Minbo: The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) poster
7.5
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 22 users
# of Watchers: 52
Reviews: 1 user
Ranked #52034
Popularity #99999
Watchers 22

A Japanese hotel is attempting to get a high-profile contract to become the meeting site for a meeting of foreign officials. However, they run into trouble when a yakuza gang makes them a target of their extortion racket. Left with no other choice but to fight back, the hotel hires Mahiru Inoue, a crack female lawyer who’s an expert at playing hardball with criminals. Edit Translation

  • English
  • magyar / magyar nyelv
  • dansk
  • Norsk
  • Country: Japan
  • Type: Movie
  • Release Date: May 16, 1992
  • Duration: 2 hr. 3 min.
  • Score: 7.5 (scored by 22 users)
  • Ranked: #52034
  • Popularity: #99999
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Cast & Credits

Photos

Minbo: The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (1992) photo

Reviews

Completed
Maggi64
0 people found this review helpful
Oct 10, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

Fun Comedy Showing How the Yakuza Are Truly Just Thuggish Fools!

This was a very famous movie in Japan in 1992 because the Yakuza were so pissed about being portrayed as bullies and fools that a couple of them stabbed the director 3 days after the movie's release. He survived and wore his scars as a badge of honor. The idiot Yakuza thugs did not get that stabbing a director would inadvertently create media attention to make the movie 10x's more popular. In short, it became a hit! The stabbing also caused a public uproar that resulted in the law enforcement coming down harder on the Yakuza at the time.

As for the movie itself, it's a comedy, so the portrayal of the Yukuza's menace is handled lightly. But beneath that it's also an interesting expose on how the Yakuza truly were blackmailing and extorting regular citizens in the 90's because the law had cracked down on gambling, drugs and prostitution, leaving the Yakuza with few ways to earn other than by extorting regular people and their businesses.

The movie portrays this by showing how the Yakuza are extorting and blackmailing one particular hotel, and how one delightfully brave woman lawyer beats them. The actress playing the lawyer puts in a terrific performance as a smart, funny, sarcastic person who is, at the beginning, the only one brave enough to face down the Yakuza. The Yakuza are appalled that a "little lady" can dare be so fearless! Their sexism is hilarious.

She plays her role with a lot of charm, humor and wit and really makes the movie. The actors portraying the hotel staff also do a great job as bumbling men who are, at first, afraid of the Yakuza, but soon grow brave under the lawyer's tutelage. In all, it's a fun little comedy that also gives insight on how the Yakuza truly were behaving at the time.

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Details

  • Movie: Minbo: The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion
  • Country: Japan
  • Release Date: May 16, 1992
  • Duration: 2 hr. 3 min.
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Statistics

  • Score: 7.5 (scored by 22 users)
  • Ranked: #52034
  • Popularity: #99999
  • Watchers: 52

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