The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion

Last night, I watched The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion, a great movie directed by Juzo Itami on the Criterion Channel app. I highly recommend both. The plot is summarized as:

An upscale Japanese hotel hires Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer adept at dealing with the Yakuza, to help them rid their hotel of the local gangsters so they can get a contract for a meeting of important foreign officials.

The film, like other Itami films, has a good mix of tension and humor. The film starred his wife and long time collaborator, Nobuko Miyamoto. According to IMDB, the Yakuza did not appreciate the movie:

In 1992, Itami was attacked, beaten, and slashed by five members of the Goto-gumi, a Tokyo yakuza gang, who were angry at his portrayal of yakuza as bullies and thugs in this film. This attack led to a government crackdown on the yakuza.