Kageró

The game of games. A meeting of bosses and professional card players that takes its name from the Yakuza. A game involving betting, where other things are much more important than just a few thousand yen on the table. All this with an atmosphere of scorching heat waves and plans for personal revenge. Gosha found his way into the world of professional Yakuza gamblers and, as he tends to, he filmed a fascinating insight “behind the scenes" (the formal introductions and training how to draw a card without visible muscle reaction are the most powerful). The disadvantage for someone less familiar with the game are the games themselves, where you are fully aware of the tense atmosphere, but without knowing the rules, it’s hard to enjoy the game to the full. It’s like watching a movie about poker without knowing anything about it. You can, but it’s a bit heavy. A much more fundamental fault comes up during the spectacular Lady Snowblood style finale which in itself is outstanding, but in the context of a movie full of intrigue, unspoken threats and silence before the storm, it’s just wrong here. It’s like Schwarzenegger just walked in. Especially when it leads to a rather empty and unsatisfying ending. (2013.04.07)