Description:

"YAKUZA SOLDIER"

Based on a novel by Yorichika Arima and the first in a nine-part series (eight from 1965 to 1968 and a final film released in 1972), Heitai Yakuza has elements of a typical service comedy, Japan division, including all-in brawls featuring star Shintaro Katsu, that made the film a crowd-pleasing hit.

In this film, A young intellectual conscientious objector is forced to serve with the Japanese army in Manchuria. He joins with a dim-witted former gangster in an effort to desert by stealing a train. But scriptwriter Ryuzo Kikushima and director Yasuzo Masumura also incorporated a penetrating critique of the Imperial Army in wartime, especially the tyranny of the stronger over the weaker and the brutal punishments meted out to those who deviated from the norm. 

Japanese with Optional English Subtitles

REMASTERED

1965 - Black & White

Anamorphic Widescreen - 103 Minutes