Overview: Jakoman and Tetsu is an early action masterpiece from Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Battle Royale), adapted from a script written by the legendary Akira Kurosawa.

Set in 1947 in a small coastal village among the majestic snowy landscapes of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, Ken Takakura (the Abashiri Prison series, Ridley Scott’s Black Rain) is Tetsu, the prodigal son who returns from the war to help out his father Kyubei with the family herring fishing business.

His arrival coincides with that of a one-eyed miscreant named Jakoman, played by Tetsuro Tamba (Harakiri, You Only Live Twice), who bears a long-standing grudge against Kyubei and is intent on causing as much mayhem among the hordes of seasonal fishermen as possible.

Blu-ray Verdict: Based on an early screenplay by none other than Akira Kurosawa, the film sees Kinji Fukasaku diving into the social drama set in a fishing area where a family and a mysterious one-eyed man get into a confrontation when the latter vows revenge on the patriarch for stealing his boat and leaving him drowned and stranded on an island three years earlier.

While tackling a different genre, one thing that remains consistent is his excellent cinematography, camerawork, and blocking. They contribute to the film’s excellent style in addition to enhancing its visual quality and, at times, its psychological depth. You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into many of the individual shots here.

All the performances are great across the board, especially Takakura (who actually was the person that came up with the idea of setting this whole movie in motion and does a nice job playing the hotheaded and rowdy nature of the son that gets embroiled in a fight with my man Jakoman), Tamba (who plays Jakoman with such a great ferocity, his entire personality reminded me in a way of the much iconic Samurai characters played by Mifune, cunning, dangerous, and scoundrelly), and Isao Yamagata (who nails the weariness and frustration that comes with trying to deal with his son but also this demon from his past that comes back to haunt him at his worst time).

Apparently, Takakura and Fukasaku didn’t get along very well (I will never use a bad actor again, Kinji once commented on his explanation for this), thus the fact that they were able to both deliver greatly is a testament to the acting and directing skills of both men.

All in all, a pretty good drama with some great performances and filmmaking with a story that ultimately simply didn’t resonate with me that much, but it might fact differently for you, of course.

Bonus Features:
HIGH DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION IN 2.35:1 ASPECT RATIO
ORIGINAL MONO 2.0 AUDIO WITH NEW ENGLISH SUBTITLES
AUDIO COMMENTARY BY TOM MES & JASPER SHARP
BRAND NEW FILMED INTRODUCTION BY MARK SCHILLING
STILLS GALLERY
BOOKLET ESSAY BY CHRIS D.
ORIGINAL AND NEWLY COMMISSIONED ARTWORK BY SEAN LONGMORE

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