The Yakuza

The Yakuza
1975 US theatrical poster
Directed by	Sydney Pollack
Produced by	Michael Hamilburg Sydney Pollack Koji Shundo
Written by	Leonard Schrader Paul Schrader Robert Towne
Starring	Robert Mitchum Ken Takakura Kishi Keiko Richard Jordan
Music by	Dave Grusin
Edited by	Don Guidice Thomas Stanford Fredric Steinkamp (supervising)
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 28, 1974 (Japan) March 15, 1975 (US)
Running time	123 minutes (Japan) 112 minutes (US)
Country	United States Japan
Language	English / Japanese

The Yakuza
Soundtrack album by Dave Grusin
Released	July 2005
Length	01:10:22
Label	Film Score Monthly
Producer	Lukas Kendall

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

The Yakuza is a 1974 neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne. The film is about a man (Robert Mitchum) who returns to Japan after several years away in order to rescue his friend's kidnapped daughter. Following a lackluster initial release, the film has since gained a cult following.

Retired detective Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) is called upon by an old friend, George Tanner (Brian Keith). Tanner has been doing business with a yakuza gangster, Tono (Eiji Okada), who has kidnapped Tanner's daughter to apply pressure in a business deal involving the sale of guns. Tanner hopes that Kilmer can rescue the girl using his Japanese connections.

Tanner and Kilmer had been Marine MPs and friends in Tokyo during the post-war occupation. Kilmer became aware of a woman, Eiko (Keiko Kishi), who was involved in the black market so that she could procure penicillin for her sick daughter. Kilmer intervened on behalf of Eiko during a skirmish, saving her life. After they'd been living together, with Kilmer repeatedly asking Eiko to marry him, her brother (secretly her husband) Ken (Ken Takakura) returned from an island where he'd been stranded as an Imperial Japanese soldier. Both outraged that she was living with his former enemy and deeply indebted to Kilmer for saving the lives of his (apparently) only remaining family, Ken disappeared into the yakuza criminal underground and refused to see or speak to his sister. Eiko, cautious to do nothing to offend Ken further, broke off contact with Kilmer. Before returning to the US, Kilmer bought Eiko a bar (with money borrowed from George Tanner) which she operates to this day, named Kilmer House in his honor. Kilmer has never stopped loving her.

Ken's debt to Kilmer, giri, is a lifelong obligation that traditionally can never be repaid. Tanner believes that Ken would therefore do anything for Kilmer, including rescuing Tanner's daughter. Traveling to Tokyo with Tanner's bodyguard Dusty (Richard Jordan), they stay at the home of another old military buddy named Oliver Wheat (Herb Edelman). Kilmer visits Eiko at the bar's closing time, seeking to find Ken. Eiko's feelings for Kilmer are clearly as strong as ever. He also becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who is delighted to see Kilmer again. Eiko tells Kilmer that her brother can be found at his kendo school in Kyoto.