"Why I depict violence in my films is because I think it's closely related to one aspect of our postwar experience." "There's a term ""the in-the-ruins generation"" "or ""the black-market generation."" "People belonging to this generation share a common feeling." "They have a kind of aversion towards the rebuilt society ofJapan." "As cities got cleaned up and were rebuilt, these people couldn't find any connection to the renewed cities." "Rather, they refused to accept the reconstructed society and felt a strong longing for the chaotic black-market era." "And they hold on to violent emotions within themselves." "I think the black-market generation has these characteristics." "The violence I depict is closely related to this longing for the black-market era and the violent emotions we felt during that period." "So the actor Bunta Sugawara " "In working with him, since we belong to the same generation," "I feel he also has this longing for these violent emotions." "So when he plays the part of a yakuza, for instance, he always brings a certain extra quality to it." "And that's the black-market generation's " "I consider myself as belonging to that generation." "For that generation, man's violence " "We can't separate the idea of violence from the way we see things." "For someone like me who depicts violence in films," "Bun-chan is invaluable as an actor." "In a way," "I feel I've found a comrade in him." "There is violence depicted in my films, of course." "After a film of mine was shown," "I was actually confronted by a woman, a total stranger." "She rebuked me by saying, ""Why did you make a movie like this?" "I have a child, but I can't show this kind of movie to my child." "Have you any idea what harm this movie would do to a child's education?"" "And I couldn't come up with a reply to dispute her point." "So I told Mr. Fukasaku about this incident and asked him what he would have said to the woman if he were in my position." "Mr. Fukasaku was calm as ever, as if such an incident were a daily occurrence, and answered me coolly," """"What is this idea of education that gets shaken by a violent movie?" "Is the education you're giving your child so fragile?" "'" "That's how I would have replied to her."" "And I thought he was absolutely right." "I completely agreed with his reply." "Naturally, a child's education should not be such a shaky thing." "What kind of education is it that gets shaken by a violent movie?" "I think that was how Mr. Fukasaku honestly felt." "This may be overstating it a bit, but I think Mr. Fukasaku felt that way toward postwarJapan's entire educational system." "It's not about how many extras you've got or how big the action is." "It's about who's hitting whom." "If you first emphasize the humanity of the characters who are fighting, the action will naturally come alive." "What impresses me about Fukasaku's films is not the scale of the action, but rather the expressions on the actors' faces." "I think that's what an action film should be." "Why is this man beating up on the other?" "Why is that man getting beaten up?" "When you consider those questions carefully, you can develop a good action film." "You have to start off by developing the characters." "This is the case with many young Japanese directors lately, but this approach is quite different from that in America." "When one person uses violence against another, both sides feel emotions." "His films seem to say, ""Were you aware of that fact?"" "Old Hollywood movies may have shown this aspect of violence." "People go through emotional experiences when they use violence." """Don't you want to see this?"" "That's what Mr. Fukasaku was saying in his films." "It's entirely different from cold-blooded killings by a hit man for business." "Nor is it like killing a great number of people with a push of a button." "When a person uses violence against or kills another, the attacker and the attacked both experience emotions, emotions that are incredibly complex but that also reveal a fundamental part of humanity." "Such emotions come out." "So please understand, through Mr. Fukasaku's films, that such emotions exist." "I myself had my eyes opened through his films." "For Kinji Fukasaku -- and this applies to Battle Royale as well -- to quote his own words," """Violence is like a parasite." "As I lived through the war, my identity as a person till the age of 1 5 was formed, and it is firmly a part who I am." "Therefore, I cannot disapprove of violence completely."" "I think violence is a fundamental part of humanity." "Like our belief in love, peace and friendship, violence is intrinsically within us as a contradictory force." "The issue we have to deal with is how much violence should be allowed and expressed." "By tackling that issue, Fukasaku tried to delve deeper into who we are." "And what he hated most was that peace and righteousness have a tendency to put a lid on stinky, festering things." "He hated that the most." "He thought those unpleasant things must also be looked at