A Yakuza Has His Way(1972)

Rainy Dog(ja)

A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.

Graveyard of Honor(ja)

A barkeeper saves a Yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However, his fear of nothing soon causes problems.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima(ja)

Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.

Agitator(ja)

When a young Yakuza torments the customers in a rival crime family's nightclub, it is not long before his dead body is found. Soon, inter-family retaliation follows, resulting in the death for a prominent crime boss. Devastated by this turn of events, the temperamental Kenzaki vows to avenge his boss's death and, as bloody violence ensues, the body count reaches excessive proportions.

Belly(en)

Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?

Vengeance Is Mine(ja)

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

House of Bamboo(en)

Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.

A Family(ja)

Taken in by the yakuza at a young age, Kenji swears allegiance to his old-school boss, pledging to adhere to the family code amid ever-changing times.

Female Yakuza Tale(ja)

Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.

Violent Saturday(en)

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

Cass(en)

The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain.

The Outsider(en)

A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.

Siberian Education(en)

The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.

True Believer(en)

Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.

Ill Manors(en)

Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.

Winged Creatures(en)

A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.

American Yakuza(en)

When Nick Davis leaves prison after one year in solitairy, he is hired to operate a forklift in a warehouse in the harbor owned by the Japanese Yakuza patriarch Isshin Tendo. The place is assaulted by the Italian Mafia lead by Dino Campanela and Nick rescues and saves the life of Shuji Sawamoto, who is the representative of Yakuza interests in America. Shuji hires Nick to work for Yakuza and becomes his godfather in the family after his oath to join Yakuza. However, Nick is a lonely FBI undercover agent assigned to penetrate the criminal organization. When the FBI discovers that Campanela is organizing a massive attack to destroy the Yakuza, Nick's boss Littman calls off the operation to leave the dirty work to the Italian Mafia. But the connection of Nick with Shuji and his goddaughter Yuko forces him to help his Japanese family.

The Eel(ja)

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.

American Murderer(en)

The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.

The Firm(en)

A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1(en)

An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.

The Pinkie(ja)

Since they were both five, Ryosuke has been stalked by Momoko - the ugliest girl in the village. Her love for Ryosuke is so boundless that she has her face surgically altered to suit his taste - but still he wants nothing to do with her. Ryosuke goes in for fleeting romance - for example, with the girlfriend of a gangster boss. But when he finds out about their affair, he has Ryosuke's little finger hacked off. Magically, the finger falls into Momoko's hands, and she uses it to clone Ryosuke, so she can finally have him (or almost him) for herself. And this is just the first five minutes of Lisa Takeba's short-but-powerful feature debut. Just like in her previous short films, the director - who cut her teeth in the advertising world and as the writer of a video game - throws a lot of genres and techniques into the mix: from science fiction to gangster films, from hospital eroticism to animation. Hectic and absurd, but with its heart in the right place. © IFFR

Blue in Isezaki(ja)

唄祭けんか道中(ja)

Dochinpira 10(ja)

Chased out of Shōnan for trespassing on gang turf, Jin Kaito flees to Yokohama. There he’s rescued by Makoto, a mysterious and seductive woman that runs the nightclub Southern Cross alongside other women, all sworn off men until their business becomes a hit. Their solution? Hire Jin as their exclusive sexual partner. Now, he lives the dream, satisfying a new woman every day, no strings attached. But things take a dark turn when Makoto’s ex-boyfriend returns, determined to steal control of the club by force.

Unification of Japan 27(ja)

Tension continues at the Kyowakai headquarters. Kawatani, Himuro, and Tamura are unable to hide their anger and confusion at the events that occur one after another, such as Shibuya's death and a series of absentees from meetings. Meanwhile, in Kobe, a new anti-chivalry group is starting to move. However, Baba, who plays the role of chairman and does not know about Shibuya's death, postpones the official raising of the company.

