What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Film Reviews and Release Comparisons
Post Reply
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Hangyaku no melody (1970), which is already on DVD and Nihon saidai no kaoyaku (1970) aka Greatest Boss of Japan, which I'm not sure about.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

chazgower01 wrote:Nihon saidai no kaoyaku (1970) aka Greatest Boss of Japan, which I'm not sure about.
Not available on dvd, I believe.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Tokyo Streetfighting (東京市街戦) (Japan, 1967) [35mm] - 1.5/5
Tetsuya Watari's theme song is the only good thing about this half-arsed Nikkatsu yakuza action film. It's yet another tale of people coping in the ruins of Tokyo in the post WW2 Japan, with a couple of good men (Watari, Joe Shishido) standing against the exploitative Korean gangsters. Toei also made several films like this, some of them good (True Account of Ginza Tortures, 1973), some as bad as this (Third Generation Boss, 1974; Kobe International Gang, 1975). With its uninspired performances, routine execution and a programmer storyline aiming to connect with the more sentimental and nationalistically minded viewers (there even an orphan boy and his blind sister suffering in the slums!), Tokyo Streetfighting offers little to be impressed about. Even the final street war / machinegun massacre fails to thrill, despite its unbelievable body count.

Burning Nature (花を喰う蟲) (Japan, 1967) [DCP] - 3.5/5
Here's further evidence that director Shogoro Nishimura is remembered for the wrong films. Before he became a Roman Porno vending machine, he was a yakuza and youth film director at Nikkatsu, making several interesting pictures that have since been forgotten. This one starts out as a breezy youth film but soon morphs into a study of greed and moral corruption as a wildcat girl (Taichi Kiwako) runs into a manipulative "businessman" (Hideaki Nitani) who promises her a career as a model. She finds success due to her good looks, but also learns that that is exactly her worth the in the modern world. The stylish film features a terrific leading performance by Taichi Kiwako. Eiji Go, an actor best known for portraying crazed yakuza, is also very good as a young man in love with the protagonist. Meiko Kaji has a small supporting role. The film's only problem is that it can't quite keep the wonderful momentum it establishes during the superb first half till the very end.

Image
User avatar
Markgway
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 20177
Joined: 18 Feb 2005, 02:04

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by Markgway »

HungFist wrote:most importantly the Taiwanese-Japanese actress Judy Ongg is just amazingly hot and badass as Rika.


Is that the same Judy Ong that was in 'Zu'?

Didn't know she was half-Japanese.
Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Markgway wrote:
HungFist wrote:most importantly the Taiwanese-Japanese actress Judy Ongg is just amazingly hot and badass as Rika.
Is that the same Judy Ong that was in 'Zu'?

Didn't know she was half-Japanese.
Seems to be the same person yes.

According to JP Wiki she was born in Taiwan in 1950 but grew up in Japan (since the age of 2 apparently) and got Japanese citizenship in 1972.

I didn't realize she was 16 in Kaettekita ookami :oops:

edit: if Nikkatsu's website is correct about the production year being 1965, then she was 15! :o

I gotta be more careful next time I call someone "amazingly hot" :lol:
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Biographies of Killers (刺客列伝) (Japan, 1969) [35mm] - 2.5/5
Although better known for contemporary films, Nikkatsu also produced scores of period yakuza films. I am far from well educated in Nikkatsu's yakuza output, but compared to Toei's ninkyo films, this movie at least is somewhat grittier in philosophy (as suggested by the title), leaving less room for chivalry, stoic pathos and manly bonding than you'd find in your average Ken Takakura or Koji Tsuruta film. Sentimental drama is not avoided though: the film features Nikkatsu's regular wallflower Chieko Matsubara as a young woman with a missing brother and a sick kid to take care of. Hideki Takahashi is the main character, a yakuza joining a gang of killers to make some money. He later runs into Matsubara, who doesn't know he's a yakuza and indirectly related to his missing brother who has been killed. There's also a common yakuza film theme with poor workers being targeted by the yakuza. The storyline isn't especially interesting and the lack of a strong plot hurts, but Nishimura's direction is pretty good, often vitalizing quiet scenes with emotional tension.

