One Generation of Tattoos

A somewhat more straight-ahead yakuza yarn than Suzuki was later to come up with, but still a perfect example of how gangster histrionics can be wedded with flights of emotional and spiritual fancy. A mob executioner, desperate to protect his sensitive younger brother from his treacherous boss, takes him on the road, only to find endless moral complications and divided loyalties, all of which culminate in a chance to make the supreme sacrifice. The climactic fight, filmed through a battery of sliding doors, offers all the aesthetic brilliance you'd desire, but the film's real strength lies in its depiction of a cathartic confrontation with destiny.