A nitty gritty homage to yakuza films. While this genre is no longer as prevalent as it was in the old age of Japanese cinema, The Blood of Wolves captures the essence of the yakuza and police in Showa era Japan. This is my first yakuza film to date. Other content I've watched are usually focused on something else while the yakuza are side characters or pushing conflict in the story. I don't think I've mentioned on this blog (or maybe I did) that I am a big fan of the Yakuza game franchise. This series of games and spinoffs really furthered my interest in yakuza/gangster media and related entertainment. Naturally when I discovered a title like The Blood of Wolves, I knew I had to give it a try. I only heard about this film because there's a sequel planned for it and Saitoh Takumi was announced as one of the cast members. As a result, I decided to do some additional research which led me to this amazing movie. Japan sometimes creates some questionable movies, but then they come out with gems like these.
The story takes place in Hiroshima in the year 1988 during a very hot summer. This is the time before air conditioning was common, calls were made on rotary phones and the Japanese anti-yakuza laws had not been enacted. Hioka is a rookie cop assigned with the veteran Ogami to take up cases first hand. Notice how Ogami sounds very similar to "ookami" meaning "wolf". Later during one of their outings, Ogami buys a lighter with a wolf design. While the English title uses the plural form of wolf, "孤狼" actually translates to lone wolf. I have reason to believe that the lone wolf in the story refers to Ogami who in facts acts alone and keeps many things to himself. He is a character of dubious nature as regarded by Hioka who is secretly spying on him. While the yakuza are notorious for their violent methods, the police aren't any different. Hioka observes Ogami taking bribes, visiting seedy massage parlors on the clock, and personally meets up with the Odani group, the current yakuza organization that the police are keeping tabs on. It goes against everything he has believed in before only to end with Ogami teasing him each time, calling him a college graduate.
The duo is tasked to track down a missing employee from a finance company who we see brutally tortured in the beginning of the film. A lot of the violence in The Blood of Wolves is not for the faint of heart or those squeamish with blood. Seeing blood is actual the milder parts of the movie. You get up-close shots with corpses and the camera doesn't cut away when yakuza are doing the deed. It gives you more than enough of a good idea not to mess with them. In contrast, the East Kurehara police aren't that much better. Ogami uses the violence to extract information and trespasses into establishments without a warrant. Not to mention he used Hioka as reluctant bait to tempt a yakuza into attacking an officer. As much as these methods clash with Hioka's sense of justice and morality, Ogami proves to be effective each time and the entire department relies on him.
A lot of stress is put on Hioka as he is secretly tasked with locating a supposedly hidden diary that can prove Ogami's ties to the yakuza. Hioka is inclined to believe in that as he witnesses time after time Ogami bargaining with the Odani group not to wage war against the Kakomura group. There was wide spread belief that Ogami was the person who murdered a high ranking Kakomura member 14 years ago. However the more Hioka dives into the cases, the more suspicious he is on the true identity of Ogami which comes to shock him in the end.
The Blood of Wolves is a very effective crime thriller that goes against portraying the romanticized version of the yakuza. There's no honor and humanity for nearly all the characters, just vicious wolves tearing at each other as part of a power struggle. It's clear that in order to survive, one must become that wolf. Ogami is that wolf keeping the yakuza under his thumb in an attempt to keep the peace in Kurehara, but at a very steep price. While we can blame the yakuza for starting turf wars, the police are also to blame for turning a blind eye to certain situations. The bloody violence reminded me a lot of Takashi Miike's style in 13 Assassins. Director Kazuya Shirashi has a done a great job taking me on a roller coaster ride of emotions.
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