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111-401: The film is about a retired American detective who returns to Japan after decades away in order to rescue his friend's daughter, kidnapped by the eponymous crime syndicate. Retired detective Harry Kilmer is called upon by an old friend, George Tanner. Tanner has been doing business with a yakuza gangster, Tono, who has kidnapped Tanner's daughter to apply pressure in a business deal involving

222-461: A "politically correct rejiggering", with its selection of Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles as the greatest film of all time being the product of "distorted woke reappraisal". In 2023, he also criticized the politicization of the 95th Academy Awards , writing that the Oscars' "scramble to be woke" have made their ceremony "mean less each year". In 2012, Schrader participated in

333-708: A "softening" of the Harry character. Schrader says "I was fired, because I was unable to write what Sydney wanted. Sydney and I did not get along well, and he needed someone of his own age, whose work he respected, for feedback." Robert Towne came on to rewrite the film. Robert Redford was also interested but then decided he was not old enough. Pollack remarked in interviews on complications of filming in Japan, using Japanese crews and technicians, and adopting techniques and practices of Japanese filmmaking. Beyond language barriers, there were creative approaches that he synthesized into

444-453: A Japanese university, but frequently found himself with nothing to do when radical students shut down the campus and ended up spending a lot of time in yakuza-run bars. He had also been watching yakuza films and been impressed by the presence of Ken Takakura and the rituals involved. He thought there was an interesting film to be made about a Westerner who became involved in the yakuza to such an extent he would "make that ultimate sacrifice that

555-424: A cocaine addiction, which contributed to his divorce from his first wife, art director Jeannine Oppewall . He then moved from Los Angeles to Japan in hopes of getting his life on track, finally quitting drugs around 1990. His second marriage is to actress Mary Beth Hurt , who has appeared in smaller roles in a variety of his films. Together they have two children, a daughter and a son. In September 2022, Schrader

666-538: A couple of formidably important revelations are simply dropped in, as though no one had the time to plot them properly." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "a confused and diffused film which bites off more than it can artfully chew." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and called it "a special kind of gangster picture" with "an extremely complex story" and "stylish sword-fighting sequences. But don't confuse them with

777-482: A film set in the Japanese crime world. The script became the subject of a bidding war, eventually selling for $ 325,000. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack and starred Robert Mitchum . Robert Towne , best known for Chinatown , also received a credit for his rewrite. Although The Yakuza failed commercially, it brought Schrader to the attention of the new generation of Hollywood directors. In 1975, he wrote

888-430: A film which completely flopped, but it was a very commercial idea. It had a lot of commercial hooks plus a strong love story, rich characters, and an "in" theme. It seemed to have all the elements for a rich, commercial action romance. Originally, Robert Aldrich was to direct. Aldrich later called it "one of the few pictures I really wanted to make" although he wanted changes made. "It was a terrible script, I thought, but

999-687: A generally negative reaction. After that, Schrader filmed The Walker (2007), starring Woody Harrelson as a male escort caught up in a political murder enquiry, and the Israel-set Adam Resurrected (2008), which stars Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe . Schrader headed the International Jury of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival and in 2011 became a jury member for the ongoing Filmaka short film contest. On July 2, 2009, Schrader

1110-465: A greater friend than Kilmer-san," and Kilmer, overcome by emotion, says the same of Ken. Their obligations now apparently resolved, Ken takes Kilmer to the airport, and both men bow formally to each other before parting. Paul Schrader says the idea for the film came from a letter sent to him by his brother Leonard , who was then living in Japan; Leonard had left the U.S. when he received his military draft induction card and found work teaching English at

1221-551: A large portion of their members hold criminal records. After the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members was enacted, many yakuza syndicates made efforts to restructure to appear more professional and legitimate. As of 2023, Under the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members, the Prefectural Public Safety Commissions have registered 25 syndicates as

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1332-622: A loose trilogy with another thriller, Master Gardener , starring Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver . Like the rest of the trilogy, it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, where Schrader was awarded the Golden Lion Honorary Award . In 2023, it was confirmed Schrader would write and direct Oh, Canada , an adaptation of his friend Russell Banks ' novel, Foregone , starring Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi . Additionally, Schrader has written

1443-682: A minor in theology from Calvin College but decided against becoming a minister. He then earned an M.A. in film studies at the UCLA Film School upon the recommendation of Pauline Kael , who encouraged him to be a film critic. Schrader first became a film critic , writing for the Los Angeles Free Press and later for Cinema magazine. His book Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer , which examines

1554-433: A peak of 184,100. However, this number has drastically dropped, a decline attributed to changing market opportunities and several legal and social developments in Japan that discourage the growth of yakuza membership. In 1991, it had 63,800 members and 27,200 quasi-members, but by 2023 it had only 10,400 members and 10,000 quasi-members. The yakuza are aging because young people do not readily join, and their average age at

1665-556: A prolonged battle, after Ken kills Tono in the traditional way with a katana , Goro's son attacks them and Ken kills him in self-defense. Bearing the news to his brother, Ken moves to commit seppuku , but his brother pleads with him not to bring more anguish to their family. Instead, Ken performs yubitsume (the ceremonial yakuza apology by cutting off one's little finger). Before leaving Japan, Kilmer visits with Ken at home and asks to speak to him formally. While Ken prepares tea, Kilmer quietly commits yubitsume, and when Ken enters

