The Street Fighter (1974)

The street fighter is a film that where Sonny Chiba personifies Bad-ass-ness. There isn't really another way to describe what makes a character badass, there is no way to quantify or describe our anti-hero. This Sonny Chiba is meaner than any of the villains on the film. One must simply watch and be taken in by the character whose exposition is shown almost entirely through his idiosyncracies in each of the non-stop  fight scenes.  I can keep calling him one mean mother-fucker but those are stock words to describe such a character.

Tsurugi is a character that is shown to be without roots. Even the title of the film, "The Street Fighter" hints at this before we start the film.  Tsurugi is rooted in himself; in nothing but his personal sense of honour. In the opening scene upon meeting the prisoner (not Patrick Mcgoohan, although that would be rad if it was), there is an unspoken understanding based solely upon them glaring into each others eyes. The prisoner is the last of his school, tsurugi is of "of nothing". Tsurugi draws his strength from himself, the prisoner draws his from his school, and as he is the last, does not have the focus and strength of tsurugi. They are both the only of their kind. His character is furthured developed when we are introduced to the Dojo Master Kendo. Tsurugi respects this man, which may be one of the few things he respects in this film.  Kendo is the opposite of Tsurugi. He is a family man, with a large dojo, and carries a stoic calmness about him. His movements are sparce and rigid, which is contrasted with Tsurugi flying about and slithering across the room.

The Prisoners family hire tsurugi to break prisoner out, knowing that they cannot afford to pay tsurugi.  The fight is one of deseration; the two of them are no match for tsurugi, who notably dispatches both simply by quickly throwing them to the ground over and over again.  Tsurugi doesn't specfically want to hurt them, but his honour mut be payed.  When the brother dies, its effectively by his own hand, as Tsurugi simply gets out of the way. He sells the sister into sexual slavery to get his money.  The life debt must be paid with life, in absense of any morality. This is shortly to be contrasted with him saving the heiresses life. When he negotiates his terms with kendo, money is not mentioned.

The prisoner's discovery of the sister brings his charcter to a new motivation.  Notable, he is just sitting in the bar drinking, having discovered a man wo can best his school, and now trapped far from him in hong kong, and also, entrenched in an honourable debt to him as tsurugi saved him from death.  However, with the discovery of his sister, he gains a new motivation through family and revenge.

It is important to note that Tsurugi  gets dropped off a bridge from a crane in his car, and beats the shit out of two guys with a gun after.  He is so rad he breaks a guy's skull. To make special note of this we see his skull in x-ray vision breaking.


The partner betrays tsurugi by not trusting Tsurugi's word that he can escape and taking it upon himself in saving him.  Here Tsrugui's comiment to the mission is absolute and fully willing to risk his own life.  However the partner's loyalty and understanding is to tsurugi the person, not the honourable mission tsurugi has undertaken.  The partner waits for three clicks of the pistol, but at that point he can no longer wait for tsurugi to save himself or die, and so sacrifices the girl, and his honour, to save tsurugui, (to whom honour binds him with his life.)

Later, when the partner re-appears to aid tsurugi in fighting the blind swordsman (a reference to Zatoichi, a beloved character in japan who is another unorthodox fighter)  the partner sacrifices himself for tsurugi. Tsurugi is surprised to find him there.  the impression given is that the extent of the partner's will to aid tsurugi was something tsurugi himself was unaware of.  And also, the need to repay the life debt he owes to tsurugi for saving him in singapore. Tsurugi sheds his hard veneer, showing his humanity in a single tear (a great example of special effects).

The interconnected web of debt and honour is what motivates the characters in the film. The main "villain" of the film, Mr. Jadot, is simply there to drive the plot forward. His lack of honour ultimately causes his death.

The final scenes of the film are shown at the beginning of another film,  True Romance, of which Tarantino wrote the screenplay of. "He is, bar none, the greatest actor working in martial arts movies ever." is one of the opening lines. He would later cast Sonny Chiba in Kill bill as the master sword maker 'Hatori Hanzo'.