What Asian Films Have You Been Watching Recently?

[AngelGuts]

Thanks once again, Takuma, for zooming back with a bunch of amazing reviews.

I'm really fixated (have been for a while) on seeing Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: The Truth About Kanto Life.

Chivalrous Woman: I Request Shelter sounds fascinating, too.

[Takuma]

Chivalrous Third Generation (遊侠三代) (Japan, 1966) [TV] - 2.5/5
Tatsuo Umemiya in talkative ninkyo film that loses its focus to a multitude of characters. It smells of a novel adaptation, though to the best of my knowledge isn't. The setting is immediately post war in 1945. Umemiya belongs to a trucking company / gang whose enemy has teamed up with prominent military figures. Tsuruta runs a restaurant and offers help, while Ryotaro Tatsumi is the evil gang's tool with a secret connection to Umemiya. Lots of talk ensues, with little action. The ending, which unusually shows the aftermath of the carnage and comes with heavy religious (Christian) thematics, however, is so unusual and rewarding that it alone makes the film somewhat worthwhile. Side note: Umemiya also sings the theme song, as was common for ninkyo leads in the 60s.

Three Ex-Con Brothers (懲役三兄弟) (Japan, 1969) [TV] – 4/5
A very entertaining post-war ninkyo tale set in an onsen town. Bunta Sugawara and Kyosuke Machida star as mischievous but ultimately honourable punks (Ryoji Hayama is the less featured 3rd brother) who go against Tatsuo Endo and Bin Amatsu's awesomely dressed Chinese gangsters. It all feels very “early 70s” with a breezy, humoristic touch, despite having come out during the peak of the old school 60s ninkyo wave. For a film somewhat stuck between two eras, and is frankly nothing profound storywise, this is however spectacularly enjoyable. There's a nice laidback touch to the entire film, and a sense of hanging out with characters. Sugawara, starring in his only second lead role at Toei (the first one was in Modern Yakuza, released three months earlier) is clearly eager to establish himself as a new leading man. He and Machida both play it fresh and reckless, setting themselves apart from the more stoic Ken Takakura. Speaking of Takakura, he and Tomisaburo Wakayama both appear as quest star, and are as good as ever. Great film and one of the best of its kind: laidback but heartfelt, with plenty of humour but none of the routine filler that similar lightweight Toei pictures from the early 70s often come with. P.S., this also know as “Brothers Serving Time”, a misleading title considering the film’s prison segment comes right in the beginning and lasts less than five minutes.



Rogue's Self-Sacrifice (捨て身のならず者) (Japan, 1970) [TV] – 2.5/5
Takakura is a newspaper reporter who gets framed and jailed after snooping too close to the yakuza. Years later he's out for revenge. Good start, with Takakura for once not playing a yakuza despite this being a contemporary yakuza film! But the film soon runs out of steam. Unable to pursue his vengeance for a certain reason, Takakura goes alcoholic and meets Mie Hama, a woman whose father may have been to blame for Takakura's misery. Takakura then does some more snooping and has some more run-ins with gangsters, but ultimately nothing very exciting happens. It's still an alright film, but the opening promised more. P.S. this is not related to the 1968 Takakura film “Rogue” in any way.

Chivalrous Woman: I Request Shelter (女渡世人　おたの申します) (Japan, 1971) [35mm] – 4.5/5
Kosaku Yamashita's late ninkyo masterpiece strips the genre of its trademark romanticism and leaves its characters emotionally drained. Junko Fuji plays a female gambler who travels to another town to deliver a fellow gambler's ashes to his parents - and to collect the dead man's debt from them. The father is a noble man looking after townspeople and his blind wife. They are quick to catch who Fuji really is, and that how she's directly related to their son's death (he was killed after losing to Fuji and drawing his sword in desperation), but they treat her with utmost politeness as per etiquette. Fuji sympathises with them and attempts to help the best she can against the local yakuza, however, her every attempt at doing something good results in the opposite. There's a great scene where she helps the local women by kicking some yakuza ass, but to her surprise the mindless violence she just displayed isn't met with admiration but disgust and distrust. "The yakuza are like flowers that bloom in the shadows. Try it in daylight and you will only bring misery to yourself" says honourable companion Bunta Sugawara to crying Fuji. Fuji probably delivers her best acting performance here, especially evident in the many quieter scenes where she goes through emotional despair unseen in any other ninkyo film. Kyosuke Machida is another standout as a gray area companion who might be friend or foe, as is nearly unrecognizable sex starlet Yoko Mihara as prejudiced villager. The film's only weaknesses are some unnecessary comic relief in the beginning, and a rather abrupt jump cut near the end where Yamashita probably tried to break away from genre conventions but didn’t quite nail it.



Angry Cobra: Kill the Witness (怒れ毒蛇　目撃者を消せ) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] – 3/5
Frequent Shaw Bros. collaborator Umetsugu Inoue was in the right place at the right time with this cop / karate actioner, which reached the theatres just two weeks after The Street Fighter had initiated the domestic karate film boom. It’s not anywhere near as great, but it is an entertaining b-class affair on its own. Former Daiei star and university karate alumni Jiro Tamiya stars as karate-skilled Dirty Harry assigned to protect a witness. What follows is a sloppily written detective tale with karate, car chases, bare breasts, and some wonderfully hammy dialogue ("You're not human. You're... you're a cobra!). Tamiya's martial arts form seems a bit off, but his kicks and punches actually look powerful, which makes it a lot of fun to watch. There's also occasional creativity to the action, such as a major martial arts sequence set on top of a snowy mountain, a villain with a blade arm, and a climax set in a hospital. Now, as mentioned Inoue spent much of his late 60s and early 70s helming films at the Shaw Brothers. However, he wasn't making action pictures but mainly musicals. And here he is back in Japan at the venerable Shochiku studios who excelled at many things, but not necessarily at modern action (Teruo Ishii has been quite vocal about this). So the time and place might have been right, but the studio and genre knowledge perhaps a bit off, explaining some of the evident but amusing sloppiness. For a more serious and karate-free take on similar topic, see Toho’s Wild Cop films (1973) with Tetsuya Watari.

