I enjoy most of Viggo Mortensen's films and he was good in this, but as a Sicilian-American, I am offended by the Italian stereotypes. I hate the Mafia as much, if not more, than anyone else. However, I am sick to death of them being portrayed as dumb, arrogant, and inferior to black/Hispanic/Asian, or whatever rival mobsters oppose (and usually beat) them in the movies.
A gangster is a gangster, and they are all vicious thugs, no matter what their nationality or race or how old their organization and "traditions" may be. This film made yakuza look like samurai. That is an insult to the samurai class, the Japanese equivalent of European knights and nobility.
The ending is supposed to be tragic, but frankly I consider it a happy ending. Hateful, racist swine that he is, I was glad to see that at least Campanela didn't die a coward. I was also glad he took his enemy with him. Good riddance to both bags of bad rubbish.
By the way, didn't the FBI have any special agents of Japanese ancestry back in 1993? Yakuza are known to be extremely xenophobic, and it is highly unlikely they would accept a Caucasian in their ranks.
A gangster is a gangster, and they are all vicious thugs, no matter what their nationality or race or how old their organization and "traditions" may be. This film made yakuza look like samurai. That is an insult to the samurai class, the Japanese equivalent of European knights and nobility.
The ending is supposed to be tragic, but frankly I consider it a happy ending. Hateful, racist swine that he is, I was glad to see that at least Campanela didn't die a coward. I was also glad he took his enemy with him. Good riddance to both bags of bad rubbish.
By the way, didn't the FBI have any special agents of Japanese ancestry back in 1993? Yakuza are known to be extremely xenophobic, and it is highly unlikely they would accept a Caucasian in their ranks.