Gangsters, a fearsome group.
We are both curious and scared about the stories of the gangs.
Real guns are actually fighting, open battles are secretly fighting, and they are deceitful.
But in fact, there are also real feelings between gangsters.
The movie I want to introduce today is about this "love"——
The Sopranos and the Family
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="187" > yakuza and family</h1>
Director: Michihito Fujii
Writers: Michijin Fujii
Starring: Kayano Yuki / Yukiya Kitamura / Machiko Ono / Hayato Ichihara
Screening date: 2021-01-29 (Japan)
Runtime: 136 minutes
The film takes the three years of 1999, 2005 and 2019 as the starting point, and takes us into the "gangster" family from the perspective of the protagonist Kenji Yamamoto.
In the beginning, Kenji Yamamoto (Tsuyoshi Ayano) is a gangster who hates gangsters.
He believes that the underworld has done no evil, lost all its conscience, done some illegal things, and his own father also died here.
One day, he inadvertently saves the boss of the Shiba Group, Shiba Hiroshi (Guan Bo).
The boss admired his chivalrous heroism and invited him to join the gang, but he resolutely refused.
He then playfully snatched it on the road and threw away the drugs sold by the "KyodaiKai Gang" organization, causing trouble.
On the line of life and death, an agreement between the two gangs saved his life.
He returned to Chai's side scarred.
Under the care of Shiba, he who has been wandering and lonely suddenly felt the warmth of his "family", and he decided to join the Shibami group.
Finally, after holding a very solemn "parent-child bond cup", he became a member of this "family".
Time turned and jumped to 2005.
At this time, Kenji had already mixed into the position of the second boss, and he was full of tattoos of the "Shibaka Group", and he had already well integrated into this "bloodless" community.
In 2005, Japan's economic development is facing transformation, the city's center of gravity is about to shift, and the territorial pattern between gangs needs to be adjusted urgently.
The Chai Group sent Kenji as a representative to discuss the adjustment of the pattern.
However, the representatives of the Kyodaikai Gang had a bad attitude, spoke out, and directly attacked Chai Yubo with words.
Kenji couldn't stand the insults of his father-like boss and grabbed the bottle on the table and smashed it on the other person's head.
This is where the gang fight begins.
In one negotiation after another, the people of the Kyodai Kai gang constantly insulted the family members of the Shibaka group.
In order to protect the dignity of this family, Kenji and the boss chose not to back down.
In the end, the peace talks failed, and the gang conflict intensified to the peak.
The way to resolve conflicts between gangsters is usually very simple and crude, and this time is no exception.
On the way home, they were attacked by each other, and the good brother Obara was shot dead.
In the face of the death of his "family", Kenji's heart completely collapsed, and protecting his family was his greatest wish.
He decides to avenge Obara.
Gang camaraderie is by no means limited to Kenji's heart.
The eldest brother who was silently by his side discovered Kenji's motive for revenge, and in order to allow Kenji to stay with the boss, the eldest brother took the lead and killed the leader of the other party.
Kenji naturally could not accept that protecting his family was his greatest wish, and he chose to be arrested by the police in place of his eldest brother.
As the camera format changed from 16:9 to 4:3, the story also evolved into 2019.
After 14 years, Kenji was finally released from prison.
As soon as he got out of prison, he returned to the gang's home.
However, the appearance of the ashes indicates that everything has been very different.
In recent years, the government has vigorously rectified and continuously eliminated the gang forces, and more and more people have withdrawn from the gangs.
And the survival channels of gangsters are getting narrower and narrower.
Gangs that used to do business through legitimate channels can now only make a living through improper means such as illegal fishing and drug sales.
Fortunately, the "father" is still there, and the "love" is still there.
In order to allow Kenji to start a new life as a normal person, the Shiba group fired him from his gangster status.
Freed from his gangster status, Kenji finds a hard job with the help of his brothers.
At the same time, he was also pleasantly surprised to find that Yuka, who had a brief love affair 14 years ago, gave birth to their daughter.
And this society cannot tolerate everything about the "gangster", even if he quits the gang, Kenji cannot exchange for social recognition.
After a group photo was accidentally exposed, the normal life that had been difficult to open began to collapse again.
Because of the group photo with him, the brother was fired from the factory.
Because of living with him, Yuka was fired by the company, and her daughter was also pointed out by her classmates and had to transfer schools.
This society hurt not only mercilessly to him, but also to his family members who were eager to protect him.
Finally, they bowed their heads in front of reality.
The brother roared at him, blaming him for ruining his hard-earned life;
Yuka yells at him, blaming him for reappearing in the lives of their mother and daughter.
On the other side of the lens, the only remaining warmth —
"Father" Shibami also died quietly due to ineffective treatment.
At the end of the film, the brothers who once fought side by side stabbed Kenji with a knife, and eventually he fell into his brother's arms and died.
By this point, Kenji's story was over.
In the more than thirty years of social change, we have seen the decline of the underworld and the warmth of no blood.
Kenji can go to jail in place of his eldest brother for the sake of this family.
Big Brother can stab his opponent in advance to protect Kenji.
Shiba can give up the underworld rules that they have followed for so many years for the sake of Obara and Kenji.
This "home" that is not related by blood is very warm.
Regarding the relationship between "family" and "blood", many film and television works have also mentioned it.
Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Thief Family" also tells the story of a family that is not related by blood.
Even if you live in poverty, this "home" is very warm.
In the hot pot full of Chinese cabbage, you can also find a unique eating pleasure.
When they had to return to the "ethical family" based on blood, everyone was depressed and depressed.
Although in today's society, community life based on blood relations is still the mainstream state of life.
But is there really a family with "blood ties"?
In "My Sister", the sister played by Zhang Zifeng is forced to "lame" only because her parents are eager to have a boy.
After the death of her parents, the mountain of the traditional concept of "eldest sister like mother" weighed on her, and she had to raise her brother.
Su Mingyu in "All Is Good", Fan Shengmei in "Ode to Joy"...
These are all breathless examples of being bound by "blood relations".
In the past, family members were people who were related by blood;
Now, should there be a more open and diverse definition of "home"?
The "home" can be a traditional home with blood relations, or it can be the home of the "underworld" and the home of the "thief family".
If one day the "home" becomes a cage, we can also choose to break away from the "home" and pursue the warmth that truly belongs to this era.
This article is written by L