The early 1970s in Japan saw the emergence of a new genre of yakuza movies. The classic tales representing the yakuza’s code had served its purpose, and soon, films started to depict something more cruel, more violent. People loved it, so studios adopted the trend. The perfect example is Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle without honor and humanity–the title says all! These films really turned values upside down, paving the way for other nihilistic crime thrillers.
Among them, Outlaw Cop, directed by Yusuke Watanabe, it’s his only film. About a cop working so hard to catch yakuza that his wife leaves him for some guy. Who turns out to be… a yakuza. Unable to stand this situation anymore, the hustand decides to turn in his badge & to seek vengeance. With recently-deceased actor Yoshio Harada. NSFW. Read more…
Earlier this year, we pointed out some nice independent Japanese anime works, just to keep in mind that there are some talented artists working outside the mainstream-studios system. That animation in Japan isn’t limited to moe productions – creating fictional desire for cute characters, or Ghibli-like movies. So here’s one more example!
TOWER is an inventive little piece of animation, one could say it’s reflecting in all its glory the power of Art, how it directly affects people from the inside & what’s happening. The kind of short film really demonstrating how animation can be effective to create colorful visuals, allowing the artist to express freely his imagination. Directed by Shoko Takada, enjoy! Read more…
Recently released on DVD as part of the Nikkatsu studio’s 100th anniversary celebrations, here’s another rare gem coming from Japanese director Ko Nakahira, we previously mentioned him in our presentation of one of his (many) Nikkatsu films, Danger Paws with Joe Shishido.
The Black Gambler is the sixth film of the Gambler series, one of the popular franchise in the mid-1960s in Japan, starring actor Akira Kobayashi (was the lead in Suzuki’s Tattoed Life) Mas a James Bond-like hero. But it seems, the only connection between the films is the theme/genre. In this episode, it’s about a gambler playboy “seeking revenge against an international gambling organization using his charm and unparalleled gambling skills“. Read more…
With the 100th anniversary of Japanese studio Nikkatsu in 2012, some rare films are finally getting a proper DVD release, in Japan at least. Among these restored films, Danger Paws directed by Ko Nakahira, who is mostly known in the West for Crazed Fruit, a fresh & surprising film about the wealthy but bored youth in the late 1950s.
Danger Paws is quite different, it’s the story of a “couple of crooks stealing nearly one billion yen worth of watermarked paper used to print bills“, starring Joe Shishido as the lead character. With director Nakahira revealing (once again) his talent for visual composition – some amazing shots in this trailer -, while playing with different genres; hard-boiled yakuza film, comedy, drama… Wondering why it was kept hidden so long on a shelf somewhere. Read more…
The kind of film forgotten by time. During the 60s & 70s, many widely popular comedies were produced by major studios, starring famous music-comic groups of that era. Basically, you watched these groups on TV, or heard them on the radio, and then, you went to see them on the silver screen. Remember, this was a difficult time for japanese cinema studios, so quality wasn’t always the first issue, as long as people bought their tickets.
The Crazy Cats was one of these groups, and among their film parodies, there’s Kureji no nagurikomi Shimizu Minato. It’s their take on the tale of Jirocho Shimizu, which is kind of a Japanese Robin Hood-like figure, a respected swordsman-gambler who stole from the evil guys & helped the poor, good people. Expect overacting, fun yet not subtle gags – loved the short sword surprise, and puns. The title seems to be translated as “Shimizu raid of Crazy“. Enjoy! Read more…
An early 60s thriller from the director of Sword of Doom, Kihachi Okamoto, exploring here industrial espionage – the theme was quite popular at that time, as Japan was soon to become an economic power, with (large) companies entirely reshaping the country. Industrial competition was one of the effect of the “economic miracle”.
Blueprint for Murder is about a manufacturer supervisor whose brother, a car tester, was mysteriously killed. Along with a reporter friend, he decides to investigate the case, setting foot in the dangerous world of greedy white collars. As one could expect from Okamoto, it looks visually stunning, with great cameraworks, and an interesting use of colors. Read more…