1776-598: A reputation for being a large source of yakuza members, including many renowned bosses in the Yamaguchi-gumi . Isokichi Yoshida (1867–1936) from the Kitakyushu area was considered by some scholars and political watchers as one of the first renowned modern yakuza. Recently Shinobu Tsukasa and Kunio Inoue, the bosses of the two most powerful clans in the Yamaguchi-gumi, originate from Kyushu. Fukuoka ,

1887-576: A room" stories. The protagonist in each film changes from an angry, then narcissistic, later anxious character, to a person who hides behind a mask of superficiality. Although many of his films or scripts are based on real-life biographies (Raging Bull , Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters , Patty Hearst , Auto Focus) , Schrader confessed having problems with biographical films due to their altering of actual events, which he tried to prevent by imposing structures and stylization. Schrader battled

1998-448: A sensational idea. I said, 'If I'm going to make this picture, I'm going to turn this script upside down.' I saw it one particular way, and Paul didn't see it that way." Aldrich thought his view might have prevailed if Lee Marvin had been cast in the lead, but Marvin disagreed with Warner Brothers over the size of the actor's fee. Instead they cast Robert Mitchum . Aldrich and Mitchum had worked together on The Angry Hills (1959), and

2109-477: A sort of rich, romantic, transcultural film. Either of those films would be interesting if fully realized, but the final product fell between those two stools; neither film was made. It didn't satisfy the audience that came to see the hard gangster world, and it didn't satisfy the JEREMIAH JOHNSON audience - Sydney's audience - which came to see some poetic realism". Schrader says his biggest regret from

2220-457: A stall assignment and protection during the fair. The tekiya were a highly structured and hierarchical group with the oyabun (boss) at the top and kobun (gang members) at the bottom. This hierarchy resembles a structure similar to the family – in traditional Japanese culture , the oyabun was often regarded as a surrogate father, and the kobun as surrogate children. During the Edo period,

2331-475: A unique form of Japanese extortion known as sōkaiya . In essence, this is a specialized form of protection racket . Instead of harassing small businesses, the Yakuza harass a stockholders' meeting of a larger corporation. Yakuza operatives obtain the right to attend by making a small purchase of stock, and then at the meeting physically intimidate other stockholders. The number of sōkaiya has decreased over

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2442-700: A western called Three Guns at Dawn, for Antoine Fuqua to direct; a drama about a trauma nurse called R.N for Elisabeth Moss to star in and direct; and an untitled script about a sex addict. Schrader has written two stage plays, Berlinale and Cleopatra Club . The latter saw its premiere at the Powerhouse Theater in Poughkeepsie , New York , in 1995 and its foreign language debut in Vienna in 2011. A recurring theme in Schrader's films

2553-515: Is a "particularly harmful" yakuza group registered by the Prefectural Public Safety Commissions under the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members ( 暴力団対策法 , Bōryokudan Taisaku Hō ) enacted in 1991. Groups are designated as Shitei Bōryokudan (designated yakuza) if their members take advantage of the gang's influence to do business, are structured to have one leader, and have

2664-477: Is a lifelong obligation that traditionally can never be repaid. Tanner believes that Ken would therefore do anything for Kilmer, including rescuing Tanner's daughter. Traveling to Tokyo with Tanner's bodyguard Dusty, they stay at the home of another old military buddy named Oliver Wheat. Kilmer visits Eiko at the bar's closing time, seeking to find Ken. Eiko's feelings for Kilmer are clearly as strong as ever. He also becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who

2775-423: Is a score of 0. If the three cards drawn are 8-9-3 (pronounced ya-ku-sa in archaic Japanese), the sum is 20 and therefore the score is zero, making one of the worst possible hands that can be drawn. In Japanese , the word yakuza is commonly written in katakana (ヤクザ). Despite uncertainty about the single origin of yakuza organizations, most modern yakuza derive from two social classifications which emerged in

2886-584: Is delighted to see Kilmer again. Eiko tells Kilmer that her brother can be found at his kendo school in Kyoto . Kilmer travels by train to visit Ken at his kendo school. Ken is no longer a yakuza member, but will still help Kilmer. They find and free the girl. In so doing, Ken "takes up the sword" once again, attacking one of Tono's men to save Kilmer. This is an inexcusable intrusion by Ken in yakuza affairs. Contracts on both Ken's and Kilmer's lives are issued. Despite Tanner's protests, Kilmer insists on staying until

2997-510: Is known to Goro as an unusual gaijin who understands and accepts Japanese values, he proposes that Kilmer now has an obligation to Ken. After an attempt on Kilmer's life at a bathhouse, he learns that his old friend Tanner has taken out the contract on him. Tanner secretly is broke and owes Tono a huge debt. Dusty discloses that Tanner and Tono are business partners. During a violent attack on Ken and Kilmer in Oliver Wheat's house, Dusty