P.S. There’s an English dubbed VHS print on YouTube. On a quick glance, it seems to be missing all the nude scenes from the Japanese version. It also runs 5 minutes shorter, though that might be mainly due to PAL conversion.

[unclefred]

i watched Ran for the umpteenth time. The Beast and the Magic Sword, Paul Naschy.

[Takuma]

Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity (兄弟仁義) (Japan, 1966) [TV] – 3.5/5
A ninkyo yakuza vehicle for young enka singer Saburo Kitajima, whose 1965 hit song served as the basis. Somewhat unexpectedly, this grew into a seminal yakuza film series with nine instalments until 1971. The start was more modest, however, the first film being produced as black & white supporting feature to the fifth Abashiri Prison picture, and Kitajima only given the 2nd billing after box office insurance Hiroki Matsukata (Koji Tsuruta gets the prestigious guest star billing). This film sets the series’ theme immediately with an opening sakazuki scene (cup exchange / yakuza brotherhood ceremony) that would be followed by many more in the sequels. Kitajima is a gambler rascal who gets caught cheating in the gambling table, but pleads honourable boss Hideo Murata to free him for three days so he could complete his quest to reunite with long lost mother. Murata, upright successor Matsukata and wanderer Tsuruta stake their honour and business to grant him his wish, while rotten rival boss Toru Abe sees an opportunity to hijack their hot springs operations. Future genre master Kosaku Yamashita helms the film – the series provided him with an opportunity to hone his skills (*) – with his trademark eye for giri / ninjo (duty vs. compassion) conflict mixed with big emotions. The finesse of his later masterworks may not quite be here, and the script cuts some corners, but there’s not much to complain besides that. Kitajima isn’t the most charismatic lead, but he has slightly punkish out-of-the-left-field appeal. A solid genre entry.

* Yamashita had been directing since 1961, including some high profile pictures for Kinnosuke Nakamura, but he had not quite become the in-demand top tier director he’d later be known as. Prior to this film he had only directed 9 films in 5 years, whereas a few years later he’d be turning out near similar numbers of films annually.



Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity 2 (続兄弟仁義) (Japan, 1966) [TV] – 3/5
Switch to colour. A higher budgeted sequel to the black & white original, though still paired with yet another Abashiri Prison film. Kitajima redeems his well earned first billing this time as the film's lone lead, with Tsuruta and Murata providing the usual support. They play different characters than in the previous film, as they would in the subsequent films. Kitajima is a yakuza who comes to aid Minoru Oki and his clan to make an honest living in the construction business, but rotten gambling boss Hosei Komatsu starts making trouble until the boss of bosses Murata interferes. Yamashita continues as the director, but he and screenwriter Akira Murao seem to be on autopilot. They handle the film with professionalism and deliver an entirely passable ninkyo film, but there's no particular passion or inspiration evident on screen. Added comedy relief and a filler kid character don't really help. Two thirds into the film it however comes alive big time with a great sakazuki scene and the usual bloody end rampage. Not a bad movie despite its shortcomings, but probably the least accomplished entry in the series.

Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: Three Brothers from the Kanto District (兄弟仁義　関東三兄弟) (Japan, 1966) [TV] – 3.5/5
Part 3. Kitajima is a slightly reckless, but good hearted punk who allies with a decent yakuza clan who are looking after the local fishermen. He and clansman Kotaro Satomi eventually become sworn brothers in one of the most touching and visually stylish sakazuki scenes in any ninkyo film. Bad guys Tatsuo Endo and Tomisaburo Wakayama (who is terrific as egocentric boss looking down at everyone) resort to deadly violence, resulting in an even more memorable posthumous sakazuki ceremony involving one of our now-dead heroes. Third brother Koji Tsuruta comes to aid in his usual, but this time rather poorly justified guest role. Honourable but affiliated with the villains Hideo Murata fares much better and gets one of the film's best scenes when he has to choose sides. The ending delivers a typically good massacre, preceded by probably the only instance of ninkyo heroes wearing full rainwear (hat included) that I can recall ever seeing! Admittedly this little detail may not be fully appreciated by anyone but the most ardent genre fans. All in all, this is quite a good film, with director Yamashita's beautifully romantic and old fashioned ninkyo aesthetics and a number of great scenes compensating for what is otherwise a relatively standard tale.



Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: Return of the Three Brothers from the Kanto District (兄弟仁義　続・関東三兄弟) (Japan, 1967) [TV] – 3/5
Part 4. This is probably the most uneven film in the series, with several good set pieces that don’t quite come together. The tale opens in spring with cherry trees in full bloom. Kitajima is a member of a decent gang who gets in fights with less honourable rivals. As the situation escalates out of control, Kitajima alone takes responsibility, departs with his finger, and takes a hike. A great matatabi montage follows, only to be over in two minutes (a missed opportunity for sure, as this could have lead the series to fresh paths). We then jump forward in time by exactly two years, so it’s the cherry blossom season once again! Kitajima is back with his gang, and the film is back to ground zero. This time he has to watch out for a civilian-turned avenger whose yakuza father got killed in an earlier nagurikomi scene. Unfortunately this character is soon forgotten and only brought back for the climax (another missed opportunity here). The series’ trademark sakazuki scenes however come in plenty, and are as good as one would expect. There’s probably no need to mention about the cherry trees adding to the film’s visual appeal. But the title does require some clarification. Despite being called “Return of the Three Brothers…”, none of the three brothers from the previous film return. It’s just the same actors in different roles. It didn’t matter; it was just 1960s Japanese marketing business as usual.



Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: The Truth About Kanto Life (兄弟仁義　関東命知らず) (Japan, 1967) [TV] – 4/5
Part 5. This is the best film in the series! Kitajima is a small time punk who arrives in Yokohama in hopes of making easy money. He and his thugs go against Kyosuke Machida's honourable dock worker clan on rotten rival Toru Abe's behalf. Kitajima is of course being used by Abe, and eventually comes to realize that, but it is nevertheless a novelty to see a ninkyo protagonist play for the evil team for a relatively long time. It's a terrific role for Kitajima, who gets to be both reckless and noble in the course of the film. That mix seemed ideal for him, considering his slight lack of charisma which had to be compensated with a bit of punkiness. Guest star Tsuruta is even better as lighting fast knife fighter Killer Choji, who does a seriously cool entry halfway into the film. If the film and other characters weren’t as well written and directed as they are, Tsuruta would steal the entire show. Much thanks goes to the script which is exceptional: heartfelt, rich in characterization, and full of small unexpected story developments while still delivering all the expected ninkyo goods, including a superb, ceremonial sakazuki scene. The climatic nagurikomi is also excellent, with the small and spirited Kitajima moving through the enemy masses like a tornado. Director Kosaku Yamashita, Toei's perhaps best ninkyo director and particularly skilled at handling complex webs of conflicting obligations among characters, is in his element here. This was his fifth and last contribution to the series; the remaining four movies would be handled by other directors.



Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: Kanto Big Brother (兄弟仁義 関東兄貴分) (Japan, 1967) [TV] – 3.5/5
Part 6. This is considered the best in the series by some fans, Chris. D included. It is certainly good, though perhaps not as enjoyable as the previous entry. Kitajima is a rather cold, somewhat tempered clansman sent to chase down a young brothel runaway couple. They seek shelter from a yakuza-gone-straight inn owner Hideo Murata, who is being targeted by local bastard Bin Amatsu who wants to set up a gambling den in his premises. Guest star Tsuruta wanders into the picture as Murata’s wife’s ex-lover who was thought to be dead. This was the first film in the series after Yamashita departed, with Sadao Nakajima taking over. It comes out as sombre, humourless tragedy set against the political turmoil of the mid Taisho era with historical events frequently referred to in passing. But the film’s script is also its weak point, with too much reliance on coincidences that allow writers Akira Murao and Norifumi Suzuki to cut some corners. Curiously, themes of yakuza brotherhood are downplayed and there are no series trademark sakazuki scenes. Chris D. compared this film to the works of Tai Kato, and that’s not a bad comparison as far as the tone goes. Visually the film is quite accomplished, moving between indoor sets and brutally beautiful winter outdoors. But the film doesn’t quite reach the energy, the intensity (of giri vs. ninjo), or the old fashioned charm of Yamashita’s best entries.



Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: Loyalty Offering on Brink of Adversary (兄弟仁義 逆縁の盃) (Japan, 1968) [TV] – 3.5/5
Part 7. This entry was helmed by none other than Norifumi Suzuki during his ninkyo era (he was involved in several mid-tier projects as director, and in many top-tier films as screenwriter). It’s a very enjoyable film with perhaps lower artistic ambitions than the previous film. What it loses in art and politics, it makes back in pure entertainment. Unusually for a ninkyo film, the tale explodes into action from the first frame, with Kitajima slicing and dicing his way through an enemy gang. He then takes a hike rather than giving himself in, taking the opportunity to go looking for his long lost mother in a plot thread that is essentially a remake/adaptation of “In Search of Mother”. The road takes him to a small town that has become a battle front between industrial evil Nobuo Kaneko and noble Minoru Oki, whose clan sides with the townspeople. Tatsuo Endo is cast hilariously against type as nerdy lab rat examining water pollution levels and trying not get killed on the job. This is very much a Suzuki film, from his trademark authority jabs to silly but surprisingly funny comedic relief, and of course plenty of melodrama. It's also a pretty good ninkyo film dealing with friendship and conflicting duties between men. Tomisaburo Wakayama emerges as the film's highlight as a conflicted, lightning fast swordsman affiliated with evil Kaneko, but slowly figuring out he might be playing for the wrong team.



New Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity (新兄弟仁義) (Japan, 1970) [TV] – 3/5
A partial reboot with Bunta Sugawara taking over the lead role. Kitajima is still on board as a supporting player. Righteous Sugawara is one of boss Ichiro Sugai’s lieutenants, who goes to prison for taking out a rival boss. His hopes of washing his feet (or going straight, as normal people would put it) go up in smoke when upon returning he is awarded the successor’s role by the elderly oyabun, much to the dismay of the boss’ corrupt son and other lieutenants Toru Abe and Nenji Kobayashi. Unsurprisingly, the three bad eggs start plotting Sugawara’s downfall. This is a pretty good ninkyo film, but it feels a little out of place in this series without Kitajima in the lead or the excessive male bonding of the early films. There may be a very logical explanation to this: unlike the previous films which were original scripts, this is actually an adaptation of a Shinji Fujiwara novel. The resulting film is pretty solid, and lacks bigger mishaps like dumb comedy, but it’s also void of true highlights. For a genre fanatic there is some fun to be had from seeing Sugawara as a very mind mannered ninkyo protagonist. Although it wasn’t by any means his only appearance or even only lead role in a ninkyo film, he was nevertheless being aggressively branded as “modern yakuza” by Toei’s marketing department ever since his first Toei lead role in 1969, and this role is quite the opposite of that.

