Two Lives, Two Yakuza

Two Lives, Two Yakuza

1964 · 99 min · Crime, Drama

An early ninkyo film from before the genre had truly established its form. Koji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an ambush. It turns out the man is the head of a hard working clan appointed to a railway construction project. A ruthless yakuza gang is also trying to get their share of the project and attempts to sabotage the work. After the old man dies, his son (Sonny Chiba) and daughter (Junko Fuji) try to complete the project. Tsuruta joins them while also falling in love with a local woman working in a bar (after all, Tsuruta always was more of a lover than his stoic colleague Takakura).

Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi · Written by Akira Murao

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Cast

Koji Tsuruta Shinjiro Kusakari
Sumiko Fuji Yukiko Matsuhashi
Shigeru Amachi Seiji Nawate
Takeshi Katō Makoto Misugi
Eijirō Yanagi Genichiro Matsuhashi
Sonny Chiba Shinichi Matsuhashi
Yoshiko Sakuma Kumi Kitajima
Kenji Ushio
Fumitake Ōmura
Akikane Sawa

Make it a double feature

2h 32m together

Two Lives, Two Yakuza

Moonlight Mask

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