I was surprised that yakuzas acted like little bitches and would betray their "sworn" brothers with a snap of fingers.
Otomo betraying and killing his boss, Ozawa killing his sworn brothers, etc etc.
Where's the samurai honor? Or was it the whole point that the new yakuza are bitches and don't respect old ways?
There's plenty of gangsters and mobsters with "honor codes" besides the Yakuza. It's ultimately meaningless.They'll toss it aside with ease if it means making a profit or advancing their position. I think that's the point of the movie. There is no honor, no glitz, no glamor in being a gangster of any kind. They're criminals, simple as that.
"It's just you and me now, sport"-Manhunter
There never has been that much of honor, neither with the Yakuza nor with the samurai. That whole bushido codex thing has been highly exaggerated and romanticized by cinema and literature, similar to cowboys in the western world (who were nothing more than badly payed farmhands).
share You need to watch the Yakuza Papers 5-film series from the 70s.
"There are no men or women here."..."As long as there is a body."
I thought that Confucian philosohpy had to do with it. When Ikemoto tells Otomo to "rough Murase up" (his "brother"), he only does so because his Yakuza boss (Sanno-Kai) tells him to. He can't object to what his superior tells him to. This is what Confucianism is about - always follow your elders, never disagree with them, do what they say. A receipe for disaster as you saw in the film.
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