Retro Cinemas and Cult Films in Japan

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba A Go Go
Cinema Vera, Tokyo
June 14th – July 11



Although 2014 has been a fantastic year for film retrospectives in Tokyo (such as Art Theatre Guild and Norifumi Suzuki retrospectives), the highlight of the summer was no doubt Sonny Chiba film festival which played in Shibuya’s Cinema Vera. Cinema Vera had dedicated Chiba a 24 film retrospective which covered the first three decades of his career.

During the festival Cinema Vera played nothing but Chiba films for four weeks straight. Each day two films were screened back to back all day from 11 am to around 11 pm. Each of the films would also play again on a later date in case you missed the first day, meaning each film would have a total of 7- 10 screenings. All movies played from original 35mm prints, except for the TV production Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 (1980), which screened from the original 16mm film.

The festival programme included not only popular classics like The Street Fighter (1974), but also rare gems like the superb action/noir Army Intelligence 33 (1968) and Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975), which is probably Chiba's best and most outrageous movie of all time (I watched it three times during the same day!). The selection demonstrated the diversity of Chiba’s career, which started already in the early 1960’s, and included not only action and martial arts films, but also samurai films, war movies, crime films and many other genres. In fact, as an actor Chiba might have been at his best in the early 1960’s when he played mainly good guy roles and demonstrated some amazing energy.

The theatre in which the films screened, Cinema Vera, focuses on film retrospectives (past series include Teruo Ishii, Masao Adachi, Yasuharu Hasebe and Noboru Nakamura). One of the coolest aspects is that they always do fantastic job decorating the lobby with original posters from the movies. Every week there were new posters on display, including Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975), Karate Bullfighter (1975), Message from Space (1978), Okinawa 10 Year War (1978), Samurai Reincarnation (1981) and many more.

The real highlight of the festival was, of course, Chiba himself. The 75 year old actor attended the festival during its first day. Chiba held a 40 minute talk event, answered questions in a Q&A, and greeted fans after the event in the theatre lobby. I’m glad to report Chiba was an absolute gentleman without a smallest sign of arrogance. He talked with fans, asked for their opinions, gave autographs, and took photos with fans. My best memory is probably how (after already having asked Chiba a question during the Q&A and taken a photo with him) he came to me on his way out, shook hands and thanked me for coming to the event.

I was also glad to see the festival was obviously a success. Although old school theatres are closing one after another these days Chiba festival seemed to attract many people. A lot of people showed up and there were many viewers even during weekday mornings. I spent a total of 10 days (three extended weekends) at the festival and caught 20 of the 24 films that played. I’ll be reporting day by day, although the report may change its form a little bit as it goes on.

List of Films Screened at the Festival:
Hepcat in the Funky Hat (Kinji Fukasaku, 1961)
The Escape (Niniroku Jiken Dasshutsu) (Tsuneo Kobayashi, 1962)
Gambler Tales of Hasshu: A Man's Pledge (Masahiro Makino, 1963)
Abashiri Prison 4: Northern Seacost Story (Teruo Ishii, 1965)
Kamikaze Man: Duel at Noon (Kinji Fukasaku, 1966)
Game of Chance (Samurai’s Lullaby) (Ryuchi Takamori, 1966)
Army Intelligence 33 (Tsuneo Kobayashi, 1968)
Memoir of Japanese Assassins (Sadao Nakajima, 1969)
Bodyguard Kiba (Ryuichi Takamori, 1973)
The Street Fighter (Shigero Ozawa, 1974)
The Executioner 2: Karate Inferno (Teruo Ishii, 1974)
Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, 1975)
Bullet Train (Junya Sato, 1975)
Karate Bullfighter (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, 1975)
Karate Warriors (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, 1976)
Jail Breakers (Dasso Yugi) (Kosaku Yamashita, 1976)
Okinawa Yakuza War (Sadao Nakajima, 1976)
Karate for Life (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, 1977)
Message From Space (Kinji Fukasaku, 1978)
Okinawa 10 Year War (Akinori Matsuo, 1978)
Swords of Vengeance (Kinji Fukasaku, 1978)
G.I. Samurai (Kôsei Saitô, 1979)
Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 (Kiyoshi Nishimura, 1980)
Samurai Reincarnation (Kinji Fukasaku, 1981)

Return of the Street Fighter (1974), Karate Bullfighter (1975), Karate Warriors (1976)