when we think about peace." "So neither Battle Royale nor Battles Without Honor and Humanity should be rejected just because violence is their theme." "If we do that, then we're only closing our eyes to violence." "Rather, we should look at it straight on and then consider what peace is." "And through Battle Royale and Battles Without Honor and Humanity," "I hope people will think deeply about what friendship is." "The impressiveness of the violence depicted by Fukasaku really comes down to -- as I said before -- what happens to people when they go off to fight." "I don't think everything is tied to his experiences at age 1 5." "But basically, when we talk about people killing each other, it's not something you can find beauty in, or wax poetic about." "He makes that very clear." "Simply put, it's realism." "Who said you could smoke?" "What the fuck?" "You wanna fight?" "Watch your mouth!" "You gonna hit me?" "What if we are?" "What?" "What d'you mean?" "You wanna fight?" "Come on!" "Come on!" "I want to use two angles here." " Once the scuffle begins " " The lower angle is better." "So can you lower both cameras from there?" "Who said you could smoke?" "What the fuck?" "Hey, what the fuck is this?" "Hey, somebody!" "Go ahead, then!" "Just kill me!" "Do what you want!" "If you hurt me, I'm gonna sue you!" "Go ahead and sue!" "I'll come after you no matter how long it takes!" "I've got evidence to put you away!" "You wanna be locked up for life?" "Ouch!" "We can easily add a few slaps in this scene." "With the same setup, let's add some slapping." "A slap there, and then another slap from that side." "You try to get away." " And then " " Like this?" "Yes, that's it." "And we stop there." "So we pan up from Taku-bun's feet." "Pan up, and the slaps, and then he tries to get away." "He falls and then tries to get away." "We'll shoot close up till that point." "And then we'll go on to what we did in whichever direction." "Camera's rolling." "Ready." "Start!" "Hey, what the fuck?" "Hey!" "Go ahead!" "Kill me!" "If you hurt me," "I'm gonna sue you!" "Go ahead and sue!" "I'll come after you no matter how long it takes!" "I've got evidence to put you away!" "You wanna be locked up for life?" "All right, okay." "Okay, very good." "That was good." "On August 1 5, 1 945," "Japan was defeated by the Allied Forces and became an occupied country." "The American military came toJapan as an occupying force." "That was the start ofJapan's postwar period, which began in 1 946 and went on for several years." "During that period, thejapanese underwent a great change." "The idea of dying for the emperor that they had held until then was completely scrapped." "They were in a different time, and the Americans Brought the idea of democracy with them." "so people were released from totalitarianism under the emperor, as well as from the militarism that had gripped the nation, and they immediately embraced the completely opposite idea of democracy." "when this change was going on," "FuKasaKu was in his late teens, nearing 20, an age when a person begins to have his own ideas, and he wondered why such an eXtreme change was taking place." "He pondered this on his own, and he must have understood that emperor worship was not necessarily good forJapan's people." "He had Been told By adults to Be ready to die for his country," "But after the war, they changed their position completely." "Adults who had worshipped their emperor as a god were now saying that the emperor was a human Being and that they had to live democratically from then on." "so adults changed their position almost diametrically." "As a result, Fukasaku felt an indescribable emptiness and distrust toward adults." "He used to talk about this often." "What Mr. Fukasaku wanted to do in his films, including Battles without Honor and Humanity, was, as he himself said, rooted in his memories of adolescent experiences." "I thinK they're strongly reflected in all his films." "All the action sequences are certainly amazing, but it's in the sympathetic depiction of people of the lowest rank that Mr. Fukasaku's real personal perspective comes through." "There were people who chose to change as postwarJapan changed, and there were those who stood firm and felt nothing would Be gained By changing." "so there was that kind of schism in postwar society." "I Believe Fukasaku couldn't take a stand on either side." "I think he was torn Between the two." "That's why lead characters in his films are not idealized human Beings." "As Japan's postwar society underwent transformation, his films expressed a sort of protest against it." "But he couldn't say that the change shouldn't take place either." "so there was a dilemma." "Battles Without Honor and Humanity became a hit because of the mood of the period." "It was released in 1 973." "Japan's economic growth was reaching its peak around the time the film came out." "So people were living with a certain degree of comfort." "Around the end of the 1 960s, the student political movement erupted