Hard and stylish gangster film, chosen by some critics as evidence of the resurrection of the yakuza genre, but regarded by others as an anti-yakuza film. In the film five men (Gonin means literally ‘five people’) take on the powerful Ogoshi gang that comprises merciless yakuza. The five men are victims of the gang, directly or indirectly. Apart from that they have little in common; they came together by chance. The initiative is taken by the young disco owner Bandai, who was previously a successful businessman but is now weighed down by debts to the Ogoshi gang. When he vents his frustration one time in a hall where baseball balls are served with murderous regularity, he is challenged by the drunken and desperate office clerk Ogiwara. Ogiwara, who has rid himself of his family in a terrible way, will be Bandai’s first companion in his struggle with the Ogoshi gang. After Ogiwara there are the transvestite Mitsuya, the part-time pimp Jimmy and the corrupt ex-cop Hizu. It is a strange company and the attack on the gang is far from immaculate. In a chaotic orgy of violence, the five men manage to steal a large sum of money from the gang. But thieves don’t allow others to rob them unpunished. The yakuza take revenge in the form of the merciless ‘hitman’ Kyoya (a phenomenal role by Kitano Takeshi).
