skyhouse5 Review of American Yakuza

American Yakuza (1993)

This should, if not already, become an authentic "cult" flick . .. .

[8/10 · 3 March 2008]

And not just because of Viggo Mortensen and his growing bandwagon. "American Yakuza," readily recognized as the standard shoot-'em-up, literally "explosive," machismo fare, sub=genre gangland venue, for the legendary flick audience of 12-year-olds, is, on second viewing, sans captions for these unhearing ears, considerably more. Consider the subtexts, of which there are at least two, maybe three. Four? Whatever, the young man who was an "extra" on-set at least during the climactic "shoot," provides a fascinating glimpse into this slice of the growing Mortensen oeuvre, his on-set preparation for the elegiac conclusion of a "B" movie made for the telly. That insight jibes with everything published since about this singular American film actor, his focus, his intensities, his truths, AND his OTHER interests that include poetry and prose and even politics. Made in '93?, this film has style and substance deeper than the surface sheen, which is more than sufficiently glossy. But, even then, may I attempt to up-point several subtleties that, to me at least, deserve notation, to wit: 1: In the never-never-everland of mob and gangster pix even antedating the "godfathers," rarely has there, if ever, been sidebar comedy touches that seem authentic, like the music=tape scenes on the fateful collection rounds. 2: The even subtler stagings of the elegant "family" dinner and the formal induction of the alien soldier. 3: At least one Yankee compendium fails to even list Ryo Ishibashi in the cast whilst naming every American "name." which. to me, is like omitting EITHER Bogard OR Hepburn when "reviewing" "The African Queen" for posterity. 4: And, in that central and crucial and motivating regard lies the film's raison d'etre, which leads to . . 5: The apparent, to me at least, fact that "American Yakuza" is, at heart, more a fable about a father-son. teacher-disciple, man-boy nexus than a meditation on crime OR violence. Bottom line: As with ALL such contemplations, the homo-erotic element is not only key, it is the central fulcrum AND function. And here, I cite the climactic "love" scene of the dying "don" and the grieving "son," PLUS that stunning staircase descent with the body of the "father." I seem to recall, from that single viewing almost 60? years ago, of Olivier's "Hamlet," wherein his Horatio intones the deathless? lines of the Shakespearean iconolgy, "Good night, sweet Prince . . . " Therein, the eulogy "rises," up the flights of circular? steps, whereas, in this case, the mute eulogy DESCENDS the multiple staircase, precious cargo in arms, grief unworded, honor, AND love, struck dumb. The day hyperhormoned men, never mind the boys, begin to understand their true "loyalties" to their own sex the while they proclaim their lust for women, that will be the day when humanity finally comes to grips with both its "sexuality" AND its emotional ambivalences.