Yakuza Native Ground (やくざ番外地) (Japan, 1969) [35mm] - 4/5
A very good transitional era yakuza film by Shogoro Nishimura. Tetsuro Tamba is a businessman-like gangster who builds his gang of youngsters willing to do the dirty work for him, including a psychotic hothead Jiro Okazaki. Tamba is pals with Kei Sato, a slightly more righteous boss in a rival gang, likewise leaving the quarrels to the youngsters while trying remain friends with Tamba. The film takes a while to get going with some seemingly random side plots, which however all come together big time when Tamba's sister falls in love with a young man associated with the rival gang, and then all hell starts breaking loose, leading to a well orchestrated final massacre. There's also an interesting mix of ninkyo-like honour themes and jitsuroku shades of gray, especially evident in Tamba's well written character. Nishimura's character direction is effective and it's always a pleasure to see Tamba in starring roles.

Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Black Sun (Japan, 1964) FilmstruckVOD 2.5/5
dir: Koreyoshi Kurahara
Tamio Kawaji is back as Akira from ’The Warped Ones', squatting in an old abandoned building and grooving out to jazz records. His black friend Gill is also back (Chico Roland), only this time they don’t know each other (maybe this is a prequel?), and he’s a disturbed war vet with a machine gun who holds Akira hostage. Akira’s female prostitute friend Yuki is here too (Yuko Chishiro), as he tricks her into having sex, despite actually being broke - but it’s a small part as this is very much a ‘dude’ movie.
It’s about Akira’s idealized version of ‘black’ people, because of his love for jazz vs the reality, which is that no one is representative of their whole race. It gets preachy at times, and it has some racially charged situations (Akira wearing ‘blackface’ and making Gill wear ‘whiteface’), but it’s primarily a product of it’s times. It has it’s moments - Gill playing trumpet while a group of Japanese faces crowd around to watch, while thoughts of the civil rights atrocities flash around in his head…but an hour and a half of just these two over acting is a little too much for me.
If you're curious about 'Chico' Roland who plays Gill, he had an interesting career as a black man in Japanese films during this period, and here's some info on him: http://sidelongglancesofapigeonkicker.b ... -1929.html
Image
Last edited by chazgower01 on 09 Feb 2018, 14:19, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Intimidation (Japan, 1960) FilmstruckVOD 4/5
dir: Koreyoshi Kurahara
A neat little crime noir film, director Koreyoshi Kurahara has a good story here to go along with his exceptional framing abilities. You’d almost think you were watching classic Hitchcock.
Takita (Nobuo Kaneko) is a bank manager preparing to be transferred out of town for a promotion, when a mysterious stranger blackmails him into robbing his own bank. The perfect patsy is his forever underacheiving lifelong friend Nakaike (Ko Nishimura).
Of course, nothing goes as planned, and nothing is as it seems, and that’s what makes it all the more fun getting to.

Image
Last edited by chazgower01 on 09 Feb 2018, 14:18, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Furyo Bancho Ichimou dajin (Delinquent Boss: Rounded Up) (Japan, 1972) DVD 2/5
One of the last, if not THE last of 16 or so Furyo Bancho movies, this survives solely because of the star power involved and a scene that Yuriko Hishimi fans won’t want to miss.
It’s the same story, minus the rape for fun and kidnapping women to sell in forced prostitution of the earlier episodes (I guess it’s trying to go more ‘mainstream’), as wanted small time criminal Tetsuo Umemiya crosses the yakuza, and to escape them, turns himself in to the cops.
Looking a little pudgier, dressed in a pink button up shirt and loose leather pants, he’s still the coolest guy in the room, at least until he meets Tatsuya Fuji in prison, who he’ll run into later on. He gets out of jail rather quick and runs a scam, meets a new ragtag gang of colorful characters, and forces himself as leader.
The movie then tries to move toward the same conclusion I suspect we’ve seen in all of these (I’ve only seen this one and the first two, so I’m assuning this). There isn’t much interesting through most of it, so they break out in song and dance a few times (I'm not joking), and show us far too much of Umemiya in his tighty whiteys or worse, his naked butt.
The only saving grace to it is Yuriko Hishimi’s full nude scene ('essential part blurring’, as they say) from front and back, though I did catch a glimpse of her ‘maebari’, the ONLY reason this movie gets a ‘2’ rating. There’s also the wasted use of Annu Mari (Branded to Kill) in her last listed movie role for 30 years!
Save yourself the trouble and look at the NSFW pictures I’ve linked.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MiEor-R3oeU/ ... aFB007.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NKMbT7U4f1U/ ... aFB008.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RcweblmnbXo/ ... aFB009.jpg
The Maebari!
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1FWOtNPgbM/ ... nder-6.jpg
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Teruo Ishii Wonder Night