3108-801: Is often blamed on real estate speculation by banking subsidiaries. After the collapse of the property bubble, a manager of a major bank in Nagoya was assassinated, prompting much speculation about the banking industry's indirect connection to the Japanese underworld. In 1989, Susumu Ishii, the Oyabun of the Inagawa-kai (a well-known yakuza group) bought US$ 255 million worth of Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway 's stock. Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has knowledge of more than 50 listed companies with ties to organized crime, and in March 2008,

3219-457: Is one of the few times that yakuza display their tattoos to others, as they normally keep them concealed in public with long-sleeved and high-necked shirts. When new members join, they are often required to remove their trousers as well and reveal any lower body tattoos. The total number of yakuza members and quasi-members peaked at 184,100 in 1963, and then continued to decline due to police crackdowns. The number of regular members decreased with

3330-491: Is so foreign to a Westerner. That is the premise we started out on, trying to create a plot that would result in that situation." Schrader told the idea to co-producer Mark Hamilburg, who liked it and paid for the brothers to write it. They spent two months watching films, in particular Toei films at a cinema in Los Angeles. "By the time I started writing, I was thinking like a Toei screenwriter," says Schrader. They wrote

3441-412: Is stabbed to death with a sword and Hanako is shot and killed. Seeking advice again from Ken's brother, Goro advises them that they have no choice but to assassinate Tanner and Tono. This will embarrass the partners in the eyes of the yakuza. Goro discloses that he has a "wayward son" who has joined Tono's clan and asks that Ken protect him should he be caught in the battle. In private, Goro then discloses

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3552-413: Is the protagonist on a self-destructive path, or undertaking actions which work against himself, deliberately or subconsciously. The finale often bears an element of redemption, preceded by a painful sacrifice or cathartic act of violence. Schrader has repeatedly referred to Taxi Driver , American Gigolo , Light Sleeper , The Canyons , The Walker , First Reformed , and The Card Counter as "a man in

3663-731: The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film on March 18, 2005, as Exorcist: The Original Prequel . Due to extreme interest in Schrader's version from critics and cinephiles alike, Warner Bros. agreed to give the film a limited theatrical release later that year under the title Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist . The film was only shown on 110 screens around the United States and made just $ 251,000. The critics liked Schrader's version much better than Harlin's. However, Schrader's film ultimately met with

3774-822: The Dojin-kai , are heavily involved in it. The most common charge for yakuza and their associates arrested in 2014 was violation of the Stimulants Control Act ( 覚せい剤取締法 ) , which prohibits the import, export, sale, transfer, possession, and use of methamphetamine, accounting for 26.5 percent of arrests. Some yakuza groups are known to deal extensively in human trafficking . In the Philippines Yakuza trick girls from impoverished villages into coming to Japan by promising them respectable jobs with good wages. Instead, they are forced into becoming sex workers and strippers. Yakuza frequently engaged in

3885-478: The Ian McEwan novel, and Light Sleeper (1992), a sympathetic study of a drug dealer vying for a normal life. In 2005, Schrader described Light Sleeper as his "most personal" film. In 1997, he made Touch (1997), based on an Elmore Leonard novel about a young man seemingly able to cure the sick by the laying on of hands. In 1998, Schrader won critical acclaim for the drama Affliction . The film tells

3996-473: The Japanese government aimed at impeding revenue and increasing liability for criminal activities. The name yakuza originates from the traditional Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu , a game in which the goal is to draw three cards adding up to a score of 9. If the sum of the cards is 10 or more, the second digit is the score. So a sum of 13 is a score of 3, a sum of 14 is a score of 4, etc. A sum of 10 or 20

4107-606: The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America . In 2002, he directed the acclaimed biopic Auto Focus , based on the life and murder of Hogan's Heroes actor Bob Crane . In 2003, Schrader made entertainment headlines after being fired from The Exorcist: Dominion , a prequel film to the horror classic The Exorcist from 1973. The film's production companies Morgan Creek Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures intensely disliked

4218-496: The Osaka Securities Exchange decided to review all listed companies and expel those with yakuza ties. Yakuza involvement in politics functions similarly to that of a lobbying group , with them backing those who share in their opinions or beliefs. In the wake of the 1995 Kobe earthquake , the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza group, who are based in the area, mobilized to provide disaster relief services (including

4329-688: The Philippines (10%). In 1990, a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver that cost $ 275 in the US could sell for up to $ 4,000 in Tokyo. In 2001, the FBI's representative in Tokyo arranged for Tadamasa Goto , the head of the group Goto-gumi , to receive a liver transplant at the UCLA Medical Center in the United States, in return for information of Yamaguchi-gumi operations in the US. This

4440-475: The San Francisco Bay Area , as well as Seattle , Las Vegas , Arizona , Virginia , Chicago , and New York City . The yakuza are said to use Hawaii as a midway station between Japan and mainland America, smuggling methamphetamine into the country and smuggling firearms back to Japan. They easily fit into the local population, since many tourists from Japan and other Asian countries visit

4551-432: The kobun of the subsidiary organizations also become oyabun and run their own subsidiary organizations. A large yakuza organization such as Yamaguchi-gumi is made up of five or six layered organizations. In other words, the heads of subsidiary organizations are often executives of the parent organizations. The oyabun of the organization is generally called a kumichō ( 組長 ) or kaichō ( 会長 , chairman) ,