Brotherhood's Honor and Humanity: Chivalry (関東兄弟仁義　仁俠) (Japan, 1971) [TV] – 3/5
Part 9. This movie basically pretends the previous entry never happened by dropping the “Shin / New” from its title and reinstating Saburo Kitajima in the lead role. However, the film still feels a little different from the older entries. Kitajima is a quieter, more cynical and almost blood-thirsty hero who takes a long time to come to realize that his foe Kyosuke Machida isn’t actually a bad man. Machida, who gets the film’s meatiest role, plays a dishonest gambler whose conman tactics are actually a way to feed a child and a mother whose father/husband he killed in front of their eyes several years earlier. The film benefits from a solid script by Koji Takada (his only for the series) and plenty of gambling (oddly enough, this not a given in many gambler films), even if director Buichi Saito doesn’t have the style and characterization skills of Kosaku Yamashita. It makes for a pretty satisfying ending for what is, perhaps surprisingly, one of Toei’s most consistently good yakuza film series. Oh and as a side note, here we finally have it, a Toei ninkyo film that put the word “ninkyo” into its title (Kanto kyodai jingi: Ninkyo).

[Takuma]

Police Department Story 18: Mysterious Red Phone (警視庁物語 謎の赤電話) (Japan, 1962) [TV] - 3/5
One of the better entries in the series, though sans Chiba who departed after the previous three entries. The detectives are after a kidnapper who is holding a child for ransom. It's their second try after failing to save the previous kid. As one might have guessed from the title, this film digs into phone call tracing, long before computers could do it. It's a good entry but what really makes it is the thrilling last 10 minutes. The climax, rich in both atmosphere and almost documentry like street footage, sees the detectives tailing the suspect on foot on city streets and subways in the Tokyo night.



Police Department Story 19: Landfill (警視庁物語 19号埋立地) [TV] - 3/5
This is structurally very similar to the previous film, which premiered 5 weeks earlier and was filmed by the exact same crew, almost certainly back to back. The premise is a dead body discovered at a construction site. What follows is a relatively standard detective affair with one original idea / theme (civilians who unintentionally or on purpose disturb the police with misleading or irrelevant information) before a very good interrogation room climax that dials the drama gear up to 11.

Police Department Story 20: Backing Investigation (警視庁物語 ウラ付け捜査) (Japan, 1963) [TV] - 3/5
A drunken man jailed for dine and dash catches a guard's attention when he babbles in his sleep and appears be talking about an unsolved murder case. He's taken to the central police station for further questioning, where he soon confesses... except that his confession doesn't seem to hold water since many of the smaller details are incorrect. An interesting if extremely talkative entry. This has probably more "talking heads" scenes than any other film in the series, until the last act which is surprisingly set in snowy Akita. At 58 minutes the film doesn't outstay its welcome, however. Hajime Sato (Goke: Body Snatcher from Hell) directs.

Police Department Story 21 (警視庁物語 十代の足どり) (Japan, 1963) [TV] - 3/5
A high school girl's body is discovered by a river. The culprit appears to be one of her fellow students or friends. This entry, in contrast to the talkative and indoor-bound previous film, features a lot more outdoor locations. It’s also feels a little different from the rest of the films in the series for focusing so clearly on the youth, and coming with a bit more melodramatic touch than most. Director Hajime Sato does little to romanticize the world the youngsters live in, evident already from a lot of the investigation taking place on seedy streets absolutely full of porno and strip club ads.

Police Department Story 22 (警視庁物語 全国縦断捜査) (Japan, 1963) [TV] - 3.5/5
Another strong 60s entry - the late films in the series were generally better than the early ones. This film also somewhat ushers the series to a new era. Opening with an unusually brutal killing shown in detail and then proceeding with a nationwide manhunt, this has a strong, gritty docudrama feeling. The best segment takes place in US occupied Okinawa where the documentary touch is especially strong. Throughout the film there’s also a highly effective mix of wide shots and tight close-ups. None of that is necessarily new in the series, but the intensity is now in line with the various other hard hitting Japanese gangster, crime and samurai films that begun deconstructing cinemic myths around 1963-1964. Oh, and one odd thing: young Hideo Murota appears briefly, but is voiced by someone else (he might have been too hungover to record his own voice – just a guess). One of the best, and longest at 82 min, entries in the series.



Police Department Story 23: Confession (警視庁物語 自供) (Japan, 1964) [TV] – 2.5/5
This one starts out much like any other entry in the series, with a dead man floating in a river. But what awaits at the end is a family tragedy sobbing marathon that would not be out of place in a domestic drama made for housewives. Here it may be, as touching as it is. Coming in the heels of the gritty and modern part 22, this feels strangely dated and regressive in comparison. Newcomer Michio Konishi (who debuted earlier in 1964) helms the picture otherwise competently, but without particular energy or personal touch. The running time is back to 58 minutes after the longer than usual part 22.

