Paul Schrader Double Feature

Spoilers Ahead

Friday was a good night for movies. A tough guy double feature at a former porn theatre in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Backstory time. The New Beverly Cinema started its life as an adult movie theatre. It shut down for a spell (not entirely sure exactly how long) before being bought by a new owner who changed the name from the Beverly Cinema (the theatre is on Beverly Blvd.) to New Beverly Cinema. He couldn’t afford a brand new sign so, he added “new” to show that it was no longer for porn. Quentin Tarantino owns the theatre now while the previous owner’s son operates it. Because of this situation, Tarantino’s films are screened regularly with some of the prints (all films are shown on 35mm unless stated as 16mm film) being from Tarantino’s personal collection. That’s not the best part of this theatre. Adult tickets are $8.00 each (and it’s usually a double feature) with a popcorn and Coke costing $6.50. Not exaggerating.

Our night begins with me and my dad trying to find somewhere (anywhere that isn’t ridiculously overpriced) to eat dinner before the movies. This is where we figured out it was an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Almost everywhere was closed. At 5 o’clock on a Friday night. It suddenly dawned on us that everywhere was closed to prepare for the Sabbath which starts at sundown. We ate at a, mostly, take out place across the street from the theatre. We purchase our tickets and get seats. Because of the chill, we both decide to get some hot tea. I end up scalding my hand with the water. I thought the lid was securely on. It was not. We got to hear a lively conversation that two elderly gentlemen were having whether wanted to or not. Finally, the lights dim.

The Yakuza is an interesting film. If you know nothing about Japanese culture, this might end up being a strange film. If you do know Japanese culture, then it makes more sense. Robert Mitchum plays a WWII vet and former MP (Harry Kilmer) who has been many things in his life that allows him to take care of business. While in Japan during the occupation (after the war), he meets Eiko Tanaka and her infant daughter, Hanako. They fall in love and live together for a time but, Eiko says that they can never marry. After five years, Eiko’s brother, Ken, returns from the dead as he has been living in caves in The Philippines. Because of the great debt that Ken owes to Harry (without Harry, Eiko and Hanako probably would’ve starved), Ken requests that Harry leaves Eiko. Harry does but not before he borrows money from his friend Tanner in order to purchase a bar/café for Eiko (she names it Kilmer House). Twenty years later, Tanner’s daughter is kidnapped by a yakuza boss, Tano. He asks Kilmer for help in getting her back.

In Japan, Kilmer goes to stay at his other friend’s (Olly) house. Kilmer’s first stop is to see Eiko and Hanako (mainly Eiko). He asks about Ken because Ken was yakuza after the war and Kilmer needs his help in getting Tanner’s daughter back. Eiko informs him that Ken lives in Kyoto and is now teaching kendo. Kilmer goes to see Ken and is told that Ken is no longer yakuza but, he agrees to help as he owes Kilmer. Kilmer, Ken, and Dusty go to get Tanner’s daughter and end up killing two of Tano’s men. This does not bode well for Ken as Tano will now want Ken dead.

After this goes down, Tanner visits Tano to discuss some business. It turns out that Tanner lied to Kilmer about why his daughter was kidnapped. Tano asks that Tanner kill Kilmer in order to make amends for his men’s deaths. Tanner agrees.

After an attempt on his life (in a bath house), Kilmer learns of Tanner’s betrayal. He and Ken leave to talk about this new information. While they are away, a group of men (Tano’s or Tanner’s or both) appear at Olly’s house. During the ensuing battle, almost all of the men are killed but, so is Dusty and Hanako. Ken disappears and Kilmer goes to his brother Goro in order to find Ken. Goro is the mediator for all of the yakuza clans and has to remain impartial thus, he is unable to help Ken (who would not ask for his help knowing this). Goro asks Kilmer to help Ken because he will try to kill Tano. During this conversation, it is revealed that Ken is not Eiko’s brother but, her husband. Kilmer is stunned by this revelation but, it does explain a few things.

