Minbo is a 1992Japanese film by filmmakerJuzo Itami. It is also known by the titles Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion, The Gangster's Moll and The Anti-Extortion Woman. The film was widely popular in Japan and a critical success internationally. It satirizes the yakuza, who retaliated for their portrayal in the film by assaulting the director.
Plot summary
The owner of a high-class Japanese hotel, the Europa, hopes to win a prestigious and lucrative contract for the hotel as the site of a summit meeting between important international officials. Unfortunately, the yakuza have taken a liking to this hotel as both a hangout and a target for extortion. In order to win the contract, the owner realizes, he must rid the hotel of the yakuza. Fearing to confront them himself, he deputizes a hotel accountant, Suzuki and a bellboy and former college sumo-club member, Wakasugi. The hapless pair are no more daring than their employer, however, and their tentative attempts to address the problem fail until they meet Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer who specializes in dealing with the yakuza. With Inoue's direction, the hotel staff comes together to face down the yakuza ruffians, who are portrayed as craven, outwardly-threatening-but-inwardly-weak, fools.
Definition of "Minbo"
The name "minbo", is a contraction of MINji kainyu BOryoku, literally translated as "violent intervention in civil affairs". It was a technique utilized by the yakuza following the crackdown of traditionally "victimless" crimes of drugs, gambling, & prostitution in the early 1980's, and exploited the Japanese reluctance towards confrontation in order to "gently extort" money from otherwise innocent individuals by making a scene with implied threats of violence over trivial matters.
Attack against Juzo Itami
The yakuza, who prefer to think of themselves as something akin to modern-day samurai, were angered by their portrayal in Minbo as common thugs and bullies. Three knife-wielding members of the Goto-gumi yakuza gang attacked director Juzo Itami near his home on May 22, 1992, six days after the movie opened. Itami was beaten and had his face slashed. The brutality of the attack, combined with Itami's popularity and the success of Minbo, led to a public outcry and a government crackdown against yakuza activity. Itami's 1997 death is alleged to have been murder disguised as suicide, carried out to prevent him from making a further film about the Yakuza.
