Regrettably dull yakuza film by the uneven Sadao Nakajima. Tsunehiko Watase is a young hothead who teams up with his older brother and gangster Akira Kobayashi until his temper starts causing trouble and the men find themselves enemies. The film mainly suffers from the fact that it's not all that interesting. Everything has been done better in other films, and this one is not even especially violent in its genre. Somewhat decent last 3 minutes aside, the only memorable scene is Watase raping a horny French woman who doesn't mind it at all, quite the contrary instead. Hardly counts as a merit.
Too Young to Die (死ぬにはまだ早い) (Japan, 1969) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Kiyoshi Nishimura is one of the most exciting undiscovered Japanese directors. The opening for this film is cinema at its purest, and best! Nishimura uses very little dialogue as he first shows a man and a woman in bed, making love. We don't know exactly who they are and what their relationship is, but they're not married. Quick crosscuts reveal that he appears to be a former race driver. She makes references to her husband who is away, somewhere. Cut to the following night as they are in a car. They stop in a small bar by the highway. Minutes later a desperate gunman charges in and takes everyone as hostage. This is the premise for Nishimura's gritty and intelligent debut film which serves as a prime example of what is good filmmaking. The film drafts excellent characters without ever over-explaining them, which allows us to feel for them, yet we cannot anticipate their every move. Nishimura's attention for every detail, every drop of sweat, every painful breath, combined with sparse but clever use of music make this one hell of a thriller. Unfortunately, it has never been released on home video.