Police Department Story 24: Missing (警視庁物語 行方不明) (Japan, 1964) [TV] – 2.5/5
A slightly different premise this time as there is no dead body or confirmed crime. Two company employees are reported to have gone missing without a trace. The police have to investigate their personal backgrounds to try to figure out what might have happened. This was the last film in the series. It concludes the saga on a rather talkative, low-key note, and probably wasn't intended as a conclusion. The chances are further films just didn't materialize, probably due to television having become a more suitable medium for these type of short detective tales (this one runs 58 min). Indeed, most of the films in the series were later re-edited into a TV series prior to an actual TV show follow-up called Keiji-san in 1965.

[Takuma]

Shogoro Nishimura x 3

Fearless Comrades (不敵なあいつ) (Japan, 1966) [VoD] – 3/5
The man with the guitar is back. This plays out much like a follow-up to Akira Kobayashi's earlier Wandering Guitarist and its sequels. Kobayashi is a musical yakuza who breaks up with his gang after growing sick with their inhuman practices. He arrives in a new town and finds work in a hotel / bar, but of course they are also harrassed by the local yakuza. The owner's daughter takes a liking in Kobayashi, as you'd expect. Kobayashi is also accompanied by a side-kick guitarist, who is a complete idiot! This is another good Shogoro Nishimura film, but also a reminder why he never gained much critical acclaim. He was a skilled technician capable of bringing tremendous entertainment to the screen, as well as just serviceable films. But he rarely made a number of himself behind the camera. He didn’t have many trademarks, concurring themes or messages. This film is a Kobayashi show inside out, with little indicating Nishimura of all people stood behind the camera. It suffers from lack of originality & stand-out scenes, but still works just fine as a slick, harmless time waster. Three sequels followed.

Hawk of the Harbour (波止場の鷹) (Japan, 1967) [VoD] – 3/5
Hardly innovative but otherwise decent Nikkatsu Mood Action with Yujiro Ishihara as the head of a small shipping company who gets harassed by the yakuza. When he refuses to take part in their smuggling business, they try to force him and even get Ishihara’s sister killed. Stoic Ishihara resists resorting to violence to the point of the audience’s frustration. This is another pretty solid effort by invisible director Shogoro Nishimura. My review of the previous year's Nishimura film Fearless Comrades could be reused here with minor edits: this one could do with stronger finale, but the welcome lack of comedy evens things out. What this film really has going for it, besides the rock solid art direction expected from Nikkatsu films of this era, is heavyweight villain actor Toru Abe as Ishihara's loyal, short tempered employee. Though he wasn't always cast as bad guy, rotten yakuza bosses had become his bread and butter by the mid 60s to the extent that most genre film fans probably have never seen him play anything else. Here, in a rare good guy role, he gets to stretch his acting muscles a bit more than usual, which makes for delightful viewing for yakuza film fans.



Wandering Seagull: Night In Kushiro (さすらいかもめ 釧路の女) (1973) [VoD] - 2.5/5
Truck driver Kiyoshi Yoshida gives a ride to Junko Miyashita who is returning to her home town in Hokkaido. She's got a past, he's got a young hostess girlfriend Yuko Katagiri, and everyone is connected. Love, sex and drama in the Kushiro port town follows. This is one of Shogoro Nishimura's better Roman Porno films (almost none of which are as good as his earlier youth and gangster films from the 60s), a throwback to Nikkatsu's 60s youth cinema and perhaps even more to Toei's Song of the Night type of films depicting the young men and women of the night. It retains the thematics and fabulous art direction of those films, though with added boring sex and more hollow characters. Ultimately, however, the visuals, the setting and the solid ending are enough to make it worth a view.

Toei ninkyo x 3

Kanto Fight Challenge (関東果たし状) (Japan, 1965) [TV] – 2/5
Talkative, rather uneventful fourth entry in the Kanto series. The first 4 of the 5 films came out in 1965, making it one of the notable early works in the ninkyo genre. But you might argue the films were quite simplistic compared to some of the later, better pictures that had a more interesting obligation vs. humanity conflict in their core. This film goes some way in the right direction, with honourable clansman Tsuruta's closest friend Hiroyuki Nagato working for another gang under an evil oyabun. But not much comes out of it. Other highlights include blinded-by-dynamite Junko Fuji spending half of her scenes in black sunglasses and looking cool and ridiculous at the same time, and a dynamite packed clan-war action finale.

Chivalrous Man (渡世人) (Japan, 1967) [TV] - 3/5
One of the few ninkyo films starring Toei's playboy hustler Tatsuo Umemiya. He was usually found in less chivalrous pictures, though, oddly enough he also starred in Toei's most poetic ninkyo picture, Flower Cards Chivalry (1967) just 4 months prior to this. Chivalrous Man is a much more standard affair, made by different people, but is not without merits. More interesting than the chivalrous Umemiya are the unchivalrous Wakamayama and Tsuruta as a villain duo, the latter in particular playing a more compromised character than usual. The two are responsible for assassinating Umemiya's decent boss, though gunslinger Tsuruta later comes to regret what he's done. The unusual villain pairing alone carries the film once we get over the sluggish first third. One sequel followed later the same year.



