Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
Japanese Title: Jitsuroku Ando Noburo kyodo-den: Rekka
Director: Takashi Miike
Actors: Riki Takeuchi, Ryosuke Miki, Sonny Chiba
Year Released: 2002
Genre: Yakuza, Action
See Also: Dead Or Alive, Ichi The Killer
Takashi Miike is known for a lot of things, but straightforward narative isn't one of them. The man is out of his mind, playing with tone like it was a ping-pong ball. So you might be surprised by Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, a relatively sober yakuza picture. I say relatively sober because it's still a Miike movie.
The original Japanese title translates as "Noboru Ando's True Accounts of Yakuza Legends," a title that needs a little backstory. Noboru Ando is a legendary personality in Japan, a yakuza who quit the life to become an actor, starring in a number of films in the '70s based on his real-life experiences. He later started a production company with his son, Akira. This film is one of theirs, and while they hand-picked Miike to direct, you can imagine Miike might have toned things down out of respect—Noboru was on set to supervise, after all.
Miike veteran Riki Takeuchi stars as Kusinada, a wild-eyed yakuza who's released from prison the day after his father-figure mob boss is assassinated by a rival gang. Kusinada swears revenge but keeps his temper under control for the sake of the family, which is trying to prevent all-out war with the rival gang. A third family, headed by Sonny Chiba, has been called in to mediate. Things don't go according to plan, with more double-crossings and assassinations than a Shakesperean drama. When an attempt on Kusinada's life fails, he decides it's finally payback time, and here's where things really get crazy.
Takeuchi is phenomenal as Kusinada, his single-minded purpose both terrifying and fascinating. After brutally beating to death seven yakuza from the rival gang, Takeuchi looks over his shoulder at us, the film slowed down to a crawl. The rage that explodes from his eyes is devastating.
Rage isn't the only thing that explodes in Deadly Outlaw: Rekka. Kusinada is after entire families of yakuza and to do so requires a lot of firepower—like a rocketlauncher. Watching him open fire in the middle of Tokyo is dizzyingly satisfying, especially when the rocket manages to lift up an attacking thug and carry him into a building, where it explodes. By this point the film has managed to lose any credibility it might have had at being the "true account" of anything, but who cares when it's this much fun?
Miike manages to keep the mood stable, as befitting a yakuza revenge tale, but he still finds ways to sneak in his trademark excesses. Towards the end, the dead boss flickers into frame like a TV on the blink and inexplicably announces, "Rock and roll." It's apropros to nothing but perfectly in tune with what we've come to expect from Miike. There's a moment of genius when, after calmly killing two of Kusinada's men, an assassin points his gun at us, the viewer, and fires. The screen immediately erupts with blood.
Deadly Outlaw: Rekka isn't Miike's best but it is a satisfying genre picture. Lots of action and just enough weirdness to keep things interesting.
Otaku alert: The music for the film comes from obscure 1970s prog metal outfit, Flower Traveling Band. The record was brought to Miike's attention by two of the film's stars, Joe Yamanaka and Yuya Ichida, who happened to be in the band back in the day.
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