- Inferno of Torture (Japan, 1969) [35mm] - 4/5
- Horrors of Malformed Men (Japan, 1969) [35mm] - 4.5/5
- Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight (Japan, 1973) [35mm] - 4.5/5
- The Executioner 2: Karate Inferno (Japan, 1974) [35mm] - 4/5


All night Teruo Ishii marathon with four excellent films from pristine prints. It didn't hurt at all that I had seen all of them before in theatre, some of them several times. Inferno of Torture is cruel yet romantic, supremely stylish tale of two tattoo artists in Edo competing each other and tattooing the horrors of hell on the backs of beautiful topless women. Horrors of Malformed Men, Ishii's most legendary and atmospheric film, is a mystery following a man who discovers an island where a tragic madman is building a society of malformed men. Bohachi Bushido, Ishii's best film, is a visually amazing tour de force of a nihilist samurai wandering in a surreal ero-guro pop Japan and fighting ninjas and naked female bodyguards in terrific, bloody action scenes. All three films excel at creating imaginative fantasy worlds, at which Ishii was at his best. The Executioner 2 is a smaller but no less enjoyable film: an insanely funny and crude action comedy and a perfect closing film to keep people awake at 4:30 am. All in all, amazing night where every film, partly due to the circumstances, made me think "this is a strong candidate for the best movie ever!"

Image Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

If we only had film fests like that here!
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

International Secret Police: A Keg of Powder (国際秘密警察 火薬の樽) (Japan, 1964) [35mm] - 1.5/5
Part 3 in the International Secret Police series, Toho's response to James Bond. There were 5 films in total (1963-1967). The series is probably best known internationally as the source material for Woody Allen's What's Up Tiger Lily? (1966). Allen used footage from the 3rd and 4th films to arrive at his comedy spoof, which I have not seen but which seems somewhat redundant since A Keg of Powder was already a comedy - albeit a rather unbearable one. Tatsuya Mihashi and Makoto Sato are two secret agents (whose identity is not a secret to anyone) goofing around and chasing a crazy Austin Powers type of criminal genius. Mihashi is also trying to have romantic relations with a girl, but there are constant silly assassination attempts made at him. The film is a mess with loads of dumb comedy, nonsensical storyline and clumsy action, and the fact it does all everything with its tongue firmly in the cheek doesn't make it any less painful. Akiko Wakabayashi provides some eye candy at least. The director of the film is Takashi Tsuboshima, who later helmed the equally unbearable and in many way similar Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974), as well as the excellent ninja exploitation Demon Spies (1974).

International Secret Police: Key of Keys (国際秘密警察 鍵の鍵) (Japan, 1965) [35mm] - 2.5/5
Part 4. Makoto Sato is out, and Tatsuya Mihashi is left alone with assassins, femme fatales and foreign terrorists who are all after a secret safe that could enable a revolution. While still goody and relatively nonsensical, this is an improvement over the previous film. At the very least the film takes itself seriously enough to work as a b-grade spy film, even if it's a comedic one. Parts of the story are set in foreign locations, in a fictional nation called Tongwan, channelling India or Egypt (?) type of exotic vibes. The film also features both Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama, who would go on to appear as Bond girls in You Only Live Twice (1967). Director Senkichi Taniguchi also helmed the fantastic one-night patrol car docudrama Car 33 Doesn't Answer (1955), which would be a fantastic candidate for a Criterion release.

