The mafia group, the crime syndicates in Japan, is known as Yakuza. With the extraordinary success of the Yakuza-based gangster criminal genre movies, a bundle of films later moved to a separate Yakuza genre. Now, any movie dedicated to illegal heroism or gangster, the film is a Yakuza movie. Since the 17th century, these movies have given a thrill to fans and achieved fame widely. Yakuza stories will deliver a resemblance to many Indian gangster/mafia movies. The wars of these groups are no less than said to be a Black day. Even though these are fictionalized films and graphically created, many such events, or even worse, existed in the ancient Japanese era.
1. Sonatine (1993)
Sonatine cannot get listed out of any top lists of the Yakuza genre. Takeshi has directed, written, edited, and played the lead in the film. To mention the basic plot, Murakawa is much experienced and is now tired of continuing in the mafia game or undertaking any crime. Murakawa is about to quit his era of being a Yakuza, but he is sent to Okinawa to resolve some gang warfare. The story then takes twists with suspense for the characters. Watch this gem to know if Murakawa quits！
2. First Love (2019)
Directed by Takashi Miike, First Love is the story of a boxer and an imprisoned sex worker by a Yakuza member. Their sudden meeting and sudden incidents cause them to get caught by cops in the case of drug smuggling. The film is action with romance, crime with humor taste. Their run towards saving each other is a journey to look on.
3. Youth Of The Beast (1963)
Youth of the Beast is a 1963 Yakuza movie by Seijin Suzuki. The film entangles the backstory to the movie's first scene, where a policeman gets murdered. Joe Shishido leading the character shows his violent-natured behavior, gets recruited by a mafia boss, and enters Tokyo’s underworld business for ulterior motives.
4. Brother (2000)
Brother is about a defeated Yakuza involved in drug dealing in foreign. When Yamamoto (Takeshi Kitano) decides to leave Japan and live in Los Angeles, he meets his half-brother (Claude Maki). The story starts with a chapter on drug involvement, action, and war between bosses and mafia leaders.
5. Graveyard Of Honor (1975)
Graveyard of Honor of 1975 is a real-life story of a Yakuza Mafia, Rikio Ishikawa. This 1975 film is Kinji Fukasaku directed . A different version was released in 2002 by director Takeshi Miike. However, you can observe some plots and name changes in the 2002 version. This real-life story is about how Rikio upscales in the mafia game, gets into trouble, and how the tables turn with a negative plot.
6. The Blood Of Wolves (2018)
We have often seen in films; cops get involved with mafias to be on the safe side and for money. Here, Blood of Wolves is about a detective maintaining threads with mafias, besides being assigned to find a missing employee. It is a thrill to watch the cinematography and the story, which has a deep Yakuza flavor. The film has adapted from the novel ‘Korou no Chi’ by Yuko Yuzuki.
7. Why Don't You Play In Hell? (2013)
Why don’t you play in hell is a movie to start by its title. Even if you get to know the basic synopsis, you will appreciate the movie name. A Yakuza don and his daughter are acting in a film, filming an ongoing war by a film crew. Who will get into trouble? More likely, the action war has balanced with dark comedy for the plot.
8. Sympathy For The Underdog (1971)
A Kinji Fukasaku hit in 1971. Gunji, the character in the film 'Sympathy for the Underdog,’ is a Yakuza leader. When he comes out from jail, he continues to keep his legacy of being a Yakuza boss, teams up, and wishes to rule Okinawa again, once defeated by a rival group.
9. Battles Without Honor And Humanity (1973)
Again, with five series of movies named Battles without Honor and Humanity, Kinji Fukasaku gives his outstanding performance. It’s a post-World War II situation among the Yakuza world and their struggle to be the only one to rule Hiroshima. Betrayals, switching gangs, and wars are the elements delivered in the film. The Yakuza Papers Vol 1 is the 1st movie from the series released in 1973.
10. Outrage (2010)
Outrage is a trilogy film with two sequels. Outrage 2010 is the first, Beyond Outrage was 2012 released, and Outrage Coda 2017. All three has different plot carrying the same genre, action, drama, and crime. You will see rival gangs, betrayals, and an outstanding cast, directed by Takeshi Kitano.
