Big Time Gambling Boss is the fourth entry in the Bakuchi-uchi series (a series that ran for ten films in total between 1967 to 1972 and was released by Toei studios). Starring Koji Tsurata (Sympathy for the Underdog) as a suave and chivalrous gambling Yakuza general, he has everything we’ve come to expect and love from this era of Japanese cinema and encapsulated to near perfection by Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honour and Humanity series. Big sweeping epics are broken down into individual conflicts of corruption, power and those that live by “the code”. So it may seem a little odd for Radiance Films to start their venture into the Yakuza-eiga here, except for one very important factor… Tomisaburō Wakayama.
Not a name that immediately jumps out amongst the plethora of great Japanese actors, that is until we look a little closer. Not only was he the brother of the legendary Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi Saga), but he also is probably best known here in the west for his portrayal of Ogami Ittō in the Lone Wolf and Cub films, in those films he broods a stoic menace, here he flexes with an impassioned performance of someone looking for truth and honour in a den of thieves.
it doesn’t quite reach the heights of such classics as the aforementioned Battles Without Honour and Humanity series, or (one of my favourites) Seijun Suzuki’s 1964 epic Youth of the Beast, it feels a little unfair to compare it to such behemoths, as Big Time Gambling Boss plays a different hand and wins
As for Big Time Gambling Boss (aka Bakuchi-uchi: Sôchô Tobaku) itself, anyone familiar with the Yakuza-eiga films will have plenty to gorge themselves on. The major difference is the focus of the story, it does not concern itself with the tale of a foot soldier looking to rise up the ranks, instead, we start at the top and the politics at play. Following one of the bosses suffering a stroke, a successor must be chosen, and whilst the obvious choice is Koji Tsurata’s Nakai, he declines in preference of Tomisaburō Wakayama‘s Matsuda. Unfortunately, Matsuda is currently serving time, so instead Ishido (Hiroshi Nana), despite being seen as a bit of a patsy by many, reluctantly takes the vacant seat as the head of the family. However, things take a turn for the ugly upon Matsuda’s release as he stakes his claim for the head of the table.
It’s in these machinations that Big Time Gambling Boss plays to its very best. Plots within plots, sides are taken and consequences suffered all in the space of 95 glorious minutes. There is an argument for saying that the middle act gets a little stodgy. However, in hindsight, every scene is earned and then some. So whilst it doesn’t quite reach the heights of such classics as the aforementioned Battles Without Honour and Humanity series, or (one of my favourites) Seijun Suzuki’s 1964 epic Youth of the Beast, it feels a little unfair to compare it to such behemoths, as Big Time Gambling Boss plays a different hand and wins all the same.
Radiance Films have picked a real gem as one of their initial releases and backed it up with a smattering of extras, including a fascinating masterclass track from Mark Schilling (author of the Yakuza Movie Book, The Encyclopaedia of Japanese Pop Culture and Art, Cult and Commerce: Japanese Cinema Since 2000, that last one being a particular favourite of mine) that takes a deeper dive into these films, along with a visual essay by the incomparable Chris D (author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Cinema and the quintessential Yakuza-eiga tome, Gun and Sword: An Encyclopedia of Japanese Gangster Films 1955-1980), all of which help make this release of Big Time Gambling Boss an essential for anyone with a penchant for this genre.
BIG TIME GAMBLING BOSS IS OUT NOW ON LIMITED EDITION RADIANCE FILMS BLU-RAY
BEN’S ARCHIVE: BIG TIME GAMBLING BOSS
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