Expelled by a Man’s Rivals (男涙の波門状) (Japan, 1967) [TV] – 3.5/5
Here is a solid ninkyo film with an unusual opening and a superb ending. Clansman Kyosuke Machida loses the gang’s money to a thieving friend, and is expelled by boss Kanjuro Arashi (usually playing more forgiving characters). It’s quite touching really and establishes an important supporting character. Star Koji Tsuruta doesn’t appear until 13 minutes into the film when he’s released from prison. He’s dismayed about his brother’s fate. Soon comes in the news that Arashi’s daughter (Teruo Ishii muse Masumi Tachibana) has run away to reunite with sweetheart Machida. Tsuruta immediately volunteers to go after them, eventually finding Machida in a coal mine working for benevolent boss Kenjiro Ishiyama, both of them harassed by rotten boss Bin Amatsu. Then we have the thief’s sister Hiroko Sakuramachi who falls in love with Tsuruta, and honourable nemesis Minoru Oki who saves Tsuruta so that he could kill him himself. There’s nice web of relationships and duty/honour conflicts, even if they are not as developed as in director Yamashita’s best films, and the drama runs somewhat out of steam after the first half. The musical score by Takeo Watanabe (Flower Cards Chivalry) is awesome in places and good in others. But the film really comes alive in the spectacular ending where Tsuruta kills more than two dozen men in pure rage. I’ve never seen him as deadly and furious in any other film. It’s one of the best choreographed, most exciting action climaxes in any ninkyo film.

[cryptkicker_5]

I've been trying to watch all of Hisayasu Satô's films, starting with Lolita Vibrator Torture (1987). He has a lot though; doubt I'll view them all.

[Takuma]

The Drifting Avenger (荒野の渡世人) (Japan, 1968) [TV] – 3/5
A Japanese western shot in Australia with a local supporting cast. Takakura is an immigrant gone lone avenger seeking justice for his dead parents. Not a highly rated movie, but it really isn't as bad as sometimes suggested. It's fun to see Takakura as a gunslinger alongside a cast made of Australians (plus one Turk), even if everyone is dubbed in Japanese, and at the very least the film should strike as quite exotic to casual viewers. It was not the only one of its kind, however, with the genre's output ranging from Fukasaku's localized Drifting Detective: Tragedy in Red Valley (1961) to Okamoto's shot-in-abroad East Meets West (1995), with many cowboy episodes in Key Hunter (1968-1973) in between. These were mostly drawing from old American westerns rather than the spaghetti westerns that influenced late 60s new wave directors like Hideo Gosha and Kazuo Ikehiro, and can appear quite rather dated nowadays. That is the case here too, but much of the silliness of the cowboy shenanigans is offset by the dead-serious revenge tale where every kill, even the justified ones committed by the hero, leave a mourning wife or an orphaned kid behind.



Rogue (ごろつき) (Japan, 1968) [TV] – 3.5/5
This is a surprisingly breezy and enjoyable ninkyo film. Country bumpkins Takakura and Sugawara head to Tokyo to become kickboxers. Neither have experience, and both are fish out of water in the big city, not having even washed their faces after leaving coal mines. But they’re in luck when they befriend benevolent ex-boss Kenjiro Ishiyama and gym owner Minoru Oki (whose ring is populated by real kickboxers in minor roles, such as Tadashi Sawamura and Isao Fujimoto). Takakura eventually becomes a kickboxer (who is barely seen doing any kickboxing). The film doesn’t really become a yakuza movie until 50 min into the tale when gangster Fumio Watanabe pulls the boys down the usual ninkyo trail, leading to a satisfying katana massacre at the end. What’s best about the film, however, is its sense of laidback fun that many ninkyo films lack. My favourite part comes when Ken and Bunta earn pocket money by performing songs in bars. Ken does the vocals, Bunta plays the guitar. They perform both the Abashiri Prison and the Brutal Tales of Chivalry themes. There’s also a part where Bunta loses his part time job as caretaker after mistreating a dog’s balls (yes, you read that correct)! Thankfully none of that plays out as mere throwaway gags, but rather as humoristic bits of characterization that contributes to a larger dramatic but breezy narrative. This is all the more surprising coming from director Masahiro “ten litres of tears” Makino, whose yakuza films tend to be full of sobbing and heavy handed melodrama.



Rogue Wanderer (ごろつき無宿) (Japan, 1971) [TV] - 2.5/5
Country bumping coal miner Takakura makes his way to Tokyo, joins rotten Watanabe's construction company. He later switches team to benevolent Shimura's tekiya family upon realizing how Watanabe's gang is exploiting the locals and even cause the death of a little boy's father, something Takakura indirectly contributed to. Long, but not bad modern day ninkyo film by Yasuo Furuhata (though the era seems almost irrelevant). Takakura is in his element as kind, honourable common man burdened by guilt. His interactions with the locals and the little boy are quite good, and the musical score by Toei / Daiei composer Takeo Watanabe is solid (and slightly resembles his incredible work in Flower Cards Chivalry). But in the end, the film is just ok. There's nothing particularly memorable about it that hasn't been done better in many other ninkyo films. It should also be mentioned that despite sharing the title and again featuring Takakura as coal miner heading to Tokyo, this is not really related to the earlier film Rogue (1968).

Nostalgic Lullaby (望郷子守唄) (Japan, 1972) [TV] – 1.5/5
There are few badly made films in Toei's ninkyo line-up. They were all studio productions helmed by seasoned professionals. But this one is exceptionally weak and far-fetched, borderline laughable. Takakura is a tattooed yakuza and a mama's boy sent to military service, where he spends the film's first 30 min getting beaten by Rinichi Yamamoto. Then he's back on the streets, and to his old habits, much the dismay of his frequently, hysterically crying mother. Of course he later runs into Yamamoto again, now employed by evil yakuza, in a half-arsed attempt to justify the film's first 30 minutes and pretend it wasn't just a desperate attempt to bring something, anything, remotely fresh to a genre that had ran its course. Of course, even the yakuza + military hybrids had been done before and more devotedly by Daiei's Katsu (Hoodlum Soldier), Toei's Wakayama (Outlaw Corps) and even Takakura himself (Tattooed Ambush), though not quite as a pure ninkyo film like this.

