by Jacob Walker
1974’s Violent Streets is a solid addition to the ‘yakuza genre’; available for the first time on Blu-ray, it typifies the griminess of the decade, and if you are unfamiliar with this genre, don’t worry, you are thrown in the deep end with no life jacket!
The premise is a simple one, a retired yakuza member, Egawa (a wonderfully cold-hearted Noboru Ando, who himself was involved with the underworld, complete with facial scar), is happy with his parting gift of a Spanish-themed bar. However, he is dragged back into his old life when his girlfriend’s brother is involved in a kidnapping gone wrong. The gang frame Egawa’s old rivals -The Western Alliance, which sparks a gang war. What may not be familiar is how this is presented, director Hideo Gosha sets the tempo from the beginning, complete with receipt spike to an eye, and continues setting up interesting and violent action scenes – mannequins are destroyed in a car park, and the final shoot-out takes place in a chicken coop, some poultry probably being harmed in the process. Hideo never lets up on images of sex, depravity, and Spanish salsa! We even get a transgender hitman brandishing a razor blade.
The disc contains a talk from Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns, which add some useful context to the madness you’ve just witnessed, even if the style of a long-form talk to camera is a little dated. It also includes a film essay by Jasper Sharp that plays over selected clips, which address key moments more directly. Both are a welcome addition. Violent Streets could be described as unpleasant and exploitative but never not entertaining.
