Watched this fairly late on a Friday night, so I'll keep this review brief, because bed is calling out to me.

I've been really into yakuza films lately, as I like crime films and I really dig Japanese cinema, and the yakuza sub-genre quite naturally combines the two. The thing I liked most about this particular one was its unique take on the "undercover cop infiltrating a criminal gang" premise.

In it, the central protagonist (the undercover cop) gets friendly with a gang, and they know pretty quickly where he's from. So the conflict isn't about whether or not he'll get found out; it's more about finding out on which side of the law his intentions truly lie (if he has any strong feelings one way or the other), and later, conflict arises when the police get angry at him for seeming to enjoy his interactions with the yakuza too much.

It's got a great premise and a strong opening half-hour. It's also really well-filmed throughout, with some great, frantic camerawork, and all the performances are solid. But it did get a bit too messy for my liking, with a plot that could have gone in numerous interesting directions, but didn't really seem to commit to one solidly enough. Maybe this was intended to mirror the feelings of the main character... or it could've been that the writing of the screenplay was just a bit rushed. I guess I'll never know for sure...

Directed by Kinji Fukasaku with screenplay by Kazuo Kasahara based on a concept by Norimichi Matsudaira, Naoyuki Sugimoto and Kyo Namura, Yakuza Graveyard is the story of Detective Kuroiwa (Tetsuya Watari, Graveyard of Honor) and his investigations into the Yamashiro and Nishida organized crime syndicates. He soon learns that his police bosses are just as corrupt as the criminals they face. They may as well be the criminals, as they are working with the Yamashiro.

Kuroiwa becomes close with Nishida executive Iwata (Tatsuo Umemiya) and soon finds himself falling in love with Matsunaga Keiko (Meiko Kaji!), the wife of an imprisoned gang member. Swearing allegiance to a criminal instead of his fellow cops and being in love with a woman used to the wrong side of the law puts Kuroiwa into a downward spiral of gun, blood and crime.

Yet how far from being a criminal is Kuroiwa? He drinks non-stop, sleeps with sex workers, embraces Western rock and roll and punches so many cops in the face. He's as much of an outcast as the Korean characters in this film, people with a heritage that will never allow them to rise to the levels they may deserve.

How much is this movie on the side of the bad guys? I mean, the cops use Nazi truth serum at one point. Japanese yakuza films are a deep well to explore and this is a great start, all filled with frantic action, moments that transform into monochromatic psychedelia and the idea that a death bleeding out in the dirty street is the best almost any of these characters will get.

Violent cop Kuroiwa is on an investigation on the rising tension between the Yamashiro and Nishida clans. After a couple run-ins with the local Nishida gangsters he begins to make his alliances. He discovers a secret police force posing as loan agents whom are watchdogs for the Yamashiro clan.

He falls in love with Keiko, a mistress within the Nishida clan, and after proving his toughness in a 1-vs-20 man fight he becomes cool with the underboss Iwaki and swears brotherhood. His relations with the Nishida clan gets him expelled from the force (whom are secretly in Yamashiro's pockets), and the cops blackmail Nishida to sell out Iwaki and ally with Yamashiro.

The secret task force kidnaps Kuroiwa and injects him with truth serum so he'll squeal on Iwaki whereabouts. When Kuroiwa snaps into reality he shoots up the cop station