Kilmer first goes to take care of Tanner as Tanner is his responsibility. Kilmer makes his way to Tanner’s office, kicks the door in (after calmly requesting entry) then proceeds to voice his displeasure at Tanner with some .45 caliber nonverbal communication. Tanner is no longer a problem. Kilmer joins up with Ken in order to take down Tano. Kilmer shoots people while Ken fights Tano and his men with a katana.

After the fight, Ken and Kilmer go to talk with Goro about the events. At this meeting, Ken is about to kill himself because he killed Goro’s son (after promising not to harm him) but, Goro forbids it. Ken then cuts off his pinky finger as an apology. Before leaving Japan, Kilmer goes to apologize to Ken as Kilmer had stolen Ken’s family and now his future (after Hanako’s death). The only appropriate response is for Kilmer to cut off his own pinky finger. They part as friends and brothers.

The Yakuza is a highly intense film. It deals with old school, traditional values trying to survive in a changing and modern world. Most of this is shown with men in suits using swords or a nightclub singer performing a Japanese song then a classic American tune right after each other. There is a subtlety that you would not expect in this type of film. The moment of this, that is quite easy to miss, is during the final fight. Throughout the film, there are many examples of what is known as traditional Japanese tattoos. The art all has the same aesthetic. Ken Tanaka’s tattoo, however, is very different. It is a demon done in a much older style than what had been shown. While there is violence, there is also a lot of character development as well as nuance. The prevailing theme of the movie is loyalty.

It is now time for intermission. One of my favorite moments, when going to these kind of theatres, is how short or nonexistent the line for the ladies’ room is. The men’s line is always almost comically long. It’s quite refreshing and also amusing. After some rearranging of seats and patrons, the next film begins.

Rolling Thunder lives up to its moniker. The film opens with the return of Major Charles Rane, Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones in an early film role) and others to San Antonio after being POWs in Vietnam for seven years. Both men are clearly uncomfortable with the pomp surrounding their return. Vohden goes to El Paso with his family. Rane's family is in San Antonio. Things are awkward between Rane and his family for several reasons. The first being that his son has no memory of Rane as he was 18 months when Rane was first deployed to Vietnam. The second and more prominent reason is that Rane's wife thought he was dead, fell in love with a deputy and agreed to marry him. Not exactly what you want to hear your first night home in seven years.

A few days pass, home life has settled a bit (Rane still sleeps in the woodshed). The local department store gives Rane a case full of silver dollars (one for each day he was captured) amounting to over $2,000. He also meets a pretty young woman and receives a red Cadillac convertible. Another few days pass, Rane watches his son practice baseball then proceeds home. There is a group of men at his home who wish to acquire the case of silver dollars. After realizing that conventional means of beating are not working, the leader then decides to stick Rane's hand in the garbage disposal. It's at this point that Rane's family comes home. Trying to save his father, Rane's son shows the group where the coins are. After acquiring the coins, the group kills Rane's family and try to kill him. They fail on that front.

After waking up in the hospital, Rane proceeds to practice placing cigarettes back in their pack to help get used to the claw prosthesis he now has. Upon leaving the hospital, he goes home and gears up. Rane then picks up the pretty young woman he met earlier to go with him and hunt down the men responsible for his son's death (unbeknownst to her). After spending a day or two on this adventure, Rane leaves his companion at a motel and goes off on his own. 

Rane follows the group to their brothel hideout. He then ends up at Vohden's house for dinner. He tells Vohden that he found the men who killed his son. After a moment, Vohden packs up his gear and leaves with Rane. They both go to the brothel and proceed to kill the men involved and a few others. After the massive shootout, both Rane and Vohden leave to go home, presumably.

For some reason, both prints were incredibly rough. They were watchable but, they weren’t good. Rolling Thunder was worse. As in one scene was cut and the film broke (probably) at one point. In regards to the audience, you would have thought it was Grand Central Station with the amount of traffic that was going on. No one seemed to understand the basic notion of sitting in their seats until the movie was over.