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4662-417: The kumichō ) , and shateigashira ( 舎弟頭 , pseudo oldest younger brother of the kumichō ) . Honbuchō ( 本部長 , general manager) , fuku-kumichō ( 副組長 , deputy kumichō ) , and jimukyokuchō ( 事務局長 , secretary general) , are also important positions. In general, the shikkōbu ( 執行部 , executive office) of an organization is run by the wakagashira , shateigashira , and honbuchō . Since

4773-415: The shatei are the pseudo-younger brothers of the kumichō , they are generally older and have higher nominal positions but relatively little real authority. In the Yamaguchi-gumi pecking order as of 2024, the order is kumichō , wakagashira , shateigashira , and honbuchō . Yakuza groups are headed by an oyabun ( kumichō or kaichō ) who gives orders to his subordinates, the kobun . In this respect,

4884-413: The 2017 Venice Film Festival and received critical acclaim. Schrader received his first Academy Award nomination for the film in the category Best Original Screenplay . In 2021, he directed the crime drama film The Card Counter , starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish . The film also premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival and was widely lauded by critics. Schrader grouped these two films into

4995-469: The Dead (1999). Thanks partly to critical acclaim for Taxi Driver , Schrader was able to direct his first feature, Blue Collar (1978), co-written with his brother Leonard. Blue Collar features Richard Pryor , Harvey Keitel , and Yaphet Kotto as car factory workers attempting to escape their socio-economic rut through theft and blackmail . He has described the film as challenging to make, because of

5106-574: The Light , an espionage thriller starring Nicolas Cage as a government agent suffering from a deadly disease, Anton Yelchin and Irène Jacob . In post-production Schrader was denied final cut by the film's producers. The film was negatively received by many film critics and was a box-office bomb . Schrader later recut Dying of the Light into the separate, more experimental work Dark , which received more positive reviews. Schrader's dramatic thriller First Reformed , starring Ethan Hawke , premiered at

5217-494: The artistic and personal tensions between him and the cast. During principal photography, he suffered an on-set mental collapse, which led him to reconsider his career seriously. John Milius acted as executive producer on the following year's Hardcore , again written by Schrader, a film with many autobiographical parallels in his depiction of the Calvinist milieu of Grand Rapids, and in the character of George C. Scott , which

5328-444: The best-known bosses of the Yamaguchi-gumi was Kazuo Taoka , the "Godfather of all Godfathers", who was responsible for the syndicate's massive growth and success during the 20th century. "Yamabishi" (山菱) In the 2010s and 2020s, the yakuza's main source of funding is a fraud called tokushu sagi ( 特殊詐欺 , special fraud) , which mainly targets the elderly to cheat them out of large amounts of money. Their methods include calling

5439-401: The birth of his children. As of 2018, he attends a Presbyterian church. His films frequently feature religious themes. However, Schrader has now emphasized that he considers himself to be just a Christian. In December 2016, Schrader referred to the then-upcoming Trump presidency as "a call to violence" and said "we should be willing to take arms. Like Old John Brown ." He quickly deleted

5550-484: The book Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972) before transitioning to screenwriting in 1974. The success of Taxi Driver in 1976 brought greater attention to his work, and Schrader began directing his own films, beginning with Blue Collar (co-written with his brother, Leonard Schrader ). Schrader has described three of his recent films as a loose trilogy: First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022). Schrader

5661-734: The boring karate chops so common in the Oriental sludge that typically fills our downtown theaters. The fighting in The Yakuza is more ritualistic and more meaningful because we know who is attacking whom and why." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought that the film "suffers from a self-consciousness so stultifying it never really comes alive, its sense of reality (or lack of it) deriving from other movies instead of life itself." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called

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5772-521: The constant stream of Vietnamese cafe shoot-outs and home invasion burglaries throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In New York City, they appear to collect finder's fees from Russian, Irish and Italian gang members and businessmen for guiding Japanese tourists to gambling establishments, both legal and illegal. Handguns manufactured in the US account for a large share (33%) of handguns seized in Japan, followed by handguns manufactured in China (16%) and in

5883-409: The danger to Ken can be resolved. Eiko suggests he see Ken's brother Goro, a high-level legal counselor to the yakuza chiefs. Goro is unable to intercede due to his impartial role in yakuza society, but suggests Ken can remove the death threat by killing Tono with a sword. The only alternative is for Kilmer to kill Tono himself, by any means (as an outsider, he is not bound to use a sword). Because Kilmer

5994-733: The designated yakuza groups. Three of these organizations have more than 1,000 regular members, eight have more than 100, and 14 have less than 100. Fukuoka Prefecture has the largest number of designated yakuza groups among all of the prefectures, at 5; the Kudo-kai , the Taishu-kai , the Fukuhaku-kai , the Dojin-kai , and the Namikawa-kai . In August 2021, the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Satoru Nomura ,

6105-586: The designated yakuza. These six organizations have a total of 7,700 members and 6,800 quasi-members, for a total of 14,500 members, or 71.1 percent of the total 20,400 yakuza members and quasi-members in Japan. Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi split off from Yamaguchi-gumi in August 2015, Kizuna-kai split off from Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in April 2017, and Ikeda-gumi split off from Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in July 2020. These Yamaguchi-gumi and