all over the world." "In Japan, there were student uprisings in 1 968 and 1 969." "These uprisings among the young were another form of protest against postwar society." "when society stabilized after the war, all these objections and doubts people felt towards it poured out in different forms." "I don't thinKpeople in general were conscious ofhaving such feelings," "But they felt them somewhere deep down in their hearts." "And Battles without Honor and Humanity connected with the mood of the period" "and Became a hit as a result." "When I was junior-high-school age, Hollywood movies shown in Japan were heroic-action star vehicles with sylvester stallone or Arnold schwarzenegger in the lead." "And I thought, ""These movies just don't speak to me."" "Then rental video stores Began to open, and the first film I saw on video was Battles without Honor and Humanity." "I was blown away by it." "For one thing, its leads were equivalent to the rogue warriors in Seven Samurai." "In addition, although the movie starred such big-name stars as Bunta Sugawara and HiroKi MatsuKata, among others, it was an ensemble piece." "And instead of the stars, it was the lesser known actors, who as a group would later Be called the ""Piranha Corps,"" "such as Hideo Murota and TaKuzo Kawatani, who energized the film with their supporting roles." "In other words, the stars were more narrative characters, whereas the yakuza characters of the lowest rank, called ""Bullets,"" "who were killed meaninglessly one after another, were the real focus of the movie." "This different point of view astonished me." "Even when portraying a hero, other characters are always involved, so his films are ensemble dramas or ensemble pieces." "So even though there is a hero, he is alsojust one character among all the other characters." "when the hero appears on screen in the company of other characters, the audience watching the movie isn't just looking at the hero," "But also at the other guy to whom the hero speaks, for instance." "sometimes this guy is more interesting than the hero, and then the audience's perception of this guy changes." "And I think that kind of depiction is a sort of realism." "Focusing on just one character as if with a spotlight doesn't reflect what happens in real life at all." "Human drama is more complicated and messy." "And trying to adhere closely to reality is what makes FuKasaKu's directing interesting." "He focuses on lesser characters as well as on the leads." "These are characters who get stabbed or shot and die right away and disappear from the screen." "In other words, they're insignificant yakuza underlings." "when FuKasaKu directs actors playing them, he tells them to step closer to the camera." "when several characters are in a scene with the lead character, actors playing supporting characters stand a little behind the lead." "But FuKasaKu would say," """You back there, why are you hanging back?" "Step forward. '"" "Then that actor would step forward." "And the hierarchy of the characters is thrown into disorder as a result." "Battles without Honor and Humanity has that kind of compelling chaos." "In the movie, Boss Yamamori, wonderfully played by Nobuo KaneKo, has these men who are his underlings, and under them are still more lower-ranKing underlings." "So there is a hierarchy of sorts in their world, but it becomes totally disordered in the film." "And that's what Fukasaku wanted to depict." "I think Mr. Fukasaku felt we have to step Back and reexamine these things called morality, humanism and ethics." "I thinK that feeling he had is a common strain in all his films." "These are not the issues that movies should tackle." "Instead, dealing with such issues as human weakness or shame or national shame should Be the role of moviemaking." "And actors who work in movies depicting those issues should feel similarly." "I sense that kind of feeling from his films." "Bunta Sugawara is also someone who is basically antiestablishment, though when asked for an autograph, he writes "Jingi. '"" "Going up against great power or oppressive force seems to be-- how can I put it?" " the way he prefers to live." "I think this is something he shares with Mr. Fukasaku." "When Toei first Began making movies, period pieces were one of its main products." "Crew, costumes, set production, and locations for making period pieces were easier to provide in Kyoto." "so Kyoto was the Best place to shoot Toei's main product." "Therefore, its studio in Kyoto was the main studio when Toei first started its movie production." "Then the popularity of period pieces gradually waned, and as Toei was searching for a new direction for their products, the genre of yakuza movies was Born." "There was a genre of yakuza movies called ninkyo movies that preceded Battles Without Honor and Humanity." "Ninkyo movies were set in the Meiji and Taisho eras and focused on the heroic aspect of the profession called yakuza." "stars of this genre were" "Koji Tsuruta and Ken TaKaKura." "what you might call the