Over the last few years we’ve finally witnessed the glory of Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku as his essential films finally make it to North America on Blu-ray. He is the kingpin of ’70s gangster films, but Americans didn’t know about him and his films at the time. His Battles Without Honor and Humanity series was a landmark that puts him with Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese when it comes to the depiction of mobster lives. His films charted the rise of the Yakuza in the wreckage of post-World War II Japan and their hold on modern times. Hokuriku Proxy War, his final Yakuza film came out in 1977 and showed how mobsters operated below freezing to control a piece of snow-covered turf.
Kawada Noboru (Battles Without Honor and Humanity‘s Hiroki Matsukata) is not happy when he gets out of prison and discovers that Mr. Yasuhara (Lady Snowblood‘s Hiroki Matsukata) has reneged on a promise to give him the security assignment for the upcoming speedboat races. Instead of a lawsuit, Kwada snags Mr. Yasuhara and buries him up to his head in the snow. Then he goes zipping around in his jeep using Yasuhara’s head as a slalom target until he gets his deal. Yasuhara pays a visit to Osaka’s Kanai Group to help him out against Kwada. Kanai Hachiro (The Street Fighter‘s Sonny Chiba) shows up with 50 killers looking to “restore yakuza order” in the snow-covered land. There are quite a few people not happy at Yasuhara’s action since they sense that Kanai won’t be going back to Osaka if they succeed. The most upset is Kawada and he has zero tolerance of letting them open up in his town.
Hokuriku Proxy War feels like the proper ending for Kinji Fukasaku’s Yakuza movies since he takes us to what seems like the end of the world to show the final battle for the frozen turf. Hiroki Matsukata is unrelenting as he seeks to reestablish himself in his old town. He is so vicious in his ways against rivals, but is so comforting with the women in the community. Sonny Chiba has such swagger as Kanai. Even when we discover he’s got to answer to an even larger Yakuza family, he doesn’t care. There’s a lot going on in the blizzard conditions as the turf battle gets complicated. Even with the cold weather, Fukasaku has cinematographer Toru Nakajima bring the camera right into the conflicts. We’re thrust into the Yakuza fights on the snowy days. The business of people buried up to their neck with a Jeep racing around is intense. While Fukasaku’s movie reminded us that these supposedly noble gangsters rarely died a noble death, Hokuriku Proxy War has him ending his Yakuza movies as the boss of bosses. He would continue directing until he made his final complete film the legendary Battle Royale in 2000.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the details in this snow covered battleground. The cold comes off the screen. It’s a beautiful and deadly location. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 as you hear clearly the battles in the frigid streets. The movie is subtitled in English.
Yoko Takahashi (15:51) meets the actress who recount her cold time making the film. She gets into the levels she could hit as an actress. She gets into how Toei set her up for the Poxy War. Someone got injured in a jeep scene on the day she arrived. This was her first Toei film. She describes working with Kinji Fukasaku.
Koji Takada (18:42) allows the script writer to talk about collaborating with director Kinji Fukasaku. He liked how they made something different after the Battles Without Honor and Humanity films. He mentions how much freedom Toei gave him as a screenwriter as long as he hit deadlines.
The Hikuriku Proxy War Case (14:36) allows Yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito explains the reality behind the film. Turns out the reason why this was the last Yakuza movie at Toei was one of the scenes in the film was duplicated to kill the real Yakuza mobster featured in the film. Ito wrote a book about the movie and the reality.
Trailer (3:21) lets you know this is all about mobsters in the snow.
Radiance Films present Hokuriku Proxy War: Limited Edition. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Screenplay by Kōji Takada. Starring Sonny Chiba, Hiroki Matsukata, Yumiko Nogawa, Mikio Narita, Yoko Takahashi, Takeo Chii, Tatsuo Endo, Seizo Fukumoto, Hajime Hana, Goro Ibuki, Nenji Kobayashi, Kō Nishimura, Junkichi Orimoto and Jirō Yabuki. Running Time: 98 minutes. Release Date: February 25, 2025.
