When Quentin Tarantino isn’t writing a film, directing a film, or talking about a film he’s written and/or directed, the filmmaker is probably talking about other people’s films that he loves. And in a new essay for the New Beverly Cinema, he does just that with Sydney Pollack’s mid-’70s drama “The Yazuka.”
The director says that Pollack was not initially well-received as the filmmaker behind the gangster flick. But still, Pollack was able to turn in a hell of an effort. Tarantino says, “Nevertheless, ‘The Yakuza’ remains a unique, nifty 70’s gangster thriller with two great action stars being outstanding.”
One of those stars is the legendary Robert Mitchum. Tarantino is quick to say that the actor’s roles throughout much of the ‘70s and ‘80s were a bit wooden. In fact, the director calls Mitchum “an oak tree” in his various roles. However, he’s quick to give credit to the actor for his work in “The Yakuza.”
“But in ‘The Yakuza,’ for the last time as a lead, Mitchum was vibrantly alive,” writes the filmmaker. “Apparently, Pollack stressed the ‘The Way We Were’ aspect of the love story inside the Yakuza story (Mitchum and dignified Kishi Keiko play reunited lovers from World War II.) But that aspect of the story is one of the film’s most effective features. And that’s mostly due to the romantic, moony, wounded bear quality that Mitchum brings to the role.”
The other action star from the film is the Japanese actor Takukara Ken. And as Tarantino points out, that name probably isn’t one that many Western film fans are aware of. However, once you see him in ‘The Yakuza,’ he’ll be one you remember.
“While Ken is one of the most iconic stars in the history of Japanese cinema, and even though he’s done a few other international productions (‘Too Late the Hero,’ ‘Black Rain,’ ‘Mr. Baseball’), most western audiences only know him from this movie,” says Tarantino. “But in ‘The Yakuza’ he delivers such a perfect presentation of his persona that it’s all you really need to know.”
Outside of being a talented filmmaker in his own right, Quentin Tarantino is a hell of a cinephile, and one of the best salespeople in the industry. If you read his above words about “The Yakuza” and don’t immediately want to run out and watch it, then perhaps this final bit will do the trick.
“And the film’s final coda, ‘The Finger cutting scene,’ is, for me, one of the great endings of any movie of its era,” says the director. “And arguably Mitchum’s single greatest acting moment on film (as long as some fuckwad in the cinema doesn’t laugh during it).”
Odds are, there won’t be any “fuckwads” in the theater when “The Yakuza” screens at the New Beverly tonight.