Battles Without Honor and Humanity

Infobox Film
name = Battles Without Honor and Humanity


caption =
director = Kinji Fukasaku
producer =
writer = Kazuo Kasahara
Koichi Iiboshi (story)
starring = Bunta Sugawara
Hiroki Matsukata
Tatsuo Umemiya
Tsunehiko Watase
Nobuo Kaneko
music = Toshiaki Tsushima
cinematography = Sadaji Yoshida
editing =
distributor = Toei
released = January 13, 1973
runtime = 99 minutes
country = Japan
language = Japanese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = ""
website =
amg_id = 1:135183
imdb_id = 0070246nihongo|"Battles Without Honor and Humanity"|仁義なき戦い|"Jingi naki tatakai" is a 1973 yakuza film by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku and adapted from a series of newspaper articles by Koichi Iiboshi, a journalist and former yakuza.cite book
last = D.
first = Chris
authorlink = Chris D.
title = Outlaw Masters of Japancese Film
publisher = I.B. Tauris
year = 2005
id = ISBN 1-84511-086-2
url = http://www.ibtauris.com/ibtauris/display.asp?K=9781845110901
pages = pp. 9-10] It is the first film in a five-part series also known as "The Yakuza Papers". Due to the series' enormous commercial and critical popularity it was followed by another three-part series, "New Battles Without Honor and Humanity", and concluded with a final installment, "Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity". It is often called the "Japanese "Godfather"."fact|date=May 2008

ynopsis

The violent, documentary-style film chronicles the underworld tribulations of Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), a young ex-soldier and street thug in post-War Hiroshima. Starting in the open-air black markets of bombed-out Hiroshima in 1945, the film spans a period of more than ten years. The plot consists of a changing of the guard of new families and organizations with the same feuds and people, punctuated by the gritty violence. It gave way to four sequels, which form a sprawling yakuza epic. The overall tone of the series is bleak, violent and chaotic, expressing the futility of the struggles between yakuza families.

Etymology

The title refers to the post-war yakuza's lack of "jingi", a Japanese term loosely translated as "honor and humanity". Previous yakuza movies had, for the most part, been tales of chivalry set in pre-war Japan. A commercial and critical success, "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" portrayed a darker and more cynical world, and set the stage for much subsequent Japanese cinema.

In the western market it is known under the titles:
* "Battles Without Honour and Humanity" (Canada)
* "Tarnished Code of Yakuza" (Australia)
* "The Yakuza Papers"
* "War Without a Code"

equels

* "" (1973)
* "" (1973)
* "" (1974)
* "" (1974)
* "New Battles Without Honor and Humanity" (1974)
* "" (1975)
* "" (1976)
* "Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity" (1979)

Home video

The first 5 films in the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" series were released as "The Yakuza Papers" by Home Vision Entertainment in a 6-disc DVD box set in 2004. The set also contains interviews with director William Friedkin, discussing the influence of the films in America; subtitle translator Linda Hoaglund, discussing her work on the films; and others.cite web
url = http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1442batt.html
title = The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor And Humanity: The Complete Box Set
accessdate = 2007-09-02
last = Erickson
first = Glenn
authorlink = Glenn Erickson
year = 2004
month = November
publisher = DVD Talk]

References

External links

* " [http://www.image-entertainment.com/dvd/detail.cfm?productID=32096 Yakuza Papers, Vol. #1: Battles Without Honor & Humanity] " at Image Entertainment, with trailer
*
* " [http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1973/cw000060.htm Battles Without Honor and Humanity] " ja icon at the Japanese Movie Database