CONFLICT: Outbreak(ja)

The Hyodo-gumi boss—part of Tendokai, Japan’s largest yakuza syndicate—has been brutally murdered. Kazuma Washio (Hitoshi Ozawa), the head of the Washio-gumi and Tendokai’s wakagashira (underboss), is convinced that Yoshinari Myojin (Sho Aikawa), a former Tendokai wakagashira-hosa now running Tokyo’s underworld of thugs and mafia, is behind the killing. Around the same time, Tendokai's 5th-generation chairman Katsushige (Hakuryu) orders Washio to secure a woman named Nagi Toyama (Akane Hotta). Washio sets out with his men, Okita (Yasukaze Motomiya) and Date (Hideo Nakano), but they’re ambushed by a group of heavily armed youths. Barely escaping, they manage to bring Nagi to their hideout—only to discover she’s a key player in a power struggle over the Tokyo Casino Project. And so begins the greatest conflict yet, entangling yakuza, mafia, street gangs, the police, and even the state itself—

Sonatine(ja)

Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.

Kunisada Chuji(ja)

Kunisada Chuji is a common folk hero who looks out for poor people in the country who are at the mercy of corrupt officials. Intent on fulfilling a dying wish from one of his henchmen, Asataro, to find a decent home for his young nephew, Chuji descends from his hide-out in the mountain, and heads to the city in spite of numerous dangers that await him there.

Dolls(ja)

Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.

Naniwa Chūshingura(ja)

The Great Okinawa Yakuza War(ja)

Chiba, looking gnarly, and acting as animalistic as ever, stars alongside Matsukata as violent gangsters battling their way through fight after bloody fight with rival yakuza on the streets of Okinawa.

Dochinpira 8(ja)

Jin Kaito is back to his usual game: smooth talk, effortless charm, and a trail of lovers left behind. But everything changes when he meets Kumiko, a stunning, headstrong ex-biker girl who’s completely immune to his advances. Obsessed and intrigued, Jin refuses to give up and, when he learns Kumiko is desperate to help the man she loves pay off a crushing debt, he decides to step in, even if it means crossing the deadly Kuroiwa gang. With the clock ticking and the stakes higher than ever, Jin must risk everything to rescue Kumiko before she’s shipped out of the country.

Japan's Most Chivalrous(ja)

Wasabi(fr)

Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss, who doesn't share his view on working methods, he goes back to Japan, where he used to work 19 years ago, to settle the probate of his girlfriend who left him shortly after marriage without a trace.

Taxi 2(fr)

A cabdriver and a cop race to Paris to rescue a love interest and the Japanese minister of defense from kidnappers.

Dochinpira 11(ja)

After being rejected by the beautiful woman Saeko, Jin approaches an office lady named Tomomi and "pleasures" her, but she turns out to be the mistress of a Shinryu-gumi gang. Meanwhile, he discovers that Saeko is the wife of the murdered underboss of the Issei-kai...

Gray Wall Gear(ja)

The stage of this work is Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo in the early Heisei period. Immediately after the bubble burst gangster countermeasures law, there were gangsters who defended the last territory and young people who freely controlled the city. The youth conflict escalated day by day and became a force that surpassed the yakuza, and the runaways were sent to juvenile prisons one after another, where exclusive rules awaited.

Dochinpira 13: Virgin Palace Breaking(ja)

Trying to demonstrate his gigolo skills to some rookies, Jin gets shot down by the beautiful and feisty Mao. His next attempt, Ami, turns out even worse, because she steals his money and vanishes. Discouraged and considering retirement, Jin wanders into a bar called “Life Counseling”, where the bartender moonlights as a fortune-teller. The reading is grim: Mao, the beloved sister of a friendly yakuza, is destined to be defiled by a gigolo. When Jin finds Ami again, he uncovers the truth: she's not only a virgin but is being blackmailed by a gang that forces her to seduce and rob men. Now Jin must dive into the criminal underworld to save Ami… and maybe find redemption along the way.

Life of Hishakaku(ja)

After eloping with a prostitute named Otoyo, Hishakaku takes refuge in the Kogane family’s turf. Indebted to Boss Kogane for his kindness, Hishakaku swears to dedicate himself to protect the Koganes in time of crisis. Hishakaku’s humble life comes to a sudden halt when the Kogane family becomes involved in a fatal feud with their rival, and Hishakaku’s services are called upon.