Etymology
The title refers to the post-war yakuza's lack of jingi, a Japanese term loosely translated as "honor and humanity". Previous yakuza movies had, for the most part, been tales of chivalry set in pre-war Japan. It is also a parody of an ancient Chinese fable about a foolish king who respected honor and humanity too much in a war and consequently lost his kingdom. A commercial and critical success, Battles Without Honor and Humanity portrayed a darker and more cynical world, and set the stage for much subsequent Japanese cinema.
In the western market it is also known under the titles:
- Battles Without Honour and Humanity (Canada)
- Tarnished Code of Yakuza (Australia)
- War Without a Code
- The Yakuza Papers
Read more about this topic: Battles Without Honor And Humanity
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)