Yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of yakuza, Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of bakuto as sympathetic Robin Hood-like characters were common.
Film poster for Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
Takeshi Kitano has received international praise for directing, writing and starring in yakuza films.
The cinema of Japan , also known domestically as hōga , has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011, Japan produced 411 feature films that earned 54.9% of a box office total of US$2.338 billion. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived.
Orochi (Buntarō Futagawa)
Roningai (Masahiro Makino)
Kintaro Hayakawa, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s
Cinema poster for Sadao Yamanaka's 1937 Humanity and Paper Balloons