The Outsider is a 2018 drama set in post-WWII Japan and centered on an American former G.I. who joins the Yakuza.
Let’s talk Jared Leto. He’s an Academy Award winner who has worked hard to keep himself undefined, from his musical aspirations to his often celebrated work on screen, adopting a rigorous approach to acting that has seen him transformed from one picture to the next. He is at the very least, a curious watch. While much of these films have been hit or miss, his commitment is not and when you see his name in the credits, well, you can be sure he’s going to put everything he’s got into it, even if his efforts might come up short (Blade Runner 2049 for example).
Now comes Martin Zandvliet‘s The Outsider, a film spoken mostly in Japanese with Leto just about the only white man in the story. It’s a beast of a flick, melodramatic and heavily-themed, almost purposefully working to appear very important, and one certainly can’t accuse the experience as lacking depth, it’s just, well, it’s often impenetrable, sometimes meandering in long bits of dullness with sudden, chaotic explosions of violence. It’s a film of divisions.
In post-World War II Japan, former American GI Nick Lowell (Leto) is in a tough Japanese prison where he saves the life of Kiyoshi (Tadanobu Asano), a Yakuza who is nearly hanged and beaten. He gets noticed and in returning the favor, Kiyoshi’s connections give Nick an early release and an inside track to joining the gang where Nick quickly feels a kind of kinship. He takes to the bloody violence and death with aplomb, becoming a gaijin (outsider), respected and fast building a reputation, especially with rivals. Meanwhile, he bonds with Kiyoshi’s sister Miyo (Shioli Kutsuna) in a forbidden tryst.
What works best is really the atmosphere, the setting and era well-captured and authentic. Nick travels in limited circles, but there is a deepening sense of malice whenever he goes, making this at least somewhat tense. Camilla Hjelm‘s cinematography and Rika Nakanishi‘s art direction are the real stars throughout, along with a moody rhythmic score that really helps sell it.
However, this is not an action movie, even with a few terse moments that are quick and gruesome. It’s conversationally driven, much of it in Japanese and too often does little to truly keep things moving as it deals with the Yakuza’s clashes with the Seizu as they fight over property and trade. Still, there are many strong moments, especially for those who like to dig deep into crime thrillers and era-specific stories of gangland adventures. Goodfellas this is not, but it does give a pretty challenging look into the 1940s Japanese gangland lifestyle.
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We gets bits of backstory and a few awkwardly added characters, such as Emile Hirsch as another American, though the focus is on Leto, who plays it stoic, lean and mean, though his presence is not as weighty as perhaps it could be. The story is really about what happens around him of course, he trying to cope with language and culture, the brutality of it a home he fits comfortably within. Some of this is potent, as when he makes a certain physical sacrifice to show his loyalty. However, it’s not always sustainable and at two full hours, lacks some crucial momentum along the way.
The Outsider has a sort of troubled backstory, originally meant to be directed by acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike and set to star Tom Brady in the lead before that deal fell apart. Netflix later acquired the distribution rights and in truth, sort of feels like the right place for it, the streaming service steadily becoming a stable of good but not great films like this. There’s a lot to like about The Outsider even with its numerous flaws, it just isn’t the spectacle it aims hard to be.