Minbo: The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) [Film Review]

Minbo; or, Mind the Yakuza!

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Have you ever happened to be in charge of a renowned hotel? If yes, then you must have had problems with some unwanted guests like pickpockets, brawlers, loudmouths, and... gangsters. Of course, the gangsters seem to be the least troubling out of the whole bunch, except for the fact that by their mere presence they destroy the hotel’s reputation and its future prospects for hosting members of the establishment. What to do in such a situation? Call the anti-extortion woman.

Release Info 

Directed by: Juzo Itami Starring: Nobuko Miyamoto, Yasuo Daichi, Takehiro Murata, Akira Takarada

Language: Japanese Original Title: ミンボーの女 Runtime: 123 min

Synopsis

Hotel Europa is making preparations to host a prestigious summit meeting of international officials. However, the hotel’s manager Kobayashi (Akira Takarada) is unexpectedly told that Europa will most likely not be chosen as the site for the summit because of the yakuza who are its frequent guests and extort money from the employees. Therefore, Kobayashi decides to create a special team whose aim is to throw the gangsters out of the hotel’s premises. Nevertheless, the team composed of an accountant Suzuki (Yasuo Daichi) and a bellboy Wakasugi (Takehiro Murata) proves inefficient. In view of the growing conflict with the yakuza, the management hires a professional lawyer called Mahiru Inoue (Nobuko Miyamoto) who specialises in Minbo; that is, the gentle art of Japanese extortion.

Deadly Yakuza Films

It’s really hard to make a movie that almost immediately gets the response from the group it exposes and ridicules. For instance, Takeshi Kitano was making his yakuza dramas for years and to date no yakuza member gave him his feedback. Director Juzo Itami, on the other hand, had to wait only six days after the release of Minbo...

Minbo focuses on three characters: Inoue the lawyer, Suzuki the accountant, and Wakasugi the bellboy; and their struggle against the yakuza. Inoue teaches the two men how to handle the mobsters. At the very beginning of the movie, she demonstrates her skill and confidence when warding off the gangsters without a flicker of fright. That’s the basic rule she tells the employees: “Don’t fear yakuza”.

 

The whole film sets up and later operates on a premise that the yakuza will not hurt ordinary people because they simply cannot afford to break the law. Naturally, they fight between themselves, but they will never assault a passer-by just to get themselves arrested. That is the theory and the focal point of our heroes’ actions. When things get rough, the trio leads yakuza members into a special VIP room with a camera and reasonably talk some sense into them. When the yakuza are brought to the boiling point, knowing they cannot commit a crime in front of a camera, they just leave the hotel. However, they do retaliate in other ways.

This is when brutal reality comes forward in Itami’s picture. The director, quite realistically, managed to present various methods of extortion and harassment. Yakuza are depicted as brutal thugs, scoundrels, and bullies. If things do not go to their liking, they stage a false robbery, place an insect in the hotel’s kitchen, set the manager up for illegal gamble and rape, as well as protest against construction site. The unusual approach of Mahiru Inoue leads to only two possible outcomes: yakuza backing out or breaking the law. Needless to say, towards the end of the picture, they break the law, but it is also when the film’s premise takes a U-turn and transforms from a comedy into a hardcore drama.

 

Unfortunately, the real Japanese yakuza disliked the way in which they were portrayed in the film. Repeatedly referring to their samurai roots, they stylise themselves as chivalric protectors of the weak, whereas Minbo totally contradicts that idea. Six days after the film’s premiere, Juzo Itami was attacked in front of his house. Three members of the so-called “Goto-gumi” yakuza gang beat the director and slowly slashed his face with a knife. Unfortunately, this is not the end of yakuza’s revenge. In 1997, Itami (allegedly) killed himself by jumping from a rooftop. Yakuza’s involvement was never confirmed; though in 2008, an ex-member of Goto-gumi gave a shocking statement in which he said that they "staged the murder as a suicide” (see Jake Adelstein’s article for further details).

In terms of performances, Nobuko Miyamoto shines on the screen as the film’s main heroine. She provides a wide range of acting in comic as well as dramatic scenes, thus keeping the picture going. Akira Takarada delivers lots of laughs as the scared-to-death hotel manager. Takarada is the living embodiment of charm and elegance, which works to his advantage in both drama and comedy. Akira Nakao also deserves an honourable mention as the yakuza’s leader Ibagi. In contrast to his positive roles of military men, father figures and neurotic principals (#GTO4life!), he convincingly portrays the bad guy.

 

Recommendations

If you have a free afternoon and don’t know what to do, then Minbo is the good choice to pass the time. It may not be a full-blown comedy, but it is certainly entertaining due to interesting story and decent performances. On a side note, as a Kaiju fan, I also get a kick out of the fact that the film features three veterans of Godzilla films (Takarada, Nakao, and Murata). Plus, I’m a sucker for the Japanese flicks from the 1990s. Safely recommended to anyone who is into yakuza themes.

Overall score: 7/10