This early work, an unrelenting, visceral conception of life on the bombed-out edges of postwar Japan, helps introduce Fukasaku's major themes: economic exploitation, the search for solidarity, and the desperate, at times merciless survival tactics of a forsaken underclass. Three brothers grow up poor and embittered in the outlying slums of a ruined city; the two eldest escape by becoming yakuza servant and criminal outcast respectively, while the youngest remains with his neighborhood friends. When his group steals money from the elder brother's gang, however, a claustrophobic showdown in the slums ensues. Intimidation ultimately amplifies into hostage-taking and torture, with murder becoming the final graphic test of loyalty between brothers, friends, and gangsters. Skillful action picture and cold allegory of class conflict, the film features the legendary Ken Takakura as the loner middle brother, the actor's last appearance as an outcast before turning to honorable yakuza roles. (JS)