 is a 1968 yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku starring Koji Tsuruta. It is the sixth film in the "Bakuto" ("Gambler") series of films produced by Toei Studios. Fukasaku had previously directed Koji Tsuruta in a similarly titled film, "Kaisanshiki" ("Ceremony of Disbanding"), in 1967, but the two films are unrelated.
Plot.
Iwasaki Family Junior Div. Chief Kuroki is released from prison after eight years to find that Maeda, the new police chief of the prefecture, has declared war on the Iwasaki organized crime family and demands its disbanding. Iwasaka Family Chief Masayoshi Iwasaki insists that, without his moral organization, there will be too many hotheads on the street with no guaranteed livelihood. He appoints Kuroki head of Iwasaki Transport, a legitimate organization designed to employ such types as longshoremen, and assures Maeda that there will be no problems.
Iwasaki Projects Executive Eiji Karasawa has split from the Iwasaki Family and gone legitimate. When a government official suggests that yakuza-related companies not be given contracts, Karasawa arranges for clients to cancel multiple contracts with Iwasaki Transport so that Kuroki will have to accept a job being offered by Karasawa with a tight deadline that will cause a rift between Iwasaki Transport and the longshoremen it employs.
Koike, an upright on-site supervisor for Iwasaki Transport who spent four years in prison for murdering a laborer and later married the man's widow, gets into conflicts with Tamaru and other workers who are stealing goods during transfer at the port or otherwise relaxing. After one such argument with Yoshihara, he is killed by a suspended load in a workplace accident and Yoshihara is accused of murder. Kuroki intervenes and declares it an accident, sending everyone back to work. Karasawa takes advantage of the situation and sends multiple demands to raise the tension at the worksite. Supervisor Gondo, secretly working under Karasawa's orders, beats Yoshihara to death. The longshoremen blame their employers at Iwasaki Transport for the death and they riot, destroying the company office before Maeda breaks it up.
Without the support of the laborers, Masayoshi Iwasaki must give up Iwasaki Transport. Kuroki asks permission to open a gambling joint to pay the family's debts and challenge Karasawa. Two other supervisors, One Arm and Isao, discover that Gondo is working with Karasawa so they attack them but end up dead. Karasawa and the other executives of the family attempt to wrest control of the ports from Masayoshi Iawasaki by forcing him to disband the family. Masayoshi declares that he will never disband the family just before he dies. Kuroki announces to the executives that he is now head of the family and refuses to disband. Akiko, a woman Kuroki saved from at attack by some American servicemen years earlier, sells her bar to join him.
Karasawa pays their old friend, the heroin addict Kasai, to kill Kuroki. Kasai sneaks into Kuroki's place and confesses the plans to him, then dies in the ensuing knife fight. Karasawa and the other executives take over the activities at the port under a newly incorporated organization and hold a press conference announcing that they have no affiliation with the Iwasaki Family. Kuroki later confronts Karasawa with the bloody knife and they kill each other with their knives. Akiko sails away from the port alone.
Production.
"Bakuto kaisanshiki" is the sixth film in the "Bakuto" ("Gambler") series of films that was produced by Toei Studios and starred Koji Tsuruta (except for the film "Gambler Clan", which starred Ken Takakura in his place). Fukasaku later also directed the ninth film in the "Bakuto" series, "Bakuto Gaijin Butai" ("Sympathy for the Underdog") (1971).
The film was shot in color and in mono.
The film's title has also been translated as "Gambler - Ceremony of Disbanding", "Gamblers' Ceremony of Disbanding", "Gamblers' Dissolution Ceremony", "Gambler's Dispersion", "Gamblers' Dispersion", and "Gamblers Dispersion".
Release.
The film premiered in Japan on February 9, 1968.
Home video.
The film was released on DVD in Japan on August 9, 2013.
References.
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