When most people think of Japanese director Takashi Miike, they recall his violent and perverse films such as Audition, Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q. Along with those impactful movies, Miike directed a lot of films during the turn of the century. He even had time to revive the Yakuza films that had pretty much come to an end during the late ’70s. Agitator feels like a further installment of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honor And Humanity series. Miike gets into the life of the new breed of foot soldiers who do the bidding of mob bosses to control the underbelly of Japan.
Mr. Kaito (Battles Without Honor and Humanity‘s Hiroki Matsukata) wants to consolidate power within his crime syndicate. His goal is to take control of two units in his territory. But it won’t be easy as a power struggle is happening within the Tenseikai Syndicate. The head is in the hospital and things are looking bleak. Mr. Kaito’s plan must go into action swiftly. Part of his scheme involves several foot soldiers including Kunihiko Kenzaki (Godzilla‘s Masaya Kato) doing the dirty work to cause the right amount of chaos. Unlike the foot soldiers of the previous films, the new ones are rather punk in their attitude and dress. They aren’t subservient in pressed suits. The film opens with them shaking down a businessman over issues with their office space. This is disrupted when they must make a hasty departure to deal with what they believe is a mob hit on their gang. Turns out it’s a surprise party. But not everything is a fun surprise. Things get wild in a nightclub when a karaoke microphone is misused (as the director plays a hoodlum). Things get even more crazy the next day when they knock out a food delivery guy and give him a Yakuza back tattoo. There is a lot of crazed and calm moments on the screen. During one scene a member is enjoying the view of a kaleidoscope and then the camera turns to show us a mobster being hung up and tortured. Is all the plotting and intrigue really going to lead to Mr. Kaito being Mr. Big of Japan?
Agitator is a fine revival of the action and backstabbing expected from a classic Yakuza film. Takashi Miike brings his own twist to the genre. There’s plenty of wicked moments on the screen that shows he’s not just repeating the work of Kinji Fukasaku. He does connect it back to those films by casting Matsukata in a key role. He was also in Hokuriku Proxy War, the snowy mob film that was the last of Fukasaku’s Yakuza movies. Maybe Agitator is a continuation of what Matsukata’s mobster character had been doing in the intervening years? The star of the film is Masaya Kato gives an intense performance as a man who will give everything to his boss although starts to question it when he finds a woman. Can he keep something special for her? Miike made sure he brought back the Yakuza action with a story about the extremes the mobsters will go to in order to grab more turf and be the boss. Agitator reminds us of what part of the game has changed and what stayed the same.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer brings out the nasty side of the Yakuza life such as the foot soldiers shared apartment. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono. Things sound clear when the bullets fly. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Tom Mes gives context to the film, cast, genre and Miike. While he’s only talking on the theatrical cut, he explains the Extended Version.
Extended Version (103 minutes and 98 minutes) has the two parts of the movie that played on video. This is only provided in standard definition.
Takashi Miike (24:12) is a recent interview with the director. He talks about how scary the screenwriter was. How scary? He was a former Yakuza boss who get into creative writing while serving his time in prison.
Trailer (1:23) opens with a field of sunflowers and the love scene. You’d almost think it is a romance except it’s followed by gun fights. Don’t watch this first since it gives away a big third act moment.
Limited Edition booklet with an informative article by Tom Mes about how Miike became big on the film festival circuit.
Radiance Films present Agitator: Limited Edition. Directed by Takashi Miike. Screenplay by Shigenori Takechi. Starring Masaya Kato, Naoto Takenaka, Ryōsuke Miki, Masatō Ibu & Hiroki Matsukata. Running Time 151 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: March 24, 2026.