6216-507: The director said "I really considered him my friend, and I admired him. I think he's a brilliant actor - a strange, convoluted guy. I knew I wasn't his favorite director, but I never really knew he disliked me." The two of them met, and Mitchum told Warners afterwards he did not want to do the film with Aldrich. "Too bad," Aldrich said later. "I think it was possible to make a marvelous movie out of Yakuza ." Sydney Pollack then became attached. Schrader says that Pollack wanted rewrites, notably

6327-402: The economic situation during the mid-Edo period and the predominance of the merchant class, developing yakuza groups were composed of misfits and delinquents who had joined or formed the groups to extort customers in local markets by selling fake or shoddy goods. Shimizu Jirocho (1820–1893) is Japan's most famous yakuza and folk hero. He was born Chogoro Yamamoto, but changed his name when he

6438-400: The edges of towns and villages all over Japan. Most of these gambling houses ran loan-sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their own security personnel. Society at large regarded the gambling houses themselves, as well as the bakuto , with disdain. Much of the undesirable image of the yakuza originates from bakuto ; this includes the name yakuza itself. Because of

6549-520: The end of 2022 was 54.2 years: 5.4% in their 20s, 12.9% in their 30s, 26.3% in their 40s, 30.8% in their 50s, 12.5% in their 60s, and 11.6% in their 70s or older, with more than half of the members in their 50s or older. The yakuza still regularly engage in an array of criminal activities, and many Japanese citizens remain fearful of the threat these individuals pose to their safety. There remains no strict prohibition on yakuza membership in Japan today, although many pieces of legislation have been passed by

6660-647: The fifth head of Kudo-kai , to death for murder and attempted murder. This was the first death sentence handed down to a designated yakuza head. Kudo-kai is the only one of the designated yakuza to be designated as a especially dangerous designated yakuza ( 特定危険指定暴力団 , Tokutei Kiken Shitei Bōryokudan ) , a more dangerous type of yakuza. As of 2023, the National Police Agency has designated Yamaguchi-gumi , Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi , Kizuna-kai , Ikeda-gumi ( ja ), Sumiyoshi-kai , and Inagawa-kai as Shuyō dantai ( 主要団体 , major organizations) among

6771-461: The film "such a clumsy combination of violence and inscrutability that the action becomes slightly laughable," further observing, "The right director for this slightly dubious material would have been Sam Peckinpah , who possesses both a taste and a flair for violence ... Sydney Pollack, the director chosen, gets sentimental about violent men, but he isn't on their wavelength." Tony Rayns of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that Takakura "dominates

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6882-423: The film Schrader had made. Director Renny Harlin was hired to re-shoot nearly the entire movie, which was released as Exorcist: The Beginning on August 20, 2004, to disastrously negative reviews and embarrassing box office receipts. Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek put over $ 80 million into the endeavor, and Harlin's film only made back $ 41 million domestically. Schrader's version of the film eventually premiered at

6993-406: The film for being appropriate for the subject matter. The musical score for The Yakuza was composed by Dave Grusin . The score applies both Western and Eastern musical influences in what director Sydney Pollack described as a way that "felt and sounded Japanese without being too strange for western ears." A soundtrack album was released by Film Score Monthly in July 2005. Schrader says

7104-404: The film is that Takakura did not become an international star. The film received mixed reviews at the time of release. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 20 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film a mixed review, awarding it two-and-a-half stars out of four. While praising the characterization and the performances of Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura, he criticized

7215-673: The final film. Schrader's script about an obsessed New York City taxi driver became Martin Scorsese's film Taxi Driver , which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival . Besides Taxi Driver (1976), Scorsese also drew on scripts by Schrader for the boxing tale Raging Bull (1980), co-written with Mardik Martin , The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out

7326-401: The government formally recognized the tekiya . At this time, within the tekiya , the oyabun were appointed as supervisors and granted near- samurai status, meaning they were allowed the dignity of a surname and two swords. Bakuto (gamblers) had a much lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at

7437-708: The height of his fame, in this Hollywood Yakuza flick, seems even more of a triumph... the film's final coda, "The Finger cutting scene," is, for me, one of the great endings of any movie of its era. And arguably Mitchum's single greatest acting moment on film (as long as some fuckwad in the cinema doesn't laugh during it)." Yakuza Yakuza ( Japanese : ヤクザ , IPA: [jaꜜkɯdza] ; English: / j ə ˈ k uː z ə , ˈ j æ k uː z ə / ) , also known as gokudō ( 極道 , "the extreme path", IPA: [gokɯꜜdoː] ) , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of

7548-557: The homes of elderly people to beg for money by pretending to be the elderly person's son, or visiting the homes of elderly people posing as employees of financial institutions to swindle them out of their money. In 2014, tokushu sagi accounted for 10.4 percent of all yakuza arrests, surpassing theft for the first time at 10.2 percent, and 34.6 percent of tokushu sagi perpetrators were yakuza and their associates. The total damage from tokushu sagi identified in 2019 exceeded 30 billion yen, and while yakuza accounted for just over 10 percent of