Top Middle: Bodyguard Kiba (1973) and The Escape (1962)


Two posters for The Fall of Ako Clan Castle


Bullet Train (1975) and Jail Breakers (1976)


Karate for Life (1977)


Message from Space (1978)


Bodyguard Kiba (1973( (top) and Yakuza Deka: Poison Gas Affair (1971) (bottom)


G.I. Samurai

[HungFist]

Day 1: June 24th (Part 1: Chiba)

The first day was the big day because Sonny Chiba talk would be held in the afternoon. Some fans had arrived three screenings in advance. This meant that they would be watching G.I. Samurai – one of the two films screening that day – twice just to keep their seat. That’s possible since the theatre is not emptied between the screenings. Once you’re in, you’re expected to watch two films and leave, but no one’s going to kick you out if you stayed longer.

I went in two screenings in advance, and by that time it was already challenging to get a good seat. When Chiba walked on stage, every single seat (144) was taken and additional people were sitting on the floor. The wait was well worth it. The legendary action star is 75 years old now, but he’s still full of energy and acts like 15 years younger than his age. During the 40 minute talk event Chiba recalled his career and joked about how in the early 1960’s Ken Takakura, Koji Tsuruta and Tetsuro Tanba were always the producers’ first choice to any Toei film, and he could only get the role when they were busy. Chiba also regretted the state of modern Japanese action cinema that relies too much on CGI, unlike back in his days when they did real action.

Chiba knew what he was talking about. He made his first martial arts films in the early 1960’s, established his own film school Japan Action Club to train physically capable action stars such as Hiroyuki Sanada and Etsuko Shihomi, and was even a well known star in Hong Kong due to his TV show Key Hunter (1967-1972). Both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan were impressed by Chiba, the latter especially. Jackie was such a big fan of Chiba that he even travelled to Japan to meet him – and of course repeated and improved upon many of his stunts (e.g. the helicopter scene from the 1976 film Jail Breakers, which Jackie managed to beat in Police Story 3 in 1993).

Chiba was also a real life martial arts master who practiced Kyokushin Karate under its founder Masutatsu Oyama since the late 1950’s. Chiba fought in Oyama’s team in the international fighting tournament in Hawaii in 1977, where Chiba defeated the former east coast champion Greg Kauffman with a knock-out in the second round. Chiba also acquired black belts in more than half dozen martial arts, including Kyokushin Karate, Ninjutsu, and Shorinji Kempo. In the late 1970’s Chiba also fought in Oyama’s team in the

In addition, Chiba was never just an action star or martial artists. His rich career, especially in the 1960’s, features comedies, dramas, war films, science fiction, noir, crime movies and super hero flicks. In some respects, he was at his best as an actor in the 1960’s when he was bursting with youthful energy and charm and often played good hearted heroes. During the 1960’s alone, Chiba appeared in more than 60 movies, many of them starring roles. These roles were quite different from the 1970’s action movies that his international fans best know him for.

None of those accomplishments reflected in his behaviour in the Chiba festival. Chiba showed sincere interest to his fans by answering their questions and sometimes spending more time asking them questions than talking about himself. As I mentioned before, Chiba even came to shake hands with be of his own initiative. All in all, the man came out as a very modest, very polite and very energetic gentleman.

Chiba!


Chiba!


Hepcat in the Funky Hat (1961) and Army Intelligence 33


Bullet Train (1975)


Bullet Train (1975)


Karate Warriors (1976) (left) and Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)

[HungFist]

And one more set of photos before I start going through the film program (later)

Memoir of Japanese Assassins (1969), Karate Warriors (1976) and Message from Space (1978)


Memoir of Japanese Assassins (1969), Karate Bullfighter (1975) and Jail Breakers (1976)


Okinawa Yakuza War (1976) and Okinawa 10 Year Wat (1978)


Kamikaze Man (1966) and Okinawa 10 Year War (1978)


Karate Bullfighter (1975)


Samurai Reincarnation (1981)

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 1: June 14th (Saturday) (Part 2: The Films)

From here on it’s going to be film mini-reviews all the way. The films screened during the first day were The Executioner 2: Karate Inferno and G.I. Samurai. Neither one of them was quite the typical Chiba film.