Neo Chinpira : Zoom Goes the Bullet (ネオ チンピラ 鉄砲玉ぴゅ) (Japan, 1990) [TV] – 4/5
Breezy Toei V-Cinema gem with Sho Aikawa in his first starring role. Aikawa is an youngster in a gang whose senior members specialize in "zooming", or escaping their duties. Two of his bosses are assigned on a hit, but one "accidentally" puts a bullet in his stomach while riding roller coaster, and the other OD’s himself mad, leaving only Aikawa to carry out the job. He doesn't want to do it either, and ends up wasting copious amounts of time slacking with and banging his narcoleptic girlfriend (Robotrix's Chikako Aoyama). This is a much breezier film that one might expect, a deadpan yakuza satire with a genuinely cute romance in its core. It's also constantly clever, visually creative, very funny, and packs a hell of a cool rock soundtrack. Director Banmei Takahashi is a former pink film powerhouse who made a mainstream transition with Tattoo (1982), an awarded but depressing celebration of gray everyday misery. This film is much different. It somewhat resembles Nikkatsu's terrific late Roman Porno / Okinawa yakuza gem Burai no onna (1988), which has a similar storyline and oddly enough starred Hitoshi Ozawa, another to-be video star, in his first lead role.

[Takuma]

Denko karate uchi (電光空手打ち) (Japan, 1956) [VoD] – 2/5
Denko ryusei karate uchi (電光流星空手打ち) (Japan, 1956) [VoD] – 2/5
Ken Takakura's screen debut, following his admission into Toei ranks via the studio's annual New Faces program, came surprisingly enough in this pair of Okinawa karate films. The two-parter was released on Jan. 29, 1956 as two thirds of a triple feature also containing Kiyoshi Saeki's Samurai of the Great Earth. Both halves run just under one hour. The fighting is actually pretty good for the time, and it's fun to see Takakura as an impatient, bearded karate rascal. But there's not much vitality to the plot or storytelling. It comes out as rather bland as a whole.

Detective (刑事) (Japan, 1964) [TV] - 3/5
Though enjoying a more versatile image abroad, Tetsuro Tamba's name is almost synonymous with detective roles in his native country. This film was his first leading role as a detective. Tamba is here chasing a sex maniac who has kidnapped a woman who by coincidence turns out to be Tamba's little sister. That far-fetched twist aside this is a surprisingly low-key docudrama with plenty of time spent at the police station in frustration when there are simply no firm clues to follow: the kidnapper could be hiding anywhere, and trying to find his car is like looking for a needle in haystack. That doesn’t always make spectacular cinema, but the film is nevertheless solid and greatly increases intensity towards the end. Tamba is good, but it is Shinjiro Ehara as the nervous, socially inept and woman-hating kidnapper who stands out most in the cast. His character is featured extensively on screen as the film documents his evil doings, firmly placing the film in the grittier new wave of cinema that was emerging in Japan in the early/mid 60s (interestingly, that happened simultaneously with the rise of the fairytale-like ninkyo films).



Mud Dog (どろ犬) (Japan, 1964) [TV] - 4/5
Compromised cop Minoru Oki is feeding intelligence to reckless gangster acquaintance Ko Nishimura, who’s had him on a leash ever since learning about Oki bed-friending an arrested gangster's woman. But Oki's colleagues are starting to suspect something, and he needs to take increasingly drastic actions to cover his own ass. This is real a discovery in Toei's crime film catalogue. Adapted from a novel by Shoji Yuki (Fukasaku's Under the Flag of the Rising Sun) but reportedly even more nihilist than the source material, this is a gripping tale of a desperate cop turning into a beast, the kind of film that would more often be made in the 70s and after, with Oki in one of the best roles of his career. Nishimura is also excellent as blackmailing scum (the type of role he played better than anyone else), and Kunie Tanaka appears as his mentally challenged yakuza brother. The film starts out leisurely, but gets progressively more intense as Oki finds himself without a way out of the situation. Debut director Takaharu Saeki sadly never made another movie for Toei. He got caught up in a labour dispute and was unable to land directing jobs after angering the studio execs. He’d work for TV (including Toei) after the dust settled for two decades before making his second and last theatrical movie in 1984.



Exodus from Japan (Young Oh! Oh!) (ヤングおー！おー！ 日本のジョウシキでーす) (Japan, 1973) [VoD] - 1.5/5
"There is porno, there is gambling, there is action!" Toei sure knew how to advertise family entertainment to movie goers. This is essentially a 79 minute sketch marathon, a theatrical side-product of the popular TV variety show “Young Oh! Oh!” that ran from 1969 to 1982. Toei brought it to the big screen with comedians from the show's early years. There’s almost no plot beyond a bunch of comical twats wanting to escape Japan in search of a better life. Lots of stupid sketches follow. Some of the silliness might be considered action. And what about the porno? That would be Harumi Tajima and her frontal assets doing a couple of comedy nude scenes at the end. Needless to say the word "porno" was and still is used a lot more loosely in Japan than elsewhere. It was a trendy loan word that took Japan by storm in the early 70s, and was used to refer to almost any kind of erotic content… even in G-rated family entertainments like this.

