The Japanese Godfather Trilogy
directed by Sadao Nakajima
starring Toshiro Mifune, Sonny Chiba
Radiance Film
Francis Ford Coppola’s first two Godfather films (1972 – 1974) inspired filmmakers around to the globe to make mob boss movies to cash in on their success. Few of these films were very interested in exploring the real family vs. mob family dynamic of the Coppola films. Sadao Nakajima explores both sides of this family drama in The Japanese Godfather Trilogy (1977 – 1978).
Yakuza boss Sakura sees a fading future for organized crime and attempts to steer the family business in more respectable and profitable arenas like politics, venture capital, and resort development. Over the course of three films, Sakura attempts to boost his crime family’s fortunes while struggling to keep his home family intact. This dualism is really the heart of these films. Sakura also only has daughters, which leaves him no natural heir to his crime family. As Sakura’s health declines, the battle for control escalates. While Sakura’s youngest daughter spirals dangerously out of control, the heir apparent Oshi (Toshirô Mifune) has to fight off challengers within the organization and the whims of his declining boss to become the “Don of Japan.”
Based on actual Yakuza accounts, Sadao Nakajima’s trilogy of films has a stable foundation of realism punctuated by documentary-style transitions and character introductions. The naturalism of the films is a clear nod to the “realism” directors of the “New Hollywood” circle like Coppola and Martin Scorsese. This move toward realism stands in stark contrast to the 1960s hyper-stylized operatic aesthetic of director Seijun Suzuki (Tokyo Drifter, 1966). In Sadao Nakajima’s trilogy, the violence isn’t a ballet with bullets, instead taking the form of short bursts of brutality and chaos.
There is little way to discuss these films without invoking Coppola’s films, because the films share so much DNA. Without falling into pastiche, the The Japanese Godfather films pay tribute to The Godfather through parallel structures and themes: ceremonial bookends, plots about criminal empires chasing legitimacy, and an unflinching view of how politics and business can prove even more corrupt than the underworld. The films also grapple with very real and universal anxiety as the younger generation takes over. Sadao Nakajima uses Coppola’s approach of bookending the films with ceremonies, plots about the crime families trying to go legit only to discover the worlds of politics, and big business as even more corrupt than the Yakuza. The result is a distinctly Japanese reinterpretation of The Godfather films, absorbing their essence yet transforming it into something unique.
