The Killing Machine (1976)

I am playing catch up on my Fridays of Fury Action Club reviews as this was the pick from two weeks ago, but if you want to join the fun and see upcoming movie selections go here.

The Killing Machine is a 1976 Japanese martial arts movie from director Norifumi Suzuki. He was best known for the comedy film series Truck Yaro/Truck Rascals (love that name), but he was also a prolific director of the 1970s Pinky Violence movies produced by Toei. I started binging that sub-genre last year, and Suzuki directed some of the most memorable and stylish entries. Sex and Fury is the most infamous with its extended topless fight scene, but I thought School of the Holy Beast and Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom were even better. For this film he left behind the sex and sleaze of those movies, but he brought some of the violence and style. Though there are plenty of fights, some deaths, and a castration, The Killing Machine is not as lurid as its English title would suggest. The original title was Shorinji Kempo, the name of the martial arts school founded by protagonist and real life figure Doshin So.

The film follows Doshin So (Sonny Chiba) after the end of World War II. So is a spy working in mainland China, until he is shocked and horrified by Japan’s surrender. In the first scene after he flips out and the credits roll, Japanese military officers try to force a young woman to give herself to the Chinese officers to help get the other Japanese home quicker. So defends her, disgusted that they would try and sacrifice her to protect themselves.

So ends up directionless in a post-war Japan full of crumbling buildings, rampant poverty, and roving gangs where authority figures and collapsing institutions are powerless or corrupt. He protects the vulnerable from violence and helps the orphaned street kids who have to steal food to survive. People start to call him Crazy Dog as he fights wildly against abuse and injustice. The young woman from earlier reappears in peril again, and other side characters are introduced. During his time in China, So learned Kung Fu. After being arrested and told to get out of town, he leaves to found a martial arts school incorporating what he has learned. He tries to instill strength and pride in his students, the damaged and discarded men he has met and recruited. Eventually So visits the slums from earlier and finds his unrequited love, the young woman he protected multiple times, sick and dying (presumably a result of her sex work to take care of her brother and the orphans). So realizes he missed out on love and there are things strength alone cannot provide for yourself or others. “Strength should never be separated from compassion!” Then he beats up some corrupt land developers and punches a guy until meat comes out of his mouth. Pieces of his tongue maybe? The film ends with the orphans training alongside the other surviving side characters, an ever increasing number of new students, and the words “Strength without justice is violence. Justice without strength is inability.” Which made me think about our current political situation and get sad, as somehow our two party political system has turned that statement into an either/or decision.

Suzuki’s directing is more restrained than in his Pinky Violence work, but there are still moments of style and creativity. There are some close ups, camera moves, slow motion and quick shots from interesting angles to emphasize So’s throws, flips, and hits. The whole movie looks good and moves quickly, and there are some nice compositions of dilapidated settings.

It covers a lot of ground in 90 minutes. I generally appreciate brevity in movies, but I would have gladly spent more time following this character and his supporting cast. It ends up feeling a little abrupt when it wraps up some character subplots and introduces corrupt land developers to fight in the last few minutes. A more satisfying ending could have made this a Great Movie, but instead I just thought it was Really Good. I also didn’t realize going in that the movie was ostensibly a biopic, even with the “based on true events” note at the beginning (which American movies use all the time on complete fiction). That does explain why it sometimes feels like it is rushing through time and events, and it makes it harder to provide a satisfying conclusion (since life usually doesn’t provide one). It probably stood out to me more because Suzuki’s Pinky Violence movies usually have really strong climaxes. The riotous ending of Lynch Law Classroom was particularly incendiary and rousing.

By the time most of the story in the film takes place, the real So was in his second marriage and had two children. None of that is portrayed here, so I will assume events were streamlined if not wholly fictionalized. So is portrayed here by the legendary actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba. Chiba had been acting for more than 10 years and was just coming off his breakout success with The Street Fighter (1974). He had begun studying martial arts in university, and by 1970 he had started his own training school for actors and stunt people to learn martial arts (Japan Action Club, later known as Japan Action Enterprise). Here is where I shamefully admit that this is the first full Sonny Chiba film I have watched. I saw him in Kill Bill and have seen clips from The Street Fighter, but otherwise getting into his work has remained on my “to do” list. This was a fantastic introduction. I can see how his hard-hitting fighting style wowed audiences and made him a star. He does lots of grabs and locks that reminded me more of the modern era of post-MMA fight choreography than other martial arts movies I have seen from the 70s and 80s. I also love the bit where he kicks off his big ass shoes into two dudes’ faces and they spray blood out of their mouths. Chiba’s face is perfect for scowling with righteous indignation. His eyes and eyebrows alone look like they melt a man with white hot rage.

Yet in this film he also gets to bond with children, goof around with a duck, and act caring (if patriarchal) towards a woman. He will break your arm for being an asshole, but if you chill out and apologize he will pop it back into place for you. Based on what I know of The Street Fighter series, this is a VERY different vibe from his violent misogynist anti-hero in those films. Still, I am definitely excited to watch more of his work after this.

Shout out to the kid they got to play So in a flashback, his scowl really does remind me of Chiba as adult So.