aesthetics of yakuza, the willingness of yakuza to fight and even die to save people or for the honor of their Boss, was depicted in ninKyo movies as if it were something Beautiful." "And this kind of movie was made for a long time." "But after about a 1 0-year run of such movies, the story line Became a rehash of the same old thing." "Until then, to sum it up in a nutshell, ninKyo movies depicted stoic men who suppressed all desire" "and lived only for loyalty toward their Boss or people." "And just as the movie-going public was getting sick of this kind of movie, a film with a completely different take on the genre came out." "The movie depicted men who lived true to their desires and didn't hesitate to betray their friends or even their boss." "That's the Kind of world portrayed in Battles Without Honor and Humanity." "And in the film, the bosses don't care about their men either." "They thinKit's okay to screw them over." "These aspects of yakuza life had never been portrayed before." "The movie presented a completely different view of yakuza, and audiences loved it." "The movie Became a huge hit, which led to a series of sequels, as well as many other movies of a similar type." "Toei reacted very" "Toei is a studio that reacts swiftly to audience response, so it decided to scrap ninKyo movies and go with this new yakuza genre." "The new movies were still about yakuza, But in a completely different way." "And Toei churned them out one after another." "One reason that Battles Without Honor and Humanity is such a fantastic movie is undeniably the way FuKasaKu directed the film." "But before that happened, Kazuo Kasahara, the screenwriter, wrote the wonderful screenplay." "His work in creating the film's drama cannot Be overlooked." "The original source of the film was a memoir written By someone who had Been in the middle of a conflict among yakuza in Hiroshima." "He wrote the memoir while serving his jail time." "So the movie is based on his memoir." "Normally,you read the memoir and write a scriptjust based on that." "But Kazuo Kasahara is a man who loves realism." "so when the movie project came up, the screenplay obviously had to Be written Based on the memoir," "But he also researched everything in the Book." "Kasahara actually went to Hiroshima and met with many yaKuza, including the memoir's author, and interviewed everyone mentioned in the book." "I heard it wasn't an easy task, but he managed to do it." "And he dug up more stories about the conflict, some of which had not Been in the Book." "He picked up many interesting stories and inserted them into the screenplay." "Kasahara is three years older than FuKasaKu, so he and the director shared a certain feeling about the postwar period." "when a man like Kasahara writes about yaKuza in Hiroshima, he conducts thorough research to make it realistic." "Because the script was so solid," "Fukasaku's job was to shoot a film that Brought the script to life." "And he injected his own Brand of realism that he had Been Building through his past film projects." "The production period was very short." "In addition, as I said earlier," "Mr. Fukasaku was a director under contract to the Toei studio in tokyo, and to have him working Kyoto-- Although there was some precedent, it was unusual for a director under contract in Tokyo to make a movie at the Kyoto studio." "Mr. Fukasaku shot" "Battles Without Honor and Humanity in such an environment in Kyoto." "The length of the shoot at the time, from the actual beginning of the shoot to the end, must have Been probably 3 5 to 40 days." "It couldn't have Been longer." "so the shoot was really hectic and chaotic." "What I find interesting about Fukasaku as a director is that he was a studio filmmaker through and through." "He made movies within the confines of mass-produced commercial films." "That's how he worked." "And I don't think he really thought of venturing out of those confines." "He always worked at Toei." "He went along with Toei's film production system and tried to find projects that interested him." "He didn't care for ninKyo movies, so he tried not to make them." "Even when he made one like Kaisan-shiKi, he made it into something other than a typical ninKyo movie." "so he would change things around and make something different." "He worked under the studio system where commercial films were mass-produced." "And although he was part of that system, or,you might say, worked within that system, he made his own films." "Japanese directors whom I find interesting are those who work the way Fukasaku did." "I don't know what influence Mr. Fukasaku's films had in the world." "People in different countries see them differently." "Now we have many younger filmmakers who are really good," "But there weren't many in Mr. Fukasaku's generation," "Because there was an established Basic formula." "There was the star system, and good versus evil was a major premise of entertainment films." "No one challenged that formula until Mr. FuKasaKu shooKit up by making films that