Fudoh is about the Yakuza criminal elite. Specifically, Fudoh is the son of a powerful crime lord who once killed his own son (Fudoh’s older brother). Having witnessed the slaying, Fudoh spends the remainder of his upbringing cultivating vengeance. He and his high school friends campaign to assassinate the “old blood” honchos and take over. Viva the violence! It takes just such a plot line to make way for a torrent of poisons that blow streams of blood out people’s eyeballs, and hermaphrodites that shoot darts out of zipper-crotched panties!
What it boils down to is that, if you’re a fan of the somewhat standard fare of Japanese sword movies, then this film will probably sate you. It’s kitschy, contains oodles of unrealistic violence, ridiculously frequent decapitation, blood-bound vows, and kinky unlikely sex. It has all the elements of an entertaining story, if a bit conflated. However, the film seems torn between portraying the melodramatic events as comic and presenting a sympathetic reinterpretation of Oedipus.
What lacks in this film is an original tension. Even one death or fuck scene that was surprising or extra-excruciating would have made it more memorable. Instead, it relies on a mid-way tongue-in-cheek recycling of old moves and precedents. The straddling of comedy and discomfort detracts from the humor and compromises its drama. Then again, sometimes it’s perversely amusing to watch death scenes in which the victims’ require twenty-plus bullets before succumbing to death at the hands of the Yakuza (!)
One particularly charming addition to the story is the mini-Yakuza gang of elementary-aged assassins. They toddle around inconspicuously, then whip out a barrage of handguns. “Bang!” Cutey pantses. It’s way too silly to take seriously, but is plodding enough to suggest the effort to touch. Awfully romantic, but not happening.