7659-582: The implementation of the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members ( 暴力団員による不当な行為の防止等に関する法律 ) in 1992, and the total number of members and quasi-members began to decline rapidly with the implementation of the yakuza exclusion ordinances in all 47 prefectures around 2010. Between 1990 and 2020, the total number of members and quasi-members decreased by 70 percent. The National Police Agency reported that Japanese yakuza organizations had 10,400 members and 10,000 quasi-members in 2023. A designated yakuza ( 指定暴力団 , Shitei Bōryokudan )

7770-415: The ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made, and handheld tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel. The procedure is expensive and painful, and can take years to complete. When yakuza play Oicho-Kabu cards with each other, they often remove their shirts or open them up and drape them around their waists. This enables them to display their full-body tattoos to each other. This

7881-399: The islands on a regular basis, and there is a large population of residents who are of full or partial Japanese descent. They also work with local gangs, funneling Japanese tourists to gambling parlors and brothels. In California, the yakuza have made alliances with local Korean gangs as well as Chinese triads and Vietnamese gangs. The yakuza identified these gangs as useful partners due to

7992-427: The last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis . Raised in a strict Calvinist family, Schrader attended Calvin College before pursuing film studies at UCLA on the encouragement of film critic Pauline Kael . He then worked as a film scholar and critic, publishing

8103-400: The left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males with heavily tattooed bodies and wearing fundoshi , sometimes with a kimono or, in more recent years, a Western-style "sharp" suit covering them. At their height, the yakuza maintained a large presence in the Japanese media , and they also operated internationally . In 1963, the number of yakuza members and quasi-members reached

8214-488: The little finger and moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip. The idea is that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group for protection—reducing individual action. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance. Many yakuza have full-body tattoos (including their genitalia ). These tattoos, known as irezumi in Japan, are still often "hand-poked", that is,

8325-479: The lowest level members of criminal groups, such as cash receivers who play the role of financial institution employees, yakuza accounted for nearly 40 percent of the main perpetrators leading fraud schemes. The yakuza and its affiliated gangs control drug trafficking in Japan, especially methamphetamine . While many yakuza syndicates, notably the Yamaguchi-gumi , officially forbid their members from engaging in drug trafficking , some other yakuza syndicates, like

8436-604: The mid- Edo period (1603–1868): tekiya , those who primarily peddled illicit , stolen or shoddy goods; and bakuto , those who were involved in or participated in gambling . Tekiya (peddlers) ranked as one of the lowest social groups during the Edo period. As they began to form organizations of their own, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities. During Shinto festivals , these peddlers opened stalls and some members were hired to act as security. Each peddler paid rent in exchange for

8547-487: The more extreme." Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times wrote, "Although admirable for its understated contrast of hoary ritual with modern trappings, The Yakuza ... is also didactic. It is slowed by the need to instruct its audience in the way of the yakuza; it is marred in its early exposition by some impenetrable Japanese-accented English; it is burdened by the attenuation of an unexciting love interest (which Mitchum's character freely admits being too old for); and

8658-408: The northernmost part of the island, has the largest number of designated syndicates among all of the prefectures. During the formation of the yakuza, they adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure of oyabun-kobun where kobun (子分; lit. foster child) owe their allegiance to the oyabun ( 親分 , lit. foster parent) . In a much later period, the code of jingi ( 仁義 , justice and duty)

8769-440: The organization is a variation of the traditional Japanese senpai - kōhai (senior-junior) model. Members of yakuza cut their real family ties and transfer their loyalty to the oyabun . They refer to each other as family members— oyaji ( 親父 , fathers) , ojiki ( 叔父貴 , uncles) , and kyōdai ( 兄弟 , elder and younger brothers) . The yakuza is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are

8880-427: The oyabun if he wants to spare a member of his own gang from further retaliation. This practice has started to wane amongst the younger members, due to it being an easy identifier for police. Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Japanese sword . The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with

8991-429: The person corresponding to pseudo younger brother of the kumichō is called a shatei ( 舎弟 ) , and the person corresponding to pseudo child of the kumichō ( kobun ) is called a wakanaka ( 若中 ) or wakashū ( 若衆 ) . Although positions in yakuza organizations vary from clan to clan, the three most important yakuza positions are kumichō , wakagashira ( 若頭 , second-in-command and pseudo eldest son of

9102-421: The plot as being somewhat difficult to follow and expressed concern over the level of violence: "it's for audiences that have grown accustomed over the last few years to buckets of blood, disembowelments and severed hands flying through the air. It's very violent, and the fact that the violence has been choreographed by a skilled director (Sidney Pollack, who made They Shoot Horses, Don't They? ) just makes it all

9213-547: The police) call them bōryokudan ( 暴力団 , "violent groups", IPA: [boːɾʲokɯꜜdaɴ] ) , while the yakuza call themselves ninkyō dantai ( 任侠団体 , "chivalrous organizations", IPA: [ɲiŋkʲoː dantai] ) . The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster , meaning an individual involved in a Mafia -like criminal organization. The yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature, and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume , or amputation of