The Executioner 2: Karate Inferno (Chokugeki jigoku-ken: Dai-gyakuten) (Teruo Ishii, 1974)

Karate Inferno (1974) is best described as an act of terrorism. Director Teruo Ishii was never keen on making karate movies, but the studio had him direct one with The Executioner (1974). The mismatch resulted in an exceptionally sleazy action fest that was probably more enjoyable than Ishii ever intended it to be. To his shock, it was a commercial success and Toei had him direct a sequel, which Ishii turned into a madcap comedy (there was a similar case with biker gang movies only one year later, when Toei had Ishii direct a sequel for Detonation: Violent Violent Riders, and Ishii turned it into a love story with musical scenes).

Karate Inferno is essentially a comedic caper in which the same gang we know from the original film are supposed to save a kidnapping victim, but when the deal goes bad they decide to rob their employer instead. Most of the film consists of Chiba (asshole ninja), Makoto Sato (asshole ex-cop) and Eiji Go (asshole pervert) taking the piss and molesting Yutaka Nakajima while also planning a big diamond heist. In the film’s highlight we see Chiba saving his pall, whose jacket was caught on fire, by pissing on him! The jokes are crude but funny, the soundtrack is fantastic, and there’s some great action at the end of the film. The Japanese audience had a blast, even clapping hands during the film in a couple of highlights, which is extremely rare in Japan. Many of the jokes are film references, though, and may not be understood by most foreign viewers (e.g. Kanjuro Arashi appearing as the same character he plays in Ishii’s Abashiri Prison series – Chiba also appeared in the 4th and 6th film).



G.I. Samurai (Sengoku jieitai) (Kosei Saito, 1979)

G.I. Samurai is a very different type of film compared to Karate Inferno. This big budget action fantasy stars Chiba as an army commander whose platoon somehow gets thrown back in time to the 1600s. Luckily for them, all their weapons, equipment, and vehicles (including helicopter and a tank) come with them. The heavy artillery comes in need when they get involved in a clan war between two historical figures: Nagao Kagetora (Isao Natsuyagi) and Shingen Takeda. It’s time to show the samurai what a modern man is made of!

While G.I. Samurai doesn’t have the kick of Chiba’s best movies, it’s nevertheless full of major action scenes, huge body count, historical characters in entirely fictional situations, and more serious themes about masculine desire for power and domination. There’s a lot that springs from the 1970’s exploitation film mentality, but at the same time the film also showcases a new era in Japanese filmmaking. The film was produced by Kadokawa, who was a new player in the filmmaking biz. Up till late 1970s Chiba had been working for Toei, who mass produced cheap genre films at rapid pace. Kadokawa, however, were making modern Hollywood-like productions. Their films were often accompanied by theme songs, novels and other supporting products. The amount of money invested in G.I. Samurai – ¥ 1,350,000,000 – would probably have financed a dozen Street Fighter flicks. Also look for numerous cameos, like Hiroyuki Sanada climbing to a helicopter, and the soon-to-be super-idol Hiroko Yakushimaru as a child warrior.



Sonny Chiba Festival Day 2: June 15th (Sunday)

The Escape (Niniroku jiken: dasshutsu) (Tsuneo Kobayashi, 1962)

The first film for Sunday night was the rarely seen The Escape. This was one of the many Japanese films based on the infamous February 26th Incident that took place in 1936. The incident involved army rebel forces attempting a coup d'état in Tokyo. The rebels opposed to Japan’s modern policies and believed that the Emperor had been misled by politicians. To restore Japan’s past glory they gathered hundreds of men and attempted multiple simultaneous political assassinations. One of their attacks was the raid on the prime minister’s house. Nearly 300 rebels took part in it; however, the prime minister managed to hide and eventually escape.

The film focuses on the military police’s (partly fictionalized, no doubt) attempts to rescue the minister before the rebels find out he is still alive. He manages to hide in a closet because the enemy mistakes a dead body that greatly resembles him as him. The military police now tries to get him out without the rebels realizing what’s going on. It’s a mostly dialogue driven affair with exciting action in the beginning and end of the film. Sonny Chiba plays only a small supporting role as a soldier who discovers the prime minister’s hiding place, but agrees to help the military police. The real star of the film is Ken Takakura. An entertaining military / caper mix, but not a classic film.