were the complete opposite of that." "I thinK that's a contribution Mr. FuKasaKu brought to violent films or actions films." "He was a revolutionary in action films." "His theory of moviemaking is probably not what you would learn in film schools." "It was dictated by his nature." "so regardless of whether it went against the rules or not, he wove together those things to which he was attracted By nature." "I can sense his strength in doing that." "Even now, people who have seen the movie talk about it." "I think it's because a certain portrait of postwar youth was brilliantly drawn through conflict among yaKuza in the movie." "During the postwar period, there were shortages of various Kinds, both emotionally and materially." "The film shows men in that context hacking their way through on their own." "People who saw this portrayal when the movie first opened felt it was just as cutthroat as when they were young, and they strongly identified with the movie." "The violence that pervades the yakuza genre and a portrait of postwar youth were skillfully Blended together By Mr. Fukasaku and made the movie a Big hit." "Mr. Yamane, weren't you young... when you saw "Battles Without Honor and Humanity"?" "I saw it as a youth." "I identified with the youth on the screen." "And I wasn't thinking of the age of the director." "I always saw my involvement and the character's involvement... in youth as the same." "Of course in "Battle Royale,"" "I don't see it that way." "But I completely understood how today's youth see it that way." "And as you said, Kinji Fukasaku... was always making youth movies." "And that is correct." "Movies should identify with youth." "At a basic level." "At the core." "Not to take away from movies about seniors." "I think Kenta might agree, from a producer's perspective, Director Fukasaku... has a strong sense of curiosity, both as a writer and as a human." "This may sound strange-- and it's changed over time-- but when he was young and in his prime, he was interested in anything we brought to him." "We had the impression that he'd go for anything." "Of course, as we proceed, things come up... that he can and cannot do, and things are selected." "But we always admired... his writing ability and curiosity." "So those who see Kinji Fukasaku... as a certain type of director... have a narrow view." "When I interviewed him for my book, I was impressed... that he did the "Battles" series... through the '70s." "Then in the '80s and after-- a twenty year period-- many producers approached him... to do a movie like "Battles Without Honor and Humanity."" "But he would say that was that, and it's over." "He wants to go to the next place." "That next place... is once again about young people wriggling around." "But he won't repeat "Battles Without Honor and Humanity."" "Instead, he keeps his curiosity piqued... and waits for a producer to bring something interesting." ""Battles," the yakuza movie, is just one side of Kinji Fukasaku." "He also did period movies, science fiction, action, all sorts of genres." "But when he did "Battles,"" "I didn't understand yakuza movies." "So I asked him how he felt when he shot it." "He said, "Frankly, I don't understand yakuza either."" "He said he wanted to speak to... his anger as a youth, and to terrorist militancy." "That was his approach." "That may have been his approach toward "Battles."" "In his movies, he was good at merging himself into the work." "It's required of an artist." "In "Battles," Toei finally found a good yakuza story, had Fukasaku direct, and it succeeded." "But it left the domain... of the yakuza genre and dwelled... on the postwar feelings of the youth." "And I think that's why young people enjoy "Battles" today." "I think it's Fukasaku's youth energy... that allowed it to go past... the yakuza genre." "I wasn't involved in "Battles" so I don't know, but reading the interview by Mr. Yamane, he was very sensitive toward change... and was curious." "Well, that opinion is, well-- Director Fukasaku is-- l want to ask Mr. Sato and Kenta about movie directors." "What do the current times... require of movies?" "For example, in the '80s, most of the movie audiences were women." "So what does the female audience want to see?" "So Director Fukasaku might not want... to do a movie for women, but he still thinks about what he can do in that context." "Then Producer Masao Sato brings him "House on Fire."" "A story that might attract the female audience." "He incorporates his own family matters." "He is extremely sensitive toward social trends in that way." "He grabs the crossing point... between that and his curiosity." "When Mr. Sato brings him many projects, he's curious about all of it, but often ultimately rejects them, right?" "Yes." "For example in the series "Yakuza Wives,"" "he always reads the scripts." "He says let me think about it." "Ultimately, he says he can't do it and rejects it." "In that sense, he is highly curious." "And as Mr. Yamane says, Fukasaku is highly attuned... and considerate