Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This movie is a documentary on the everyday life of a branch of a Yakuza clan. Its told in 1st person mainly by the clan chief. The main setup is the parent of a aimless young man asking for advise on how to straigthen up her kid. She was given the option of sending the young man to be a Yakuza "cadet/yakuza in training" with the local Yakuza branch clan. She agrees as the local clan chief is supposed to be a good man. Hence the movie follows the young man into the yakuza. IMO, to get permission to film this the film maker completely whitewashed the Yakuza. This "documentary" seems more like a propaganda/recruiting movie for the yakuza. At no point does it even allude to the criminal activities of the Yakuza. It shows the clan leader as a caring, honourable father figure. Yes it does show aspect of the evryday life of a yakuza but I am sure everyday life isn't 1) making tea for the boss, 2) visiting the family of incarcerated members 3) apologising to the mother 'cos the son did a runner 4) seeing the local bathouse owner commiserating with the yakuza on how difficult the police have made their existence. Its not bad but its not a "revealing" or in-depth look at the Yakuza

When I think of a documentary, two types come to mind. First would be the objective type. Or rather, one that provides information directly to the audience, in an entertaining and educational manner.A good example of this would be the well received "Super Size Me", which many agree is quite informative and entertaining. It presents the audience with a concept, and then proceeds to tell a story that communicates a message clearly and concisely. In other words, with a documentary like "Super Size Me", even for those who may have not liked it, there probably weren't many saying to themselves "I'm not sure I understand...?" The second type is the genre that "Young Yakuza" falls in for me - the subjective type. Rather than presenting an idea directly to the audience, this type almost strictly relies on footage. Often without any narration or film crew interaction, characters are simply followed with a camera, and a story is told. In the end, leaving any conclusions or messages in the film up to the audience.More often than not, subjective-type documentaries tend to suck. Although they may show the viewer a topic in a first-person light, they fail to actually be entertaining. And in the end, the term "meh..." comes to mind. And that's why I liked Young Yakuza so much - because it communicates as much information as a film like "Super Size Me", in an entertaining way, without even telling you anything directly.In fact the film is so well shot, that at times, you forget you're watching a documentary at all.There is no film crew interaction or narration in the film. Not only that, but don't be fooled by the "a young, aimless man joins the Yakuza" plot synopsis above. The director did an amazing job at setting up this film, and it simply could have been called "Yakuza".Exposing the audience to a view of modern Japanese culture, as well as a glimpse into the mysterious underworld of the Yakuza, this film is so much more than just a bunch of experts being interviewed about a criminal collective. In a way, you almost gain a respect for the infamous organization, as you follow one particular clan's trials & tribulations to survive in a modern Japanese society.In closing, I'll just say that you can think of this film like this: We've all seen the Godfather, Casino, etc. And although the mafia does still exist, they certainly haven't done any specials on A&E lately... If you've ever wondered - "What is it actually like?" From an Eastern perspective, that's what this film is about.Imagine that one of the "mob bosses" (for lack of a better term, lol) of today, allowed a film crew to follow them around and get a glimpse into the everyday workings of the organization. Well, that's what you will see here. It may not be as flashy as Hollywood depicts, but it's real. And thanks to the excellent production & direction of this film, extremely entertaining. Highly recommended!