Bodyguard Kiba (Ryuichi Takamori, 1973)

The 1973 action thriller Bodyguard Kiba is one of Chiba’s weaker efforts. The film stars Chiba as a Japanese karate fighter taking on the mafia, all in the name of promoting karate. It’s a pretty messy storyline that nevertheless allows for some memorable ultra-violence and enjoyable spaghetti western influences. Action scenes are, however, sloppily filmed. One of the film’s biggest merits may actually be featuring the 16 year old Etsuko Shihomi as a stunt double for Yayoi Watanabe (who plays Chiba’s sister). In the superior sequel, Bodyguard Kiba 2 (1973) Shihomi inherited the role, which marked her first acting role in a movie. Another thing worth mentioning is that the film is based on the manga Bodyguard Kiba, which was influenced by Chiba’s real life master Masutatsu Oyama. Although names have been changed, when Chiba’s character speaks of his master in the film, he is actually referring to Oyama and his real life adventures. Oyama also makes a cameo during the opening credits.

Bodyguard Kiba is better known in its international form under the title The Bodyguard (1976). The American version changes the storyline somewhat, with almost all karate philosophy and Oyama references removed. In that version Chiba is simply fighting crime when not filming movies (yes, he actually plays himself in the US version!). In the Japanese version Chiba’s character actually comes out as a bigger asshole, not least because of the new ending scene where he seems to have forgotten about all the casualties and tells the press how this whole massacre was great advertisement for karate. The US version is missing the ending scene. There are, however, some highly amusing added scenes in the US version. These include the famous Ezekiel speech that Quentin Tarantino quoted in Pulp Fiction, US martial artists Aaron Banks and Bill Louie discussing who’s a tougher guy: Sonny Chiba or Bruce Lee, and a modified opening credits sequence accompanied by Viva! Chiba! Viva! Chiba! chanting.

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 3: June 16th (Sunday)

Army Intelligence 33 (Rikugun choho 33) (Tsuneo Kobayashi, 1968)

This criminally neglected mixture of spy-noir and commando action by director Tsuneo Kobayashi (The Escape, 1962) is a lost gem. The film’s storyline is loosely based on the Nakano Spy School which operated in Tokyo during the Second World War. It was officially focused on correspondence, but in reality trained top spies for the government. Chiba portrays a promising young soldier who is kidnapped and forced to become a spy. After receiving tough training (martial arts, weapons, explosives, foreign languages) by none other than Tetsuro Tanba, he is sent for his first mission, which is to gather secret information from a foreign ambassador. This is when the film takes a turn to a wonderful noir with gorgeous cinematography, great old fashioned score and terrific atmosphere. Chiba himself looks fabulous as a spy in long dark coat and black hat which immediately bring American noir stars like Humphrey Bogart to mind. This is probably something many foreign fans never expected to find in Chiba’s filmography.

Army Intelligence 33 isn’t entirely a spy noir, though. The final act sees Chiba sent for a Lee Marvin style commando mission to South East Asia together with his partner in crime Kenji Imai. The action packed final third can’t quite compare with the wonderful noir section, but it’s a tremendously entertaining climax nevertheless. The only weakness is occasional lazy screenwriting throughout the film, which has us believe that these kidnapped young men would barely protest their destiny, and the enemy soldiers whose behaviour isn’t always all that logical. This is however a small gripe in a hugely entertaining film. Chiba later returned to the same training camp in another Nakano Spy School influenced film: Military Spy School (Junya Sato, 1974). That film, however, couldn’t compare with the far more elegant and entertaining Army Intelligence 33, which remains one of Chiba’s best movies.
























Jail Breakers (The Escape Game) (Dasso yugi) (Kosaku Yamashita 1976)

Jail Breakers, or The Escape Game (literal translation) is another rarely seen movie that has probably never been released outside Japan. It hasn’t been preserved so well in its native country either; no DVD release available and even the festival print was in such a shape that it could have fallen apart any time. The caper-style movie stars Chiba as the worst behaving prisoner of all time: he has 31 prison escapes under his belt. He makes his 32nd run in the film’s opening scene by performing a spectacular escape by climbing to the roof, grabbing to ladders from a helicopter, hanging from the ladders in in the air while the helicopter makes its way through the countryside, and changes his clothes in the mid-air before dropping to a moving truck and making the escape by then jumping to another moving vehicle – one of the many stunts on Chiba’s career that his greatest fan, Jackie Chan, later improved upon (Police Story 3, 1992).