about social changes." "But for us people on the set, for example in "House on Fire,"" "we say it's for women after the fact, and as a producer, I'm going for that." "But for us on the set, as Kenta said, it seems like the old man is basing it on himself." "Those feelings are strong." "And in fact, he does project a lot of himself into that movie." "I'm not sure how much he's aware of the female audience... when he's in production." "Does the producer think... most about budgetary implications?" "Or casting matters?" "is he picky about those things?" "Well, all directors have issues... about budget, style, and tastes." "Those things don't pertain to just Mr. Fukasaku." "But he sure enjoys being on the set." "He enjoys it so he keeps on shooting." "So, as a producer I worry about making the release date." "At the time, Japanese movies based their schedule on the release date." "If we don't make the release date, the theaters end up projecting white." "That is the number one responsibility for a producer." "And every time Kinji Fukasaku is director, I worry about finishing it." "Well, all sorts of things happen." "He is so happy on the set and others pick up on that." "But when that continues for six months, frankly, everyone else is exhausted." "We say, "l'll never follow him again."" "But when we see the results, we see our sweat and effort embedded on the screen." "With that joy, and after six months, we want to work with Fukasaku again." "That's the kind of director he is." "Even in "Battles Without Honor and Humanity," as Producer Sato said, they shoot during the day, eat dinner at dusk, and shoot at night." "And it's sensible to finish around 10:00 pm, but it goes on late into the night." "So Fukasaku becomes known... as the "late night work group."" "The shoot goes on until it's 3:00 am or 4:00 am." "Then they have a drink and go to sleep." "Then they start again at 9:00 am." "The actors are exhausted, but unbelievably... the director is full of pep and totally energized." "According to the director, the actors lack sleep, are hung over, and their eyes are bloodshot." "But it's "Battles," so this effect... is more forceful and appropriate." "He is a person that ties everything into the work." "He has a habit of saying" "When it's past midnight, Production worries... about the next day's shooting order and meals." "When it passes midnight, Director Fukasaku has the habit of saying," ""We're having so much fun now." "Why stop?" "Let's do a little more."" "I think, "This is bad."" "Then it's morning the next day." "So I'm prepping the set until the next morning, leaving about 9:00 am." "So I cross paths with other normal crews... coming in the morning and it feels miserable." "But Director Fukasaku enjoyed it." " He really likes it." " He really liked it." "That's why he never came home." "I can't believe I followed the same path." "The one time I followed him as an assistant director on a movie... we finished at 5:00 am, and we're to start at 9:00 am." "But rather than go home, we start drinking." "We'd start drinking from 5:00 am to 8:00 am, rest an hour, then go on location." "I was amazed by his stamina." "What movie was it... that the meal budget shot up... to hundreds of thousands?" "When the Fukasaku group shot on the Kyoto lot, the taxi and meal companies loved us." "I was always asked by them, "When is the Fukasaku group coming again?"" "On the set, the actors and crew are good." "Even in hardship, it's a celebration." "The same can be said about the creating of the scenario." "It doesn't involve many people." "You are alone in a smoke-filled single room." "This can be hardship." "After two or three months, you want to give up." "But he doesn't give up." "He had a lot of energy." "The movie was green-lighted, when Producer Koji Shundo wanted Kinji Fukasaku," "The writer disagreed... and there was considerable trouble." "A long time before that," "Kasahara wrote a scenario for Fukasaku." "He didn't like it, they had a huge fight, and fixed it together." "After they fixed it, Director Fukasaku fell ill... and left the project." "Kasahara remembered the fights... and has written, "Normally, Kinji Fukasaku... is, unbelievably, the nicest person... in the world, but when it comes to work, he's so scary... that even the devil avoids him."" "At the time, there was Fukasaku in Tokyo... and Taii Kato of Kyoto." "Both were of the same fashion." "Even the devil avoids them." "Nobody is so bothersome on the set." "So he thought "Battles Without Honor and Humanity"... would be rewritten, and said, "No!"" "Director Fukasaku read it, and it must have struck a chord; because he said," ""l will not change one line." "I will shoot it as is." So, green light." "We don't know what goes on inside the mind of Director Fukasaku, but he does have those things we discussed:" "his images of youth and thoughts he carries and writes about." "And in his movies, there are his aesthetics, his vitality, his interest." "No matter how great the theme, his natural born need