Gonin (1995)

Five men rob the yakuza. After the heist goes awry, the yakuza hunt down the thieves.

Historically, Gonin is set in Japan’s ‘Lost Decades,’ investigating the personal upshots of the country’s economic recession. This context gives heft to the movie’s national significance and the actions of the robbers. They desire to exact a vendetta against the yakuza responsible, in this case, for their economic downturn. Secondly, the esoteric Gonin differs from other thrillers for its commitment to extreme, merciless violence, matching the shocking gore of a horror movie.

For example, when two characters shoot at each other in a nightclub, an innocent female dancer is caught in the crossfire, screaming and fountaining blood from her leg. Gonin’s anarchistic tone is typified by the attendance of an eye-patched Takeshi Kitano. Known as an auteur of yakuza movies himself, Kitano’s pared-down, deadpan, badass action star status is unquestionably the best thing about Gonin. Where the picture also strays from archetypal crime movies is in its portrayal of homosexual protagonists.