The Dump Truck Rascal (ダンプ渡り鳥) (Japan, 1981) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Toei producer Shigeru Okada and Kanji Amao's failed attempt at creating a follow-up series to the hugely successful Truck Yaro (1975-1979). The focus is now on dump truck drivers instead of those flashy 70s dekotora vehicles and their drivers. And here lies the main difference between the two. We're now well into a new era, the decade of human drama and grey everyday reality, aimed men and housewives alike, and long past the outrageous action/comedy/melodrama roots of the Suzuki/Sugawara series. Also, director Ikuo Sekimoto does not have Suzuki’s skill at mixing fast action with genuinely touching drama, hence we end up with a long funeral / sobbing scene for someone we never cared much for. Toshio Kurosawa is the titular dump truck wanderer (of the film’s Japanese title) who takes dead pal's ashes back to wife Junko Miyashita in the snowy Hokkaido, then feels some inner need to abandon his truck and temporarily settle down in Hokkaido. Along came mentally unstable half-girlfriend Mieko Harada. Not bad, but regrettably 80s in the usual lacklustre ways. The best thing about the film is the extensive Hokkaido scenery (with constant snow storms) and 70s relic Tatsuo Umemiya as gun toting rival who goes hunting for bears alone! Also features a silly (Truck Yaro esque) Takeshi Kitano comedy bit in the beginning before the heavy drama takes over.

[ropo1]

That it's a 2 parter indeed seems like wrong information, i've got entire jmdb and more in my database and can quickly rule out that theres only a few pink films produced and or distributed by nikkatsu pre 1971.
Crossreferencing the cast and staff there isn't really anything matching other then the director did some lurid titles after this one such as "いちどは行きたい女風呂" 1970, which don't even have an imdb.

However there is a link between this "ある色魔の告白　色欲の果て", "女浮世風呂", "秘帳　女浮世草紙" that all 3 are pink films distributed by nikkatsu and produced by (青山プロ) Aoyama Pro.

And then there's the three "Frontline of the Night" 夜の最前線 serie all directed by Motomu Ida which pretty much covers nikkatsus pre roman porno pink films, fill me in if i missed anything but i don't think so.

[AngelGuts]

Thanks for the poster art and screen captures, Takuma.

[Takuma]

I did mis-read it. :-( Thanks for clarifying. Can't find art/poster for the film you saw. Very obscure. But if it's on Neco, there's now something close to a ProRes HD file of it.

On a Facebook post linked to Neco, this appears:

実Director Nishu 江崎Confession of a Demon: The End of Sexual Lust 池Cineroman Ikebukuro

Pink movie made by Nikkatsu before Roman Porno.
Just like the "Sakyo" photo taken before the main work, many pink film actresses appeared.
The previous work only produced tears, but the current work also provided a hiding place and the pink film quality has increased.

It's a pink movie with a lot of hiding places, but the content mainly depicts the frustration of a black half young man who has been discriminated against from a Japanese young man who has lived in unfortunate circumstances. One of the flaws in the repertoire of daily life movies, and therefore, raping a woman is the cause of frustration from sexual desire.


Is this an alternate title? Looks to be the same film based on Japanese characters.

A very kind Japanese film scholar (紅藤 マイトZ) wrote me this re: the film:

"As you asked, the director of this movie is Minoo Ezaki. However, this movie "Confession of a Sex Devil: The End of Lust" is not a series, but only this work."

I can't really tell from the machine translated title. I'd need to see the original post.

Nikkatsu disagrees about this being a stand alone film. They consider it part 2 of a series. Could be mistake, though.
https://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/21081.html

Mio Ezaki is the correct spelling of the director's name.

Here's the theatrical poster.


And a few HD screencaps

[AngelGuts]

I did mis-read it. :-( Thanks for clarifying. Can't find art/poster for the film you saw. Very obscure. But if it's on Neco, there's now something close to a ProRes HD file of it.

On a Facebook post linked to Neco, this appears:

実Director Nishu 江崎Confession of a Demon: The End of Sexual Lust 池Cineroman Ikebukuro

Pink movie made by Nikkatsu before Roman Porno.
Just like the "Sakyo" photo taken before the main work, many pink film actresses appeared.
The previous work only produced tears, but the current work also provided a hiding place and the pink film quality has increased.

It's a pink movie with a lot of hiding places, but the content mainly depicts the frustration of a black half young man who has been discriminated against from a Japanese young man who has lived in unfortunate circumstances. One of the flaws in the repertoire of daily life movies, and therefore, raping a woman is the cause of frustration from sexual desire.


Is this an alternate title? Looks to be the same film based on Japanese characters.

A very kind Japanese film scholar (紅藤 マイトZ) wrote me this re: the film:

"As you asked, the director of this movie is Minoo Ezaki. However, this movie "Confession of a Sex Devil: The End of Lust" is not a series, but only this work."

[Takuma]

Thanks for the Neco correction.

Seems CONFESSION OF A LOVELACE is a different film to TOKYO BATH HAREM... from your stills, it's not even a period film, but TOKYO BATH HAREM is.

So not sure there is a poster out there of it.

Yeah, I think you misread my original post. CONFESSION OF A LOVELACE is part 2 in a series, and I was just trying to figure out what is part 1. I think TOKYO BATH HAREM is part 1 (same producer, made a bit earlier).

[AngelGuts]

Thanks for the Neco correction.

Seems CONFESSION OF A LOVELACE is a different film to TOKYO BATH HAREM... from your stills, it's not even a period film, but TOKYO BATH HAREM is.

So not sure there is a poster out there of it.