Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

The ever productive Miike Takashi managed to make no less than six videos and films last year, on the last count. The latest of this sextet is Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, an extremely individualistic Yakuza action spectacle without the real ‘allout gore’, but of course larded with minor perversities randomly spread throughout the film.It’s all about Kunisada (Takeuchi Riki), a wild warhorse who is lieutenant of the Yakuza group of the Sanadas. He is in prison when he hears that Sanada, the head of his clan, has been murdered by a hitman from the rival Otaki group. He is just as angry as he is sad, because Sanada was more than a father to him. Outside the prison walls, the umbrella Bando alliance is making plans for reconciliation between the Sanada and the Otaki, but behind the scenes, murder plans are laid. A strategy is also conceived to get rid of Kunisada. When Kunisada finds out about the machinations, his fury is kindled. A minor apocalypse is the result.