and therefore unadmirable code of honor. In similar films of the genre, the viewer can secretly fantasize about being a member of the Yakuza or Triad or Sicilian Mafia or Russian Mafiya or whatever. Here, all you really want to do is stay out of their way. These are not the Sopranos you are looking for.

8/10

The Video

The video is in excellent quality. Colors are vivid, hard lines are never jagged, even darkened scenes are very clear. Miike has a great use of lighting throughout the film and the bloody knife fight in the snow was exceptionally vivid.

8/10

The Audio

The sound may have been slightly louder than other movies I’ve played on my system, but it was consistant. Great music soundtrack. The package mentions Dolby but I don’t see which mix version was included.

8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

This is an attractive 2-disk set in a standard amaray case with a center swinging page for the extra disk. The pictures and artwork may give away a little about the ending, but the story actually starts at the end and then tells about how he got there so nothing is realty spoiled. The back cover is informative, telling a little about the film without giving too much away and listing many other films that some of the actors have been in. The front is a simple shot of our lead character (as I don’t think anti-villain is the appropriate term here, and hero is out of the question) is pointing a gun at someone, a common stance for him. However, the cover also contains the words TAKASHI MIIKE in big white letters, and for some of us, that’s all you have to say.

Extras include a ‘Making Of’ featurette and teaser, some footage from the premier of the film, theatrical trailers and image gallery and other promotional notes. The ‘Making Of’ featurette was interesting because we see the same shot from how it looked to be shot as well as what the finished product looked like. Also, we have a choice of two sets of colors for subtitles so we may choose which is easier for us to read, a feature I wish all DVDs had.

8/10

Miike is an amazing director and is able to make many different styles of films. I would be easy to convince someone that The Great Yokai War, Audition and Graveyard of Honor were made by three different yet extremely talented directors.  I am always surprised and never disappointed by his cinematic offerings. GRAVEYARD OF HONOR is a study in human nature as we watch a man who embraces the darkness and believes in his indestructibility until, like an eager young boy swimming too far into the ocean, he realizes too late that the darkness has been waiting there to swallow him. This is not your typical Joseph Campbell/Heroe’s Quest. This is about a man whose only path is straight down, and that might not be a film you would enjoy. I admit that I had to think about this for a day before realizing there was some much in it to appreciate. If you can let a film like this soak in, or of you want to see how many bullets can be used in a single film look no further.

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

The Movie 8/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 8/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

-Fred Grimm