Kazuyuki Izutsu directs this film about, gangs, layabouts, and the downwardly mobile, based on the autobiographical novel by truck-driver turned author Riichi Nakaba. Set during the 1970s, the film centers on two buddies, Kotetsu (Takashi Okamura) and Chuba (Hiroyuki Yabe) (two noted Osaka comedians), who hail from Osaka's working-class neighborhood of Kishiwada. They spend much of the film beating the snot out of each other, beating the snot out of some hapless third party, or getting the snot beat out of them. Instead of being merely an act of defense or pent-up rage, they fight for the sheer bloody joy of it. In one scene, Kotetsu smashes a rival gang member in the face with a brick, in another the two are tied to a fence and pummeled with stones. With the future bleak and with little to lose, they slough through dumb jobs, have meaningless sex, and prepare for the next fight. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
