Proxy War (1973)

Starring: Bunta Sugawara, Nobuo Kaneko, Mikio Narita, Reiko Fuckin' Ike, and Shingo Yamashiro. Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku. Written by: Kazuo Kasahara. Cinematography by: Sadarsugu Yoshida

 Kinji Fukasaku’s blisteringly bleak and brutal Battles Without Honor And Humanity confidently strides into the massive mafioso manifesto third entry, Proxy War. In previous entries, the narrative was dense and deadly. Instead of going the 80s slasher route of rinse and repeat the exact same formula, Fukasaku and Kasahara expand the scope and consequences into newer, scarier, and even darker heights from 1960-1963.

 Shozo (played by Bunta Sugawara), fellow Oyabuns(bosses), sworn brothers and a wrestler are taking a leisurely scroll but a punker brat guns down Oyabun Sugihara, who led the Muraoka clan, after Boss Muraoka’s retirement. The power struggle for the Muraoka consumes Shozo. A few familiar faces shows back up in Shozo’s life, that fucking shitbag Oyabun Yamamori (played by Nobuo Kaneko) and his loyal captain, Makihara. The Muraoka family have merged with the Yamamori family for stability. Shozo teams up with fellow captains Matsunaga (played Mikio Narita) and Eda Shoichi (played by Shingo Yamashiro) to takedown Boss Yamamori. In the meantime since the events of Hiroshima Death Match, rival families - the Akashi and Shinwa - from outside have been trying to move in and take Hiroshima City. Shozo Hirono tries to stay neutral while going behind closed doors to destroy Oyabun Yamamori (with help from the Muraoka’s Matsunaga and Eda), whose doing the same to Shozo. Through several setups and betrayals, Shozo and Oyabun Yamamori are left in the wake of the rest of the Muraoka-Yamamori clan trying to survive. 

 The 3rd installment of the series picks up a few years later, Shozo is not the same man. The sweet charm is still there but he’s not the honorable old-fashioned mobster anymore. He’s gotten jaded, cynical, and just seems unhappy. The Yamamori’s return to his life throws him into a southbound spiral with no end in sight. Freedom for him turned into running a scrap metal yard for next to nothing of what the other families are making. Since his power was so minuscule, diplomacy was his only option. In a few years, Shozo forged several powerful political friendships with his rivals in the surrounding region in particular, Mr. Uchimoto. The situation has stabilized somewhat given the shocking lack of graphic violence in this one.

The film’s core relationships are centered on Shozo and his desire for revenge disguised as neutrality. Each triangle - Shozo, Uchimoto, Oyabun Yamamori and Shozo, Matsunaga, Eda - play against each other while the ever-deepening intricacies of the series expand. In both cases, Shozo paints himself into a corner. Attempting to remain neutral, was key to the conflicts. The plot’s driven by a fierce blind rage that consumes Shozo, Oyabun Yamamori, and Uchomoto are left with nothing by the end. They are back where they were at the beginning. Their power plays failed. There would have been no movie if Uchimoto had just seized control at the funeral but he was a nervous-paranoid Nelly and fucked it up for him and the only person that was genuinely trying to help him. Sometimes your enemies become friends and friends become enemies as Shozo learned with Eda and Matsunaga. Both were apart of the Muraoka family and followed Shozo’s lead to topple Oyabun Yamamori. Eda was not looking out for the good of the family he wanted control and nothing else. Early on, he feigns lack of interest to cement support from the most well-connected guy around. The Hirono family is notably smaller but they have an endlessly charismatic Oyabun. He charmed his way into good graces with every bigger fish he possibly could. Each new ally only complicated his position to the point that the Eda-Matsunaga relationships were strained beyond sustainability. However, Matsunaga didn’t follow Eda or Shozo at the end.

Not just the conflicts with the Yamamori clan made things worse but internal clashes with his men pushed Shozo to the edge. He was notably crueler than the ex-soldier we met in the first one. There were 2 young members - Takeshi and Saijo, that were the catalyst for it. Saijo stole scrap metal for a TV for his wife played by the Pinky Violence Superstar Reiko Fuckin’ Ike in a very thankless role Nomie. She deserved better. Nomie’s stupid husband gets beaten severely by his Oyabun several times for things that frankly he had coming. Saijo the idiot cut off his whole hand to make up for the theft but that hinders him from effectively being a Yakuza. Takeshi on the other hand is loyal to a fault. He first shows up killing a wrestler friend of Shozo. Takeshi’s mother forces him to become a Yakuza to heal her standing with Shozo, which goes smoothly. Saijo whores out his wife, against her will, for info on the Akashi-Shinwa Group dealings. She ends up leaving him for Takeshi who by all accounts actually treats her with respect and kindness. Takeshi takes it on himself to kill Makihara without going through his Oyabun. He is a star employee that pays attention to the little details. This gets him killed once Saijo tips off Makihara’s men. The end result is the depressing ending of a Battles film so far. A Yamamori drive-by runs over Takeshi’s ashes in front of his grieving mother. It’s a gut-wrenching ending that hits the bullseye in your heart.

Proxy War throws the series into even denser and darker territory which for me, just makes the anticipation for watching the rest of the series even greater. The entire series is on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Amazon Prime.