Red Peony Gambler
Yakuza
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1h 38m
1968 • Japan • Directed by Kōsaku Yamashita
Wandering female gambler Oryu the Red Peony (Junko Fuji), so known for the tattoo on her shoulder, rambles into town searching for her father’s killer with a wallet left at the crime scene as her only clue. At a card game she meets a kindred spirit, the noble and handsome yakuza Katagiri (Ken Takakura), when they team up to foil a cheating player. As their paths continue to cross she befriends a gang boss and other sundry denizens of the underworld who all join forces to guide her on a blood-soaked quest for vengeance. With its fantastic tropes and charismatic stars this inaugural entry in the Red Peony Gambler series proved an influential watershed of the “chivalrous gangster” genre and was so popular that it spawned multiple sequels.
Up Next in Yakuza
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A Killer's Key
1967 • Japan • Directed by Kazuo Mori
Ichikawa’s lone wolf assassin is back in A Killer’s Key, this time masquerading as a traditional dance instructor named Nitta who is called in to avert a potential financial scandal that threatens to engulf a powerful yakuza group with ties to powerful figur...
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A Certain Killer
1967 • Japan • Directed by Kazuo Mori
In A Certain Killer, Shiozaki’s low-profile existence as a chef at a local sushi restaurant serves as a front for his true job as a professional assassin whose modus operandi is poisoned needles. He’s approached by Maeda, a low-ranking member of a local yaku...
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Wolves, Pigs, Men
1964 • Japan • Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Three brothers find themselves pitted against each other as rivals in the Yakuza underworld. Jiro robs stolen loot from his younger brother, Sabu, and his gang. When their eldest brother, Kuroki, learns of this, he makes his own plans to conspire against...
