The Wolves: Hideo Gosha

There are many great Japanese directors who are widely known and praised in the West: Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Oshima, Imamara...But one director who never really got his due outside of Japan was Hideo Gosha.  For decades, he created an impressive body of work that is highly regarded in Japan, particularly for his dark samurai films like Sword of the Beast and Hitokiri.  One of his greatest films is virtually unheard of in the West: The Wolves.  The film is an ninkyo eiga, or chivalry film.  Ninkyo eiga were about yakuza who followed old fashioned honor codes being forced to confront the changing world of modern day Japan.   Frequently, the heroes would encounter the disintegration of traditional yakuza morals and traditions in the face of modernization.  In The Wolves, Seiji Iwahashi is a gangster who is released from prison after a general pardon is issued at the inauguration of the Showa Emperor.  Seiji was in prison for killing a rival yakuza boss during an altercation involving a railroad being constructed through their territories.  When he leaves prison, he finds that his gang was absorbed by the rival gang after its leader died suddenly.  Seiji is conflicted by this dilemma: should he continue to swear fealty to a rival yakuza boss?  Also, he finds that his old boss may have been murdered.  Throw in the fact that his friend who was engaged to a woman now pledged to a rival gangster has disappeared after being released from prison, and you have the makings of a great ninkyo eiga.  The film may be a bit too long for its own good, however.  But that is because Gosha made the film more of a character study than most other ninkyo eiga.  He takes his time to develop his characters...trouble is that he may have taken too much time.  Still, The Wolves is an admirable film.  Hopefully, one day both it, and its director, will get its due in the West.

7/10