Image Image

Unfortunately Key of Keys was one of those beaten "pink prints" while the vastly inferior A Keg of Powder screened from an absolutely gorgeous print.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Thirst For Love (Japan, 1967) FilmstruckVOD 3.5/5
dir: Koreyoshi Kurahara
My fourth Kurahara movie, I’m continually impressed by his style, considering I had previously been completely unaware of him. From the very opening scene, we're shown, that what there is more going on underneath the surface of this movie, than what we know.
Thirst for Love is based on a novel of the same name by Yukio Mishima. It’s the story of Etsuko (the very pretty Ruriko Asaoka), a young widow who lives with her father-in-law, brother-in-law, his wife, and their kids on a large wealthy estate in the country. She’s having an affair - I guess you’d call it that - WITH the father-in-law, played with eye rolling contempt for everyone by Nobuo Nakamura (He considers them all good-for-nothings who are just mooching off of him).
He’s not wrong, but he severely underestimates Etsuko, who seems to have a LOT going on inside that head, hidden behind that pretty vacant stare.
She suddenly becomes infatuated with Suburo (Tetsuo Ishidate), the young family servert; but when he gets the maid pregnant, her already confusing desires start to collide with everyone else’s reality. And boy, does it.
Beautifully shot in black and white, it again showcases Kurahara’s use of a number of storytelling techniques, and for being a somewhat cerebral drama, moves along at a nice pace and tells an interesting story, with one heck of an ending.
Image
Last edited by chazgower01 on 09 Feb 2018, 14:18, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Tokyo Gore Police (Japan, 2008) Netflix DVD 2.5/5
dir: Yoshihiro Nishimura
I’m not a gore fan. When it comes to movies with sex and violence, I generally lean much more toward the sex. Gore though… it either looks fake, or it looks gross.
Which is why my enjoyment of Machine Girl kinda puzzled me. It was more than just Minase Yashiro’s sex appeal and star power…couldn’t have been the gore though…right?
And then I saw Tokyo Gore Police, directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura, the special effects wiz from Machine Girl and I realized something.
It’s the pure creative energy of it.
This movie is just so chocked full of ideas and concept’s, it’s hard not to be impressed.
Sure, the story is like something out of a badly written comic, and the acting isn’t always the best, but the ideas… the creativity… the art of it... the concept’s…. they just keep coming at you. You have to appreciate it. This isn’t exploitation on crack, it’s exploitation on LSD.
And it doesn’t hurt to have Eihi Shiina.
Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (0課の女 赤い手錠) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Superb, unbelievably violent action thriller is like Street Trash directed by Kinji Fukasaku as a straight action picture. Miki Sugimoto is an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of brutes who have kidnapped a politician's daughter. Her task is to eliminate the evil men one by one and save the hostage. Some of the violent scenes are hard to take, but the film is also stunningly stylish, well paced, set to a terrific score by Shunsuke Kikuchi, and spiced with ultra-black humour (in an interrogation scene two guys in the background are already digging a grave!). The final pay-off is also extremely satisfying, with one of the most badass action climaxes in 70s cinema. The leading role is probably Sugimoto's best, and there are excellent supporting performances by Tetsuro Tamba and Hideo Murota. It's a film that keeps getting better on every viewing (I still remember when I was first introduced to the film long time ago, and wondered if it was ok to enjoy an action movie as violent as this).

+ Sonny Chiba Special: Part 65

Akumyo: Tough Guys (悪名) (Japan, 2001) [DVD] - 1.5/5
A remake of the 1961 yakuza classic "Bad Reputation" which starred Shintaro Katsu and Jiro Tamiya. The new version casts Koji Matoba and Mikihisa Azuma, two gentlemen of far lesser reputations, in the lead roles. Sonny Chiba appears as a yakuza boss. Director Seiji Izumi, who spent the first 10 years of his career helming pink films, proved in the 80s that he could do more than just skin flicks (On the Road, 1982; Majoran, 1984). Perhaps this film would have been better had he directed it 15 years earlier, when he still had something to prove. The new Akumyo is a regrettably lame, television-like period yakuza drama with a bit of underwhelming action and lots of talk. It was a (minor) theatrical release, but obviously intended for video distribution. Chiba's appearance is so brief that it doesn't justify seeing the film.

Fighting Fist (覇拳 ふりむけば修羅) (Japan / Kong Kong, 1992) [DVD] - 2.5/5
Cheap but relatively watchable martial arts thriller is one of Sonny Chiba's few directorial efforts. The Japan - Hong Kong co-production probably originated from Japan where low budget V-Cinema films were the new big thing, and many of which were filmed abroad, including Chiba's 1991 film Minefield. Chiba is credited as the director in the Japanese print, but in the Hong Kong version Casey Chan, who was a producer-director involved in distribution of Japanese films, apparently gets the credit. The storyline is about a Japanese man (Shogo Shiotani) sent by his boss (Chiba) to Hong Kong to assassinate a gangster boss' family to lure the big man out. Local cops (Sibelle Hu, Chin Kar Lok) as well as nasty martial arts assassin (Ken Lo, Jackie's opponent in Drunken Master 2) are soon on his tail. The story then moves to Japan for a showdown. The film is a mess - badly acted, lacking in continuity, and suffering from needless ultra-cruel gore and strange characterization - but at the same time strangely watchable in a trashy sense. The action, which combines Japanese and Chinese martial arts, isn't half bad for this type of film, and Shiotani makes a passable poor man's Hiroyuki Sanada - he was a Japan Action Club member and the film was probably intended to make him a star. Unfortunately he committed suicide in 2002 at the age of 35.

