Pigs and Battleships 1961

The film centers on Kinta, a loyal member of the Himori Yakuza, who is tasked with overseeing the gang’s pork distribution, and his girlfriend Haruko, a bartender who longs for a life beyond the criminal underworld. Through a gritty web of alliances and pressure, Kinta collaborates with other gangsters to hustle a local shop that caters to Americans and to compensate workers on the hog farm. When he visits [Haruko] in the afternoon, she leaves without speaking, and he learns from her sister that she has been paid 30,000 yen to go on a date with a sailor, money her mother has already spent. [Haruko] returns that night and reveals she is pregnant, voicing fears about the risks of Kinta’s line of work. The scene is depicted with a quiet, unsettling realism that sets the tone for the stubborn pull of loyalty and desire.

Early the next morning, another gangster meets with Kinta, and they set out by small boat to a larger vessel where they load the body of a man who ran afoul of the gang. They must decide who will take the blame, and Kinta reluctantly contemplates being the fall guy. [Haruko] faces a harsh choice as abortion becomes a possibility; the doctor charges extra because the Yakuza have money. A few days later, the body washes up on the wharf and is found by Kinta’s father, triggering a tense confrontation. Kinta’s father suspects foul play after noticing his son’s dirty feet, and a struggle erupts. [Haruko] pushes Kinta to abandon the gang and flee with her, but he refuses, insisting he does not want to be a “wage slave.”

Meanwhile, [Ohachi] arrives to help dispose of the body by burying it on the pig farm, underscoring the brutal pragmatism that governs the organization. The boss, [Himori], grows wary of internal rivals, and the fragile balance of power within the group becomes more precarious as [Tetsuji] appears to be a catalyst for simmering tensions. A celebratory gathering is arranged, filled with drinking, games, and a roasted pig, as the violence roils beneath the surface. The revelation that the body’s disposal may have been botched adds another layer of strain to the already fragile hierarchy. The atmosphere at the party hints at an impending collapse, where loyalty can be bought, sold, or broken in an instant.

As the feasting continues, Ohachi discloses a more disturbing truth: he boiled the body and fed it to the pigs, a revelation that shocks the others and hints at the depths of the gang’s depravity. The illness of a key figure tightens the noose around the organization, with Tetsuji becoming gravely ill and hospital-bound, while the boss contends with a three-day prognosis that forces hard decisions. In the shadows, a gangster named Wang arrives with ambiguous intentions, and the knowledge that the boss’s time is short adds urgency to every move. The mounting pressure exposes the fragility of the Himori faction and foreshadows a final, explosive reckoning.

Haruko’s growing restlessness leads her to a party with sailors, where she is swept into a world of loud, drunken Americans. A moment of clarity comes when she attempts to leave, but she is assaulted; she later faces jail before her family retrieves her. The film does not shy away from portraying the brutal consequences of exploitation, and Haruko’s traumatic experience is framed as a turning point that intensifies the pressure on Kinta and the rest of the gang. Her family’s hopes—rooted in American life—are juxtaposed with her own evolving decision about where she belongs, a tension that keeps rippling through every scene.

Financial desperation gnaws at the Himori faction, pushing Kinta and a few allies toward a last-ditch plan to load the pigs onto trucks and take the money themselves. In a tense turn of events, Kinta goes to the pig farm to meet Haruko and the two conceive a plan to escape together after selling the pigs. Yet Himori arrives ahead of his rivals, seizes control of the operation, and assaults Kinta, forcing the others to follow. A volatile standoff ensues downtown as Kinta’s friends confront Himori and the betrayal crystallizes into outright mutiny. This time, Kinta refuses to be sidelined, and he uses a rifle found earlier on the truck to fend off the assailants. The suddenly divided gang is further destabilized when Tetsuji, who had previously sought help, arrives with Wang; counterfeit money issues complicate everyone’s risk, and the plan to protect the boss unravels.

In the climactic chaos, Kinta orders the trucks to release the pigs, a desperate bid to disrupt the power grab and regain control. He is shot by one of the gangsters, and when he returns fire, the stampede of terrified pigs sweeps through the scene, devastating the remaining Himori members. The immediate threat ends with Kinta’s death at the train station’s edge, a moment that reverberates through Haruko’s world. She learns of the infighting and hurries downtown, only to find his lifeless body.

In the aftermath, Haruko’s family remains convinced that life with the Americans offers a brighter future, and they push her toward opportunities with Gordon, the American businessman. Yet Haruko’s resolve is changing; she decides to strike out on her own and heads to Kawasaki to seek work with her uncle. The film closes on a stark, nearly mythic image: as Haruko wipes away makeup at the edge of a seashore, an American aircraft carrier rolls into port and a bus full of young Japanese women waves to the sailors. She walks past them and boards a train out of town, leaving behind the old life while the sea and the distant ships promise possibilities that may or may not come true.