Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen

2015 Japanese film

Office Kitano
Warner Bros.

Release date

April 25, 2015 (2015-04-25)

Running time

125 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseBox office+US$10 million (Japan)

Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen (龍三と七人の子分たち, Ryūzō to Shichinin no Kobuntachi), also known as Ryuzo 7, is a 2015 Japanese action comedy film directed by Takeshi Kitano. It was released on April 25, 2015.^[1]

Plot

Ryuzo (Tatsuya Fuji) is a retired yakuza gangster who lives a quiet unassuming life with his salaryman son, Ryuhei (Masanobu Katsumura). Still in contact with his former lieutenant, Masa (Masaomi Kondō), Ryuzo maintains his short temper with their regular get-togethers. One day, the old gangster receives a call from an impostor pretending to be his son asking for ¥5 million. Ryūzō sees through the trick and learns from police detective Murakami (Beat Takeshi) that a member from the Keihin Rengo gang is responsible. Re-uniting his seven former henchmen to strike back, Ryūzō learns that they have all grown weak with their old age. The elderly yakuza members soon learn that they must overcome their weaknesses if they are to prove to be a match against the younger Keihin Rengo.

Cast

Tatsuya Fuji as Ryuzo
Masaomi Kondō as Masa
Akira Nakao as Mokichi
Tōru Shinagawa as Mac
Ben Hiura as Ichizō
Kōjun Itō as Hide
Ken Yoshizawa as Taka
Akira Onodera as Yasu
Masanobu Katsumura as Ryuhei
Hisako Manda as Hostess
Beat Takeshi as Murakami
Ken Yasuda as Nishi

Reception

The film earned ¥184.66 million on its opening weekend in Japan.^[2] By May 17, the film had grossed over US$10 million.^[3] In a review for The Japan Times, Mark Schilling applauded Tatsuya Fuji for his performance of Ryuzo, stating, "Though looking every one of his 74 real-life years, Fuji brings a volatile energy to proceedings that would otherwise be merely absurd... when he starts raging against the dying of the light, look out for flying debris — and prepare to laugh."^[4]

References

^ 龍三と七人の子分たち(2014). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
^ "Japan Box Office Report – 4/25~4/26". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. April 28, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
^ Mark Schilling (May 18, 2015). "Japan Box Office: 'Cinderella' Wins Fourth Weekend". variety.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
^ Schilling, Mark (29 April 2015). "Takeshi Kitano's gang of nursing-home yakuza". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 May 2015.