Image Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

HungFist wrote:Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (0課の女 赤い手錠) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Superb, unbelievably violent action thriller...
I bought the UK copy from Amazon UK and it should be here any day... can't wait to see this....

Image
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Violent Panic: The Big Crash (Japan, 1976) DVD 4/5
dir: Kinji Fukasaku
One of Miki Sugimoto’s last movies, she plays the love interest of a bank robber (Tsunehiko Watase, again, but that’s ok!), who she slowly wins over, even though he has more than his share of problems. His partner gets killed in a heist, and his dead partner’s brother decides to come after him. Then the police discover his identity, and track him down leading to an amazingly crazy car chase involving angry citizens, a motorcycle gang, an angry cop… Fukasaku knows how to create and film frantic mayhem, that’s for sure!
There’s a lot here… if you’ve only seen Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honor and Humanity, then you’re missing out. Here he’s able to stretch out and have fun with the characters, though still within the confines of their desperation. It’s still intense, it’s just able to switch gears more naturally and take some time with the characters.
Miki Sugimoto of course, is naked throughout and it includes one of her more revealing scenes….
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_NxiD4HMyfE/ ... nder-4.jpg
No maeberi’s here!
A classic of it’s genre that is very much worth seeing.
Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

chazgower01 wrote:
HungFist wrote:Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (0課の女 赤い手錠) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Superb, unbelievably violent action thriller...
I bought the UK copy from Amazon UK and it should be here any day... can't wait to see this....
UK copy? Surely hell will freeze before BBFC will allow Zero Woman to be released uncut in the UK?

Dutch copy perhaps?

Unfortunately none of the DVD releases are very good. I've seen the film in 35mm twice in Tokyo and the print looks a 100 times better than any of the DVD transfers I've seen (Toei, Discotek, HK Video).
chazgower01 wrote:Violent Panic: The Big Crash (Japan, 1976) DVD 4/5
dir: Kinji Fukasaku
One of my favourite Fukasaku films! It may lack depth, but it's an extremely entertaining ride with amazing action, good leads and a very cool score.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

HungFist wrote:
chazgower01 wrote:
HungFist wrote:Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (0課の女 赤い手錠) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Superb, unbelievably violent action thriller...
I bought the UK copy from Amazon UK and it should be here any day... can't wait to see this....
UK copy? Surely hell will freeze before BBFC will allow Zero Woman to be released uncut in the UK?

Dutch copy perhaps?
Apparently it has a Japanese and German language track and it's subtitled in English, Dutch and German.
So I guess, it's a German or Dutch release...
Here's the back cover:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... L1500_.jpg
HungFist wrote:Unfortunately none of the DVD releases are very good. I've seen the film in 35mm twice in Tokyo and the print looks a 100 times better than any of the DVD transfers I've seen (Toei, Discotek, HK Video).
I'd love to see some of these in 35mm....
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

I Am Waiting (Japan, 1957) FilmStruck VOD 3.5/5
dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara
An early success in Nikkatsu's attempt to capitalize on the American crime noir market, this is also the first full film from director Koreyoshi Kurahara. Featuring Yujiro Ishihara and Mie Kitahara, who starred in 'Crazed Fruit' the previous year (and quite a few others together), it’s a decent little movie that grows as it goes along - from a mystery, to a love story, to a crime story, to a mystery again… but all in a good way.
As we often see in movies of these type, there are ‘improbable coincidences’, though they didn’t bother me as much as they might some others - I thought the story was fairly tight, the characters interesting, and even the fight scenes enjoyable. I was excited for the finale as it unfolded, and justly rewarded.
When an ex-boxer meets a singer at night down by the pier they slowly begin to learn secrets that connect them to each other. But those secrets connect them even more in ways they don't yet realize, as they slowly unfold the truth....
Image
Last edited by chazgower01 on 09 Feb 2018, 14:17, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

chazgower01 wrote: dir: Korayoshi Kurahara
chazgower01 wrote: dir: Korayoshi Kurahara
chazgower01 wrote:
dir. Koreyoshi Kurasawa
A few more films and you'll eventually get Koreyoshi Kurahara's name right ;) :lol:
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

