the movie is as exciting as banking can get...yes there is a "gangster" and mafia feel to it and Koji Yakusho, Tatsuya Nakadai, and Mayumi Wakamura really give great performances but that is the problem...the best scenes are the ones with Tatsuya Nakadai in them and that's because he's a great actor -but- the story, based on actual events, just doesn't captivate the audience...and the tragedy of one the characters just didn't draw any emotion---if you know alot about modern Japan then this movie is for you (and I'm sure the story will be more relevant to you) but in my case I have only seen the creme of the crop of Japanese cinema from the 50s, 60s and 70s and I just plain never understood the roots of the Asian economic crisis so I just felt this movie was lacking.