"Minbo" is a method of extortion in which the yakuza engineer scenarios where other people owe them something, then strongarm them into paying money to avoid litigation or violence. They'll bring a dead cockroach into a restaurant, plant it in their own meal, then lambaste the staff and demand compensation. In retaliation for exposing this phenomenon, the yakuza murdered this film's director, Juzo Itami.
In this movie, the yakuza frequently visit the Europa Hotel to conduct these scams. At first, the Europa's executive staff assigns two low-level accountants the job of figuring out how to make the yakuza leave. But there's nothing they can do on their own but pay the yakuza to leave one scam at a time. So, the Europa brings in a specialist: Mahiru Inoue, a lawyer who defends civilians from minbo. What ensues is an arms race of strategies. The yakuza come up with ever more elaborate and punishing scams, while Inoue comes up with ways of minimizing the damage the yakuza can do while manipulating the law to put pressure on them. We witness each side's tricks of the trade.
For example, the yakuza will browbeat not only the victims of their scams, but also the public officials responsible for issuing licenses to the victims' businesses. They make veiled threats and come up with new ways of making their victims think they can deliver on those threats. On the other side, Inoue teaches the hotel staff that they should always approach the yakuza in numbers and that they should insist on talking to them in private. She sets aside a room for private talks, which she calls the "VIP Room" because yakuza like to feel important. She tells the hotel staff not to be afraid, as it costs the yakuza more to go to prison than they can make through minbo.
I realize that up to this point I've provided little more than summary. But really, much of the satisfaction with this film is simply in watching people use their creativity like this. It proceeds through the steps of each side's plans methodically, cut with an exhilarating rhythm. While the subject matter gets heavy at some points, Minbo is mostly humorous and, in the end, uplifting. It has a jaunty soundtrack and frequently cracks jokes. Inoue and the yakuza wear colorful outfits that pop from the screen.
Because in the end, despite Juzo Itami's tragic fate, it wouldn't make sense for this film to make you feel bad. That's what the yakuza want. The brilliance of this film becomes clear when you realize that Inoue's tactics are directly opposed to the initial tactics of the Europa's executives. You can't beat the yakuza by forcing people to treat themselves as expendable. You need people who don't feel vulnerable or subordinate, and who have strength in numbers, to withstand the browbeating and not give in to their demands.
This is also what makes it one of the few good legal movies. It's not just about Inoue using the criminal law against the yakuza. It's about the yakuza using the civil law against the hotel. So, even though it's about organized crime, it depicts people fighting over the application of the law more than it depicts people standing on different sides of the law.
It doesn't matter what the law says if people don't know what it says, if people feel there is no chance it will be enforced, if they believe they won't be able to prove any of their claims, or if they believe the authorities have no integrity. Minbo doesn't have Inoue doesn't work with any inherent justice in the law. She works with people.
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