HungFist wrote:
chazgower01 wrote: dir: Korayoshi Kurahara
chazgower01 wrote: dir: Korayoshi Kurahara
chazgower01 wrote:
dir. Koreyoshi Kurasawa
A few more films and you'll eventually get Koreyoshi Kurahara's name right ;) :lol:
lol my spellcheck has a mind of it's own, especially when I write on my iphone.
Strangely enough, it was spelled correctly in all the same cut and paste entries I made to my blog.
Wrong in my notes, wrong on here, and correct in the last place I usually cut and paste it to, my blog.
I have no idea how. lol
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

The Hot Little Girl (Japan, 1970) Japanese DVD 2/5
dir: Yasuzo Masumura
I guess Daiei Studios tried jumping on the sleaze train as they were headed toward their demise, introducing Mari Atsumi to the world. I hadn't seen one of her movies yet, this was my first (roughly her 14th), but it's one they've actually released on Japanese DVD. And since Daiei is probably a ways from making any of these available on the English speaking market, I watched it with no dubs or subs.
From what I can gather, Atsumi is a magazine model that everyone would like a 'piece' of, including her slick young manager, played by Yusuke Kawazu (Cruel Story aka Naked Youth), looking more tan than his female co-star. Yakuza involvement of course follows, along with an O.D., some beatings, etc.
Atsumi isn't naked much here, but she does wrestle around in her underwear a lot, highlighting her slim body and tan skin. It's fun, or whatever, I just don't think she has the screen presence of a Reiko Ike or Miki Sugimoto. She was, apparently a sex idol in Japan though, and like those two, pretty much disappeared by the latter part of the 70's.
I don't know if it was the tans or the Fujicolor, or maybe just the transfer of the film, but the color stood out to me as realistic but strong. You could very easily pick out the dark blue from the black; and yes, this train of thought probably speaks volumes about how I thought the story was boring. They stood around and talked A LOT.
And I somehow doubt it would've made a difference if I knew what they were saying. It picks up towards the very end, as it gets a bit more violent, but not much here I'd need to see again. Atsumi's highlight is a quick shower scene early on, but even that is fairly coy compared to some of what we've seen from Reiko or Miki.
It's not terrible or anything, it's just not as Nikkatsu as it's trying to be.
Here are some Mari Atsumi nekked pics for you:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y19JeZH7aec/ ... nder-3.jpg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WqwYb3CzBRI/ ... nder-4.jpg
Those are easily the two most revealing shots of her in the movie, BY FAR - so if you're planning on seeing it for her - there you go. Unless of course you like the underwear wrestling...plenty of that, including stuff like this!:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zrJaFqiS3Hk/ ... nder-5.jpg

Image
User avatar
HungFist
Bruce Lee's Fist
Posts: 11704
Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
Location: Japan
Contact:

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by HungFist »

Daiei was a rather conservative studio whose main source of income was samurai and jidai geki films. They did have a few oddball directors like Masumura who did "whatever" they wished, and there was obvious commercial pressure to flirt with exploitation cinema, but most of the time you could see how reserved the studio was about it. For example, they did a 6 film WiP series in the late 60s and early 70s, and from the 4 films I've seen only one actually shows nudity although thematically they are exploitation. It's the same thing with some gang / sukeban type of films they did. And that was at the same time when naked women were literally lining up to show their boobs to the camera in many Toei films (e.g. Teruo Ishii's Abnormal Love series).

As for Masumura, I tend to love half of his films and be bored by the other half. Red Angel and Yakuza Masterpiece are amazing, but Electric Medusa and Manji bored me.
User avatar
chazgower01
King of Beggars
Posts: 522
Joined: 24 Mar 2017, 20:19

Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Post by chazgower01 »

Good info!

And speaking of Daiei's Mari Atsumi, I just happened to check one of my favorite websites (pulpinternational.com) and there was a story on Atsumi just 3 days ago! Looks like she put on some weight...

http://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/e ... tsumi.html
Post Reply