9324-683: The post, but was visited by the New York City Police Department Counterterrorism Bureau for threatening violence. Schrader expressed some regret for his post (blaming it on him drinking alcohol and taking an Ambien ), apologizing for his post's violent rhetoric, but not for his comments critical of Trump. In 2021, Schrader attacked cancel culture , describing it as "infectious...like the Delta virus ". In 2022, Schrader criticized that year's Sight and Sound Greatest Films poll , describing it as

9435-429: The reception to the film was "disastrous. It cost five million and brought back maybe a million and a half". He felt the casting of Mitchum - which he was "very pleased with" - hurt the movie at the box office and if Redford had played the role "we probably would have made money". Schrader felt Pollack "directed against the grain of the script. I wrote a violent, underworld film about blood, duty, and obligation. He made

9546-632: The religion's strict principles and parental education. He did not see a film until he was seventeen years old when he was able to sneak away from home. In an interview, he stated that The Absent-Minded Professor was the first film he saw. In his own words, he was "very unimpressed" by it, while Wild in the Country , which he saw sometime later, had quite some effect on him. Schrader attributes his intellectual rather than emotional approach towards movies and movie-making to his having no adolescent movie memories. Schrader earned his B.A. in philosophy with

9657-415: The room, waits for him to be seated. Sliding the folded handkerchief that contains his finger to Ken, he says "please accept this token of my apology" for "bringing great pain into your life, both in the past and in the present." Ken accepts, and Kilmer asks that "if you can forgive me, then you can forgive Eiko," adding, "you are greatly loved and respected by all your family." Ken professes that "no man has

9768-642: The sale of guns. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can rescue the girl using his Japanese connections. Kilmer and Tanner had been Marine MPs in Tokyo during the post-war occupation . Kilmer became aware of a woman, Eiko, who was involved in the black market so that she could procure penicillin for her sick daughter. Kilmer intervened on behalf of Eiko during a skirmish, saving her life. After they'd been living together, with Kilmer repeatedly asking Eiko to marry him, her brother Ken returned from an island where he'd been stranded as an Imperial Japanese soldier. Both outraged that she

9879-571: The screen" with "his masterfully understated performance," concluding, "If The Yakuza is ultimately no more than a curious footnote to the Western exploitation of Oriental action movies, then it finds at least some self-justification in bringing a major film personality to a much wider audience." Quentin Tarantino is an admirer of the film saying "for the last time as a lead, Mitchum was vibrantly alive... Takakura Ken's powerhouse performance, at

9990-515: The screenplay of Martin Scorsese 's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader has also worked extensively as a director: his 23 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with

10101-460: The script for Obsession for Brian De Palma . Schrader wrote an early draft of Steven Spielberg 's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), but Spielberg disliked the script, calling it "terribly guilt-ridden", and opted for something lighter. He also wrote an early draft of Rolling Thunder (1977), which the film's producers had reworked without his participation. He disapproved of

10212-536: The script in an apartment in Venice over a month, between thanksgiving and Christmas. Schrader says Hamilburg saw the script "was going to be a hot item: the intensity with which people became interested was clear. He knew he was incapable of handling a high-level auction, so he went to Robin French" to handle the auction. French sold the script for $ 300,000. Schrader later reflected: It's hard to see now, looking back at

10323-400: The shocking family secret to Kilmer that Eiko is not Ken's sister but his wife, and Hanako their only child. Kilmer comprehends the true meaning of Eiko and Ken's rift, and Ken's anguish at the death of Hanako, all brought about by his repeated intercessions in their lives. Kilmer storms into Tanner's apartment and kills him, then joins Ken for a near-suicidal attack on Tono's residence. During

10434-496: The similarities between Robert Bresson , Yasujirō Ozu , and Carl Theodor Dreyer , was published in 1972. Other film-makers who made a lasting impression on Schrader are John Ford , Jean Renoir , Roberto Rossellini , Alfred Hitchcock , and Sam Peckinpah . Renoir's The Rules of the Game he called the "quintessential movie" which represents "all of the cinema". In 1974, Schrader and his brother Leonard co-wrote The Yakuza ,

10545-508: The story of a troubled small-town policeman ( Nick Nolte ) who becomes obsessed with solving the mystery behind a fatal hunting accident. Schrader's script was based on the novel by Russell Banks . The film was nominated for multiple awards, including two Academy Awards for acting (for Nolte and James Coburn ). Schrader received the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award the same year. In 1999, Schrader received

10656-480: The three organizations that split from them are fighting each other. In recent years, the three major yakuza syndicates have formed a loose alliance, and in April 2023, Kiyoshi Takayama , the wakagashira (second-in-command) of the Yamaguchi-gumi , Shuji Ogawa , the kaichō (chairman) of the Sumiyoshi-kai , and Kazuya Uchibori ( ja ), the kaichō of the Inagawa-kai , held a social gathering. One of

10767-476: The use of a helicopter). Media reports contrasted this rapid response with the much slower pace at which the Japanese government's official relief efforts took place. Following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, the yakuza sent hundreds of trucks filled with food, water, blankets, and sanitary accessories to aid the people in the affected areas of the natural disaster. CNN México said that although

