Blu-ray Review: ‘Outrage: Way of the Yakuza’ Shows Why You Don’t Mess with the Yakuza

The first time I saw Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage was way back in October when it was available on VOD.  Now, with its Blu-ray and DVD release set for today thanks to Magnolia Home Entertainment, I’ve taken a second crack at the film and have concluded that my feelings for the film haven’t changed except for one, my displeasure with the new title.  Magnolia/Magnet decide to change the name from Outrage to Outrage: Way of the Yakuza which sounds downright terrible as it takes away from the violent nature that the original title emphasized

Since my feelings on the film haven’t changed, I’ve decided to repost my original review of the film below with a few tweaks but have added an expanded review of the bonus features so that you can decide whether or not this film is worthy of your hard earned dollars.

Movie Review:

Takeshi Kitano (Brother) is known as the master of Yakuza films (Japanese mafia films). Hell, I might go so far as to say that he is the Scorcese of Japan when it comes to well crafted organized crime flicks. That being said, Kitano’s latest film Outrage (Autoreiji), now called Outrage: Way of the Yakuza, is breath of fresh air in the Yakuza genre. It tells a twisted tale of deception, cruelty and what exactly happens when you mess with the Yakuza in this day and age.

Several subsidiary bosses gather at a lavish lunch with “Mr. Chairman,” the head of the ruling Sanno-kai crime organization which controls the Greater Tokyo area. Sannokai underboss Kato warns Ikemoto about his overt dealings with family outsider Murase, an old-timer with whom he recently made a pact in prison. In an effort to ease Mr. Chairman’s suspicions, Ikemoto asks fellow boss Otomo to do his dirty work for him by making a minor but obvious move against Murase.

Otomo’s actions are the start of a ruthless series of conflicts and betrayals. Before long, several yakuza clans are out for blood in their constant battle for power and money. The rival bosses fight to rise through the ranks by scheming and making short-lived allegiances. In this corrupt world where there are no heroes, it’s Bad Guy vs. Bad Guy in a spiraling outrage of gang
warfare…

Takeshi Kitano directed, wrote, edited and starred in Outrage. He’s a man of many talents and this film is an excellent return to the screen for the aging legend. The movie starts off with the discovery that Otomo’s henchman has struck a deal with the drug-dealing Murase (Renji Ishibashi) family. Since Otomo disapproves of this sworn bond, he takes matters into his own hands which results in a chain of constant violence, territories being invaded and people continually settling scores/repaying debts. The movie gets bloody real fast and it never lets up. Someone is constantly yelling, being beaten up or apologizing to someone else in hopes of remaining alive, even though their odds are slim. In a way, Outrage feels like a mix of The Godfather and Infernal Affairs (or The Departed) due to its treacherous nature, various storylines, and its violent tendencies. On the other hand, the entire film feels like the last 10 minutes of Casino, just utter insanity.  Once again, Kitano paints an accurate picture of the Yakuza and is relentless in making sure you understand how aggressive the various families can be.

Despite a having a solid story, for someone who doesn’t speak Japanese the beginning of this movie will feel really confusing and disjointed. There are a lot of names and stories thrown around in a short period of time, but if you’re patient and smart you will eventually see all the pieces start to fall together ensuring the clarity you were hoping for. There is also a portion of the film which involves an ambassador from Ghana (I think) who is manipulated into working for the Yakuza. There is some very dry humor here that results from the various scenes he is featured in but the only purpose was to show why the Yakuza should be feared by outsiders. Kitano makes that very clear when the ambassador declines to work with them and one man states, “you know you’re messing with the Yakuza, right?” I didn’t think it was necessary to go this far but the point was made for those who aren’t familiar with the Japanese mafia.

DVD Review:

Magnolia Home Entertainment has done a nice job of compiling a lot of footage for the bonus features of this blu-ray.  While it doesn’t include a lot of technical stuff, it makes up for the lack of commentary with a ton of interviews.

Before I dive into the content I’d like to say that the film looks exceptional on bluray and I’d highly recommend you go that route if you have the option to do so, mostly because of the way Kitano shot the film and the amount of color contrast you’ll find in the feature.  As for the bonus material, below you will find the breakdown of features along with my commentary on each.

Cast Interviews: Making Outrage: Way of the Yakuza – This approximately 19 minute feature gives us a few minutes with almost all of the principle actors who describe their characters and what it was like to work with Takeshi Kitano as both a director and performer.  Almost all of them commented on his silent style of directing and how he just expects you to perform based off of his basic instructions.  They also dive into how they got the role and what their experience was like compared to other films they’ve been on.

Making Outrage: Way of the Yakuza: Inside Out: Behind the Scenes Documentary – This 37 minute feature is an in-depth look at the set and how a majority of the scenes are broken down from the opening scene to the climactic one when all chaos erupts.  My favorite part of this documentary was when they discussed how they did the sound effects and what they intended on doing for the score.  Originally they were going to go with some David Bowie music but then decided to go with natural sounds that had a rhythm.  They ended up manipulating the sound waves from things like air conditioners and other random everyday objects to create a unique and more fitting score.  What was also interesting to see was how much of the film was improv or not, how quick the shoot moved, and what the reactions were to the performances on the set.

Cast Panel Interview: This 14 minute segment gives us the chance to hear a longer interview with Kitano, Mr. Chairman’s underboss and two henchmen.  They tell a few funny stories but most of the interview is praising each other’s work or recognizing interesting things after having seen themselves on screen.

Premiere Q&A: This is the most entertaining part of the dvd because the responses are a lot funnier.  The premiere has fans from the audience asking questions and some of them can be really ridiculous resulting in stories from the cast and them teasing each other.  It’s 24 minutes long but I think it’s worth a watch.

Cannes ‘Red Carpet’ Premiere with Takeshi Kitano: This little gem of a feature gives us an overall view of Takeshi Kitano’s Cannes experience beginning with his arrival to the press conference to seeing his post premiere screening reactions.  You get to see him pose for pictures, sign autographs, conduct two Q&A sessions with the press, attending the red carpet and watching the audiences’ reaction to the film and then hearing what he has to say about their reaction.  The nine minute segment concludes with him sipping a well deserved glass of champagne.

US and International Trailers-Not much to say about these.  You can just see the difference between US marketing and marketing a film abroad.  This is a staple of practically every DVD and Blu-ray

Movie Rating: Criminally good storytelling. It’s an ideal blend of violence, humor and Yakuza madness (7 /10)

Blu-ray Rating: 7/10

Outrage: Way of the Yakuza is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment under the Magnet label.