Cops vs. Thugs

Cops vs. Thugs
Directed by	Kinji Fukasaku
Written by	Kazuo Kasahara Goro Kusakabe (original concept)
Starring	Bunta Sugawara Hiroki Matsukata
Music by	Toshiaki Tsushima
Cinematography	Shigeru Akatsuka
Distributed by	Toei
Release dates	April 26, 1975
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Cops vs. Thugs (県警対組織暴力 Kenkei tai Soshiki Bōryoku, lit. "Police vs. Violence Groups") is a 1975 Japanese yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It won two Blue Ribbon Awards in 1976: Best Director (Fukasaku) and Best Actor (Sugawara).^[1] Complex named it number 6 on their list of The 25 Best Yakuza Movies.^[2] Kino International released the film on DVD in North America in 2006.^[3]

Plot

In Kurashima City, there are two yakuza families; the Kawade, who use political connections to further their activities, and the Ohara, who have an alliance with the local police. When Ohara acting boss Hirotani usurps a staged land deal away from Kawade, thanks to the help of his police friend Kuno, a war breaks out. At the same time, Kuno's superiors start cracking down on the yakuza and command the cops stop fraternizing with criminals.

Cast

Bunta Sugawara as Tokumatsu Kuno Hiroki Matsukata as Kenji Hirotani Mikio Narita as Katsumi Kawade Tatsuo Umemiya as Shoichi Kaida Hideo Murota as Tsukahara Shingo Yamashiro as Yasuo Kawamoto Reiko Ike as Mariko Jukei Fujioka as Ikeda Asao Sano as Yusaku Yoshiura Nobuo Kaneko as Masaichi Tomoyasu Harumi Sone as Kyuichi Okimoto Takuzo Kawatani as Taku Matsui Tatsuo Endo as Takeo Ohara

Kunie Tanaka as Kinpachi Komiya Toru Abe as Azuma Kikuchi Akira Shioji as Chujiro Shiota Shotaro Hayashi as Shimodera Masaharu Arikawa as Tokuda Sanae Nakahara as Reiko Yoko Koizumi as Yuri Maki Tachibana as Kasumi Keiko Yumi as Miya Midori Shirai as Chiyomi Masako Matsumoto as Mitsuyo Gentaro Mori as Tanpo

Production

Tetsuya Watari was originally set to play Hirotani, but had to step down due to illness. The role then went to Hiroki Matsukata.^[4]

References

1. "Kenkei tai Soshiki Bōryoku". Dejitaru Daijisen Purasu. Shogakukan. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
2. "The 25 Best Yakuza Movies". Complex. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
3. "Cops vs. Thugs". Kino International. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
4. Fukasaku, Kinji; Yamane, Sadao (July 2003). 映画監督深作欣二. Wise Publishing. pp. 324–328. ISBN 4-89830-155-X.

External links

• Cops vs. Thugs at the Internet Movie Database