''Sympathy for the Underdog'', known in Japan as , is a 1971 Japanese

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Ho ...

directed and co-written by

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

and starring

Kōji Tsuruta , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress. Career Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Tsuruta was raised in ...

and

Noboru Ando was a Japanese actor, writer, singer and former yakuza. He is known for utilizing his experiences as a criminal in his many roles in yakuza films. He had a large knife scar on his left cheek, the result of a brawl with a Korean gangster as a yo ...

. It is director Fukasaku's (''

Battles Without Honor and Humanity , also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese yakuza film series produced by Toei Company. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist Kōichi Iiboshi that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life yaku ...

'', '' Battle Royale'') last film featuring Kōji Tsuruta. ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named it number 8 on their list of The 25 Best Yakuza Movies. Home Vision Entertainment released the movie on DVD in North America in 2005.

Summary

The film's main character, Masuo Gunji, is an honorable old-school

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

boss whose gang is driven out of

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

by a powerful rival from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. After serving ten years in prison, Gunji reunites with the few men still loyal to him and sets out to rebuild his old organization. However, after setting up a lucrative bootlegging operation in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, the yakuza family from Tokyo that was responsible for their previous downfall and Gunji's imprisonment comes to the island planning to seize control of the territory. Gunji and his men are soon forced to engage in an epic battle for their lives.

Cast

as Masuo Gunji *

as Noburo Kudo *

Asao Koike was a Japanese actor. He is most famous for playing yakuza roles. He is also known as voice actor. In 1950, he joined the Bungakuza Theatre Company. In 1963, he left the Bungakuza Theatre Company and established the Kumo Theatre Company. He appea ...

as Ozaki *

Hideo Murota was a Japanese actor who specialized in playing villains and tough guys. In 1957, he signed a contract with Toei Studio and appeared in over 1000 films. He won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Yokohama Film Festival for his role in '' Shi ...

as Shark *

Harumi Sone Japanese given name. Although the name can be given to both sexes, it is more commonly used by females. Possible writings Harumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *晴美, "sunny, beauty" *晴海, "sunny, sea" *晴� ...

as Gunshot *

Tsunehiko Watase (July 28, 1944 – March 14, 2017) was a Japanese actor known for portraying Rintaro Kano in ''Keishicho Sosa Ikka 9 Gakari'' ("Homicide Team 9"). He won the award for best supporting actor at the 2nd Japan Academy Prize for '' The Incident'' an ...

as Susumu Seki *

Toru Yuri TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

as Old Man *

Asao Uchida Asao is both a Japanese surname and a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Eliran Asao (born 1985), footballer *, politician *, volleyballer *, baseballer Given name: *, Japanese physician, academic and m ...

as Eisaku Oba *Tadao Nakamura as Shigeru Kaizu *

Kaku Takashina was a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 9th Hochi Film Award and at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Mahjong hōrōki''. Selected filmography *''Tekken no machi'' (1947) *''Arabiya monogatari'' (1951) *''Koi ...

as Kusakabe * Rinishi Yamamoto as Hadelma *

Tomisaburo Wakayama , born Masaru Okumura (奥村勝),Leous, G. (''c.'' 2003)Tomisaburo WakayamaRetrieved on May 23, 2010. was a Japanese actor best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling, 19th-century '' ronin'' warrior in the six ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' samura ...

as Yonabal * Kenji Imai as Mad Dog Jiro * Kenjiro Morokado as Gushken * Akiko Kudo as Terumi

Production

This is the ninth film in the ''Bakuto'' (''Gambler'') series of films that was produced by Toei Studios and starred Koji Tsuruta (except for the film ''Gambler Clan'', which starred

Ken Takakura , born , was a Japanese actor and singer who appeared in over 200 films. Affectionately referred to as "Ken-san" by audiences, he was best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brought to his roles. He won the Japan Academy Prize ...

in his place). Fukasaku had previously directed ''Bakuto kaisanshiki'' ('' Gambler's Farewell''), the sixth film in the series. Set and filmed in

, ''Sympathy for the Underdog'' has similarities to actual real-life events. It was not until several months after the film was released that America gave control of Okinawa back to the Japanese. But yakuza fled to the prefecture in the late 1960s in anticipation of the new business opportunities created once US forces withdrew. This ultimately led to the

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations i ...

, the largest criminal organization in the country, leading a ten-year war in Okinawa against other gangs. However, this was only just starting when the film went into production. Macias, Patrick, ''Sympathy for the Underdog'' DVD booklet, 2004, Home Vision Entertainment. Retrieved 2014-08-22 Inspired by movies about the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, "and stories about people who cross national borders and ended up fighting in foreign wars," Fukasaku originally wanted to make a film about yakuza that end up in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, but stated that this ultimately proved "impossible." Fukusaku biographer Sadao Yamane stated that ''Sympathy for the Underdog'' was originally developed as a sequel to ''

Japan Organized Crime Boss is a 1969 Japanese yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Plot The Danno Organization, Japan's largest yakuza clan, expands outward from its base in Osaka during the post-war period under the leadership of Boss Danno and Chief Executive Tsubaki ...

'', a Fukasaku film from 1969 also starring Tsuruta and Ando, until the director saw ''

The Battle of Algiers ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir , director = Gillo Pontecorvo , producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef , writer = Franco Solinas , story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo , starring = Jean MartinSaadi YacefBrahim H ...

''. It was then that, Yamane thinks, Fukasaku decided to make a film about "foreigners" and "resistance groups" within a yakuza film.

References

External links

* *
Sympathy for the Underdog
' at the Japanese Movie Database {{Kinji Fukasaku 1971 films 1971 crime films Films directed by Kinji Fukasaku Films set in Okinawa Prefecture Films shot in Okinawa Prefecture 1970s Japanese-language films Toei Company films Yakuza films 1970s Japanese films