Hokuriku Proxy War

It seems strange to think that in 1977, though he would make films for over two more decades, that Hokuriku Proxy War would be Kinji Fuksaku’s final yakuza movie. Having changed the genre and made more yakuza thrillers than I can count, nevertheless so it came to pass that an era ended.

It’s said that the Hokuriku yakuza make their name and fortune by killing their bosses, so their bosses choose their men carefully. One such hungry wolf, Kawada (Hiroki Matsukata), finds himself straining against his leash as his boss, Yasuura (Ko Nishimura) refuses to give him what is owed. If a local yakuza war is not bad enough, those from the big city move in, including the feral Kanai (Sonny Chiba), but Kawada plots his way to get what a hungry yakuza wolf of Hokuriku wants.

If a film is a three-act structure (whether it is or isn’t is irrelevant but stick with me) then the first and final acts may be some of the most freewheeling Fukasaku ever directed. For those familiar with his latter yakuza films will know his style; the chaotic explosions of violence and the handheld camera work. But this feels like Fukasaku amped up to 11, sometimes verging almost on the madcap or even pantomimic - don’t mistake this for a criticism, it’s quite the opposite, there’s a craziness to it that works, that is the right side of lunacy. After all the film opens with boss Yasuura buried up to his head in the frozen snow, freezing in the coastal region of Hokuriku, while Kawada drives round and at him in a jeep, snow flying and his wheels veering closer and closer across the snow to Yasuura’s face. This is Fukasaku giving you an idea of the tone and the unhinged levels of how far the film is going to go.

It’s a frenetic, frantic opening and gives us an immediate understanding of Kawada’s character, as he is launched into the familiar machinations of yakuza clans battling for power. As with so many films, the who is aligned to the what and when and how. This can be more than slightly brain frying and again, as is often the case, it’s best to allow yourself to go with it. Don’t try and analyse too much the relationships because information comes thick and fast, while the key relationships are always clear: Kawada with Yasuura and uncle Mantani (Hajime Hana); Kawada and his girl, Kiku (Yumiko Nogawa) and her sister Nobu (Yoko Takahashi); characters like Sonny Chiba’s expansive, in your face but in a good way, Kanai is there to both be a force, but also a symbol of the outside powers vying for control and money in this small, poorer region. Oh yes Hokuriku is there to feed them and their yokel locals are not worthy of their respect overmuch.  

The shifting loyalties though are made more intriguing for their blood relationships; uncle Mantani really does seem to be Kawada’s uncle; and Kiku, initially Kawada’s girl is courted by those in power and moves with them as their power grows, then leaving them when it wanes, yet she is not just a pretty flower in the wind; she loves Kawada, her sister and her brother Takashi. Yumiko Nogawa seen recently in A Certain Killer, where her character felt tonally off, here is tonally spot on, and you are given reason to understand why her life has turned out as it has. That said, there’s an unusual tenderness in Kawada as he falls for Kiku’s younger sister, Nobu; for a hungry wolf he’s one that is still capable of love. It’s also a relationship that matters narratively as it allows the story to wrong foot us a while, but like Kiku, though she doesn’t get much screen time Yoko Takahashi’s slightly feral Nobu feels like a human character and certainly not just a pretty presence on screen.

Talking of visuals, the film is often shot in snowy Hokuriku and much like Fargo's Brainerd, the area is itself is a character in the film. The freezing, snowy arenas seem to affect everyone: some of this is obvious, in the thick clothes everyone wears, but it also seems to make our characters appear more animalistic and brutal, but moreover seems to affect their characters. This feels like a brutal area to live and grow in, so the tenacity of a character like Kawada, who at one point you feel has nowhere to go or fight, seems appropriate for a yakuza who will do anything despite the odds. At face value snow is just downright cinematic, but the crunching snow and ice seem to loom over everyone, creating slim corridors of movement, something that is often reflected in the claustrophobic visuals: images shot from tight angles, high staircases looking down, small rooms packed full of bodies, guns from all angles pressed in close to the point of almost absurdity.  

And in the centre of it all is Kawada, played with almost pulsating energy by Hiroki Matsukata. As he sits he rocks, like his desire for action is bursting out of his body. He cannot keep still and makes a good foil for Chiba’s slick big-city animal. If anything they are cut from the same cloth, but each a reflection of their origins. Heaven help anyone who gets in the way of either. That said, Chiba though often highly billed, takes a small role here (almost the definition of a Christopher Lee short role: taking a short time to film but big on screen impact); so it’s Matsukata that carries the film, as I think does Yumiko Nogawa's morally ambivilent bar Mama. They make a great pairing and this is a great way for Fukasaku to sign off from the yakuza genre. It’s not quite his best work but it's an explosive, chilly and crazy way to go out.