10878-430: The war effort and society came under the control of the strict military government. However, after the war, the Yakuza adapted again. Yubitsume , also referred to as otoshimae , or the cutting off of one's finger, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offence, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and give the severed portion to his boss. Sometimes an underboss may do this in penance to

10989-469: The wives of bosses, who are referred to by the title ane-san ( 姐さん , older sister) . When the 3rd Yamaguchi-gumi boss ( Kazuo Taoka ) died in the early 1980s, his wife (Fumiko) took over as boss of Yamaguchi-gumi, albeit for a short time. During the World War II period in Japan, the more traditional tekiya/bakuto form of organization declined as the entire population was mobilised to participate in

11100-535: The yakuza operates through extortion and other violent methods, they "[moved] swiftly and quietly to provide aid to those most in need." The presence of individuals affiliated with the yakuza in the United States has increased tremendously since the 1960s, and although much of their activity is concentrated in Hawaii , they have made their presence known in other parts of the country, especially in Los Angeles and

11211-406: The years, and in 2023 there were only about 150 sōkaiya , of whom 30 worked in groups and 120 worked alone. Yakuza also had ties to the Japanese real estate market and banking sector through jiageya . Jiageya specializes in inducing holders of small real estate to sell their property so that estate companies can carry out much larger development plans. The Japanese bubble economy of the 1980s

11322-520: Was adopted, a common Japanese practice. His life and exploits were featured in sixteen films between 1911 and 1940. The roots of the yakuza survive today in initiation ceremonies , which incorporate tekiya or bakuto rituals . Although the modern Yakuza has diversified, some gangs still identify with one group or the other; for example, a gang whose primary source of income is illegal gambling may refer to themselves as bakuto . The island of Kyushu (and particularly its northern prefecture Fukuoka ) has

11433-740: Was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting award at the ScreenLit Festival in Nottingham , England . Several of his films were shown at the festival, including Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters , which followed the presentation of the award by director Shane Meadows . After five years of trying and failing to find funding to make feature films, Schrader returned with The Canyons (2013), an erotic dramatic thriller written by Bret Easton Ellis and starring Lindsay Lohan and adult-film star James Deen . The film

11544-399: Was based on Schrader's father. Among Paul Schrader's films in the 1980s were American Gigolo starring Richard Gere (1980), his Cat People (1982) a remake of the 1942 film Cat People , and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985). Inspired by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima , the film interweaves episodes from Mishima's life with dramatizations of segments from his books. Mishima

11655-556: Was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan , the son of Joan ( née Fisher) and Charles A. Schrader, an executive. Schrader's family attended the Calvinist Christian Reformed Church . Schrader's mother was of Dutch descent, the daughter of emigrants from Friesland , while Schrader's paternal grandfather was from a German family that had come to the U.S. through Canada. His early life was based upon

11766-583: Was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup. This ritual is not exclusive to the yakuza – it is also commonly performed in traditional Japanese Shinto weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships. The structure of yakuza organizations is characterized by a multi-layered hierarchical structure. The kobun (pseudo child) of an organization become oyabun (family head and pseudo parent) and run their own subsidiary organizations, and

11877-524: Was done without prior consultation of the NPA . The journalist who uncovered the deal received threats from Goto and was given police protection in the US and in Japan. The FBI suspects that the yakuza were using various operations to launder money in the US as of 2008 . Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader ( / ˈ ʃ r eɪ d ər / ; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing

11988-504: Was hospitalized for "breathing problems". In January 2023, he and his wife moved from New York's suburban Putnam County to a luxury assisted-living facility in Manhattan's Hudson Yards area, where Hurt receives treatment for her worsening Alzheimer's . Schrader is a Christian . Raised Calvinist , Schrader abandoned religion in his young adulthood, before returning to Christianity later in life. He became an Episcopalian after

12099-536: Was living with his former enemy and deeply indebted to Kilmer for saving the lives of his (apparently) only remaining family, Ken disappeared into the yakuza criminal underground and refused to see or speak to his sister. Eiko, cautious to do nothing to offend Ken further, broke off contact with Kilmer. Before returning to the US, Kilmer bought Eiko a bar (with money borrowed from George Tanner) which she operates to this day, named Kilmer House in his honor. Kilmer has never stopped loving her. Ken's debt to Kilmer, giri ,

12210-559: Was nominated for the top prize (the Palme d'Or ) at the Cannes Film Festival . Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas served as executive producers. Schrader also directed Patty Hearst (1988), about the kidnapping and transformation of the Hearst Corporation heiress . In 1987, he was a member of the jury at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival . His 1990s work included the travelers-in-Venice tale The Comfort of Strangers (1990), adapted by Harold Pinter from

12321-601: Was one of the first films to use the website Kickstarter to crowd-source its funding. Schrader also used the website Let It Cast to have unknown actors submit their audition tapes over the internet. American Apparel provided some wardrobe for the film. The film was ultimately made for just $ 250,000 and had a limited theatrical release from IFC Films on August 2, 2013. The film was poorly received by general critics and audiences. The film only made $ 56,000 in theaters but found later success when released on various Video on Demand platforms. In 2014, Schrader directed The Dying of

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