Youth of the Beast

Before becoming the go-to guy for surreal J-pulp—and royally confusing his bosses at Nikkatsu—Seijun Suzuki made this odd yakuza masterpiece (yeah, we said it) about a lone-wolf mobster (chipmunk-cheeked Jo Shishido) muscling his way into the local syndicate. Imagine a Japanese Sam Fuller movie, and you're on the right track.