Although director Kinji Fukasaku is best known by most film fans for his final film, Battle Royale, its his Yakuza films that established him as a real talent and a maverick. Having seen and been blown away by Graveyard of Honour (1975) I decided to buy several other of his films. This earlier film, JOCB, is also very impressive. The scenario isn't original as Yakuza films go - Yakuza member Tsukamoto comes out of prison after 8 years to find the world has changed and a new established breed of Yakuza without honour and can't escape his past - but it is the execution that impresses. Using his soon to be trademark frenetic hand held camera, black and white and colour, freeze frames, unusual camera angles, graphic violence (for the time), news-reel style montages and voice over and lurid blood letting Fukasaku has created a bold and engrossing crime film. It is testament to the blossoming talent and style of a director who would go on to make many classics in the genre. As with most films of this type it takes a certain level of concentration to keep up with who is plotting what against whom but its not difficult to watch. If you are interested in the director this is probably a good place to start. Recommended.
