Mobsters' Confessions

Released by: Artsmagic
Released on: 1/31/2006
Director: Rokuro Mochizuki
Cast: Amika Kanya, Shohei Hino, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Yukio Yamanouchi, Shingo Tsurumi
Year: 1997
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

Jiro is a local no good hood who makes his living as a con man, going around to all of the different businesses in his miserable and impoverished neighborhood and roping them out of what little money they have. When Jiro hears word that one of his favorite businesses is at risk and possibly going to be losing some key accounts, and therefore reducing his potential for profit, he poses as a private investigator and tells the businessmen that he has been hired by those very same accounts to check out their books and make sure that everything is on the up and up.

Of course, Jiro already knows that the business is in trouble so he isn't surprised in the least to find out that their accounting confirms that they're in the red. He tells them that for a small fee, however, he'll make sure that the accounts don't find out about their dire straits. Jiro figures he's got this one sewn up tight until one night he finds a woman committing what appears to be industrial sabotage under cover of the darkness in the office parking lot. This, of course, comes back to haunt Jiro when he shows up at the office the next day hoping to complete his con and the woman, now identified as Kumiko, instantly recognizes him. Now normally you'd expect her to turn him in, end of story, but this time out she opts to go along with his scam. Things get more complicted, however, when it turns out that Kumiko is actually the step-daughter of the owner of the company he's trying to rip off, and he's using the father/daughter privelage in some very unseemly ways.

If that weren't enough for poor Jiro, a local yakuza boss named Kaemwada is owed money by the company. He, too, clues in very quickly to Jiro's con and, just like Kumiko, agrees to play along if he can have a slice of the pie for himself. As Kumiko starts to work her sultry magic on Kiro, he gets pulled into the workings of the yakuza further and further, even being assigned a bodyguard named Jay, until things really get out of hand for all involved.

Though the scams aren't quite well developed enough towards the end of the movie, Mobsters' Confessions builds a really nice blend of action, drama, sex (there's a surprising amount of graphic copulation in the film, reminding us that Rokuro Mochizuki got his start making pinky films way back when), and violence. Though Rokuro Mochizuki has made stronger films (namely Onibi: The Fire Within and Another Lonely Hitman), this one benefits from some strong central performances and a few interesting themes. Things get a little convuluted but the film is never boring thanks to three key factors: interesting characters, sporadic violence, and the bizarre way in which Kumiko brings Jiro under her spell. Some effective comic relief from Jay makes things interesting during a few spots that might otherwise be considered on the slow side.

Structurally the film differs very little from the standard yakuza film in that it details the rise and fall of a solitary criminal figure and his involvement in gang life. Rokuro Mochizuki twists things up a bit by adding in a few nods to what has come before in the genre, playfully acknowledging that maybe this time out he's not playing things as straight as he has in the past. The film also looks very good. The lighting adds a strange sense of sadness to a few specific scenes, playing with swirling lighting gels and primary hues to bring some real depth to the frame and compositionally Mobsters' Confessions looks fantastic.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Artsmagic gives Mobsters' Confessions a very nice 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that boasts strong color reproduction and deep, stable black levels. Skin tones look lifelike and natural, there aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts, and edge enhancement is kept to a minimum. Some mild line shimmering is present in a few scenes but it's not overly distracting. There aren't any problems with print damage or heavy film grain and overall, things look very nice on this DVD

The Japanese language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio track is pretty solid, though like their release of A Yakuza In Love, it seems to be slightly lacking in the lower end. Dialogue comes through nice and clearly and the levels are properly balanced to ensure that the performers are never buried by the sound effects or the score. A Japanese 2.0 Stereo mix is also included, as are optional English subtitles that are clean, clear, easy to read and free of any typographical errors.

Rokuro Mochizuki shows up in the extra features section where he sits down for an on camera interview in which he talks for quite a while about the origins of the film, how certain cast members came to be involved, the horrors of war, and what influenced him to make the movie in the first place. As with his earlier interviews on Artsmagic releases, he comes across as jovial and kind, and is quite open about his film and his career in this segment.

Japanese film scholar Tom Mes provides another one of his commentary tracks, as he's done in the past. Mes knows his stuff and he does a fine job of providing some critical analysis, pointing out both strong and weak points in the film and giving us some interesting interpretations of various events that transpire. He also puts the film into context against Rokuro Mochizuki's other films and again draws some interesting comparisons to some of the themes that seem to pop up in his films again and again.

Rounding out the extra features are some cast and crew biographies, chapter selection, and some keen menu screens.

The Final Word:

Artsmagic continues to five Rokuro Mochizuki's films respectful DVD releases to an unsuspecting North American audience. Though he has yet to find the popularity of some of his fellow country men in cult movie circles, Mobsters' Confessions proves that he's quite a skilled director and can tell a good story.