as a director to make the picture interesting and vivid... is the same with all his work." "So when it came to the writings of others, he had his own take on things." "He has his own take on things, so he has to write about it." "But that alone isn't good enough." "It isn't that "Battle Royale" is about youngsters, so have a youngster like Kenta write it, but also in other projects, he collaborates with other writers." "What I understood from talking with Mr. Fukasaku... is that he has a lot of his own things, yet he can delegate." "In a funny way, he seeks to squeeze out all of a persons talent." " There seems to be a lot of that." " Yes, there is." "As a director and a human, he has this big bag." "And I try to challenge him, only to realize I've been put into this bag." "And I find this bag is strangely comfortable-- an enjoyable bag." "That's why members of the Fukasaku group... don't want to follow him after a production, but after a short while, we miss it and want to work with him again." "So, ultimately, he was an enjoyable director and it was an enjoyable set." "As Mr. Yamane said, a Fukasaku movie has a consistent trait." "Many directors of this caliber exhibit patterns... of collaborations with actors and DPs." "But Director Fukasaku doesn't exhibit any particular patterns... of collaboration with writers." "Mr. Kounabe often wrote for him, but I think it was hard for writers... to work with Mr. Fukasaku." "So each time, things were shaped differently." "So I think it was a big deal that Kenta took on the hardship... of taking on his last two movies." "I think the best match was Mr. Kasahara, who wrote "Battles Without Honor and Humanity."" "But the number of pictures he did with Mr. Kasahara are very few." "There were the four "Battles" movies and "Cops vs. Thugs."" "And "Yakuza Graveyard." That's all." " That's all, right?" " Yes." "So it was strange, but Mr. Kasahara died... 2 or 3 weeks before my father died." "My father got the news during the rehearsals for "Battle Royale ll."" "A book had just come out about Mr. Kasahara." "My father was suffering from cancer." "He couldn't read." "He couldn't even read his own script." "But in one night, he went through the entire thick book, and even highlighted everything about himself." "And that was the last book... that Kinji Fukasaku ever read." " lt was a strange twist of fate." " Yes." "Mr. Kasahara and Mr. Fukasaku were artists of the same era." "They battled and respected each other." "But they weren't in the same group." "They built their own thing and didn't do too many collaborations." "That's what I think." "The inner sleeve... of the book on Kasahara... has some comments written by Fukasaku." "I don't think Director Fukasaku... was expecting to die one month later." "In the book on Mr. Kasahara, he writes, "Comrade," as though they were... two comrades who came up fighting... through the postwar era." "In terms of comrades, there were actors too." "Starting, in his debut, with Sonny Chiba... at his prime in meeting Bunta Sugawaru... and many actresses and the youngsters of "Battle Royale."" "He kept on changing and enjoying new partners." "And he kept on challenging all sorts of people." "Doing that over 60 movies with so many people... in all the genres was his attractiveness." "But I think the most compatible... was Sonny Chiba and Bunta Sugawaru." "This is another strange twist of fate:" "30 minutes before passing away," "Bunta Sugawaru came rushing into the hospital room... and held his hand during his last breath." "Mother and I, Bunta and many of the crew saw him off." "He was probably happy that his movie life... was with him to the end." "And probably happy as a father." "I made friends with certain people, and when a fellow hoodlum told me to go to Shinjuku," "I went to an office there." "An office." "There I saw rows of jars filled with pinkies, all with names on the labels." "They were all lined up." "When I took a closer look, they were the tips of fingers down to the joint." "There were so many names written on labels." "So quite a few fingertips had been cut off." "Probably for messing with a superior's girl or something like that." "Or for stealing a superior's money." "Or for doing the boss's girl." "If three guys were involved, all three would lose their fingers." "Then and there." "You don't start cutting from the thick part of the joint." "If you start cutting from this part, you'd cut all the way to here." "So they start cutting around the middle here." "That's gotta hurt." "They use a plane." "They lay the finger out and whack it as hard as they can." "When I first came to Shinjuku, I went to a coffee shop." "There seemed to be lots of gangsters there." "I noticed a man picking his nose like this." "I couldn't believe how much of his finger was inside his nose." "I kept on watching him." "When he pulled out his finger, I saw this part was missing." "I didn't know about pinky cutting back then, so I couldn't believe how much of it was in his nose." "Know what I mean?"