Takashi Miike likes to surprise with his films, and this time he did not let his audience down and shot a serious crime drama that reveals all the darkest and ugliest aspects of the life of members of the Yakuza gangs. The story of one of them, Rikuo Ishimatsu, who is completely immoral even for the Yakuza type, who once received the honorary title of “uncle” for his individual services to his boss Savada, but now seeks his way in rivers of blood and heroin ecstasy, is actually a complex study of man’s unhealthy obsession with self-destruction.
The Cemetery of Honor is hard to watch. With its slow, cumbersome narrative, accompanied by a melancholy jazz soundtrack, it creates a feeling quite unlike those experienced when watching other Miike films: there is no delicate balance between the icy terror reigning in the Yakuza world and the signature “hooligan” antics for which this Japanese director is so famous. No shocking or black humor. Nothing happens here, everyone faces the consequences of their wrong choice and pays for it with blood.
Watching a series of events that are completely absurd in nature and lead Rikuo straight into oblivion, you catch yourself thinking that you are somewhat sympathetic to him and even looking for excuses for some of his terrible actions towards other members of the gang (which is not surprising, because none of the other characters cause any specific emotions at all), but this sympathy quickly fades, because it is very bitter to see what he turns his wife’s life into – the only bright thing that he has left. And for this unusual dual image, I would like to thank Goro Kishitani, the lead actor, and of course, once again bow to the subtle creative sensitivity of Takashi Miike. “The Graveyard of Honor” being a remake of the film of the same name in 1975 directed by Kinji Fukasaku became, perhaps, one of the best films in Miike, showing that he is able to make a really strong adult cinema, and some scenes are simply hypnotized with their painful beauty.
8 out of 10