Shadow Wars: The Elusive Kinji Fukasaku Collection (Blu-ray) ***Preorder*** 4/8

From the master of postwar chaos comes a blistering triptych of crime, corruption, and collapse.

After the success of Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973–74), Fukasaku continued to refine his “jitsuroku” (true record) approach; a semi-documentary style of yakuza film inspired by real events, police files, and newspaper reportage.

These three titles, COPS VS THUGS, CROSS THE RUBICON!, and HOKURIKU PROXY WAR, all extend that gritty realism: handheld camerawork, frenetic editing, overlapping dialogue, and moral murk. They turn away from romanticized gangsters toward a chaotic, corrupt Japan of the 1960s-70s where cops, crooks, and politicians are virtually indistinguishable.

In COPS VS THUGS (KENKEI TAI SOSHIKI BORYOKU), CROSS THE RUBICON! (SHIKINGEN GÔDATSU), and HOKURIKU PROXY WAR (HOKURIKU DAIRI SENSÔ), director Kinji Fukasaku tears away the illusion of honor to expose a Japan where the cops are as dirty as the gangsters and the only loyalty left is to survival itself.

COPS VS THUGS

NEW! Audio Commentary with Critic & Author Jasper Sharp
NEW! Cops, Thugs and Proxy Wars: James Balmont on the Revolutionary Yakuza Cinema of Kinji Fukasaku
Archival Behind the Scenes Footage
Beyond the Film: Cops vs. Thugs - a Video Appreciation by Fukasaku Biographer Sadao Yamane
Theatrical Trailer

CROSS THE RUBICON!

NEW! Audio Commentary with Writer and Critic Tom Mes
NEW! Funny Money: Screenwriter Koji Takada Discusses Cross the Rubicon!
NEW! Shadows of War: Kenta Fukasaku on His Fathers’ Yakuza Films

HOKURIKU PROXY WAR

NEW! Audio Commentary with Japanese cinema expert Frankie Balboa
NEW! Loyalty for Sale: Matthew Carter on Power, Masculinity and Corruption in the World of Kinji Fukasaku
NEW! Deadly Coincidence: Screenwriter Koji Takada discusses Hokuriku Proxy War
Theatrical Trailer