The film is packed with nice stunts throughout, but the screenplay could be better. After escaping the prison Chiba teams up with a bunch of thugs, who design prison escapes for money. Unfortunately trust and loyalty are unknown concepts to these men who take turns deceiving each other. The endless “who’s-cheating-who” game has been done better in other films, and sometimes the writing is downright sloppy: when a carefully planned escape operation fails, Chiba simply steals a fire engine and drives away without anyone noticing! It also feels that director Kosaku Yamashita, who made his name with yakuza films, was a bit out of his element here. However, even with these weaknesses it’s an entertaining action comedy which compares favourably against some of the later, similar Yasaku Matsuda films like Execution Game (1978) and No Grave for Us (1979). It’s also essentially a family friendly affair with no sex whatsoever, and only minimal violence. The focus is on stunts and comedy.

Opening escape. Over 3 minutes of it was shot in single take just to show you it's really Chiba doing it all


















This was the last day of my first Tokyo stint. I would return for more Chiba on the following weekend after taking care of some real life business. More reviews to come!

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 4: June 21st (Saturday)

Saturday. Back in Tokyo after a few days of normal life. The festival kept running meanwhile, but I didn't miss any movies because those were second or third screening days for films I had already seen during my last stint. My original plan was to land in Tokyo and first catch a couple of films in Jinbocho Theater before heading to Cinema Vera for only one Chiba film, but I ended up changing my plan and watching both of the evening’s Chibas.

Bullet Train (Shinkansen daibakuha) (Junya Sato, 1975)

My decision was a good one. Though I had seen Bullet Train – Junya Sato’s predecessor to Speed (1994) – before, I didn’t recall it being this good. The excellent thriller stars Ken Takakura as a criminal whose gang plants a bomb on a bullet train and demands money from the government. If the speed falls below 80km / hour, the train will explode. The police do their best to track down the criminals without giving in to their demands, while the desperate train pilot (Sonny Chiba in a rare 1970’s non-action role) is trying to keep his cool. Tension begins to rise among passengers as the train skips its designated stops.

Sato was a solid director who was usually more interested in storylines than exploitation (there are some exceptions, though). Here he does fine job helming a character and story driven thriller, even if there are a couple of silly turns and too many flashbacks used as storytelling device. The film’s biggest merit is its well crafted villains, whose acts are understandable though not acceptable. Takakura does excellent job making his character human, and becomes the film’s central character despite being the villain. Action scenes are few, but expertly executed. The ultra-funky 1970s score feels out of place at first, but eventually becomes a seminal part of the film and makes one wish all good movies had one like this. Supporting roles feature a whole variety of stars from Takashi Shimura to Etsuko Shihomi and Yumi Takigaw, sometimes only getting a few seconds of screen time.



Hepcat in the Funky Hat (Funky Hat no kaidanji) (Kinji Fukasaku, 1961)

The evening’s second movie was one of Chiba’s very first starring roles: Hepcat in the Funky Hat. This energetic little movie was the third collaboration between Chiba and director Kinji Fukasaku. The two had already made two Drifting Detective movies together, the first one being Fukasaku’s directorial debut and Chiba’s first starring role. Fukasaku and Chiba then went on to work together a total of 20 times. When Chiba made his own directorial debut with Yellow Fangs (1990) Fukasaku served as his advisor.

Chiba plays a happy-go-lucky son of a detective, who constantly manages to get himself in the middle of someone else’s trouble, but comes out saving the day. Chiba is full of youthful energy, does some athletics, tries to charm the ladies (without much luck), and kicks a little bit of ass. Some of his goofier acts resemble Hong Kong stars like Alexander Fu Sheng in their more comedic roles in the 1970’s – whether that’s a good thing or not is debatable.

Hepcat in the Funky Hat also showcases the madcap energy Fukasaku later become famous for. The cinematography is wild and innovative, edits come fast and dialogue is delivered at lightning pace. There’s a striking difference between this and some other detective films of the same era, like the Police Department Story films in which Chiba co-starred the same year, or even Fukasaku’s own Drifting Detective films. Hepcat in the Funky Hat runs less than an hour and was originally played as a b-feature for a bigger budgeted a-film, but would probably have been at least 20 minutes longer in the hand of any other director.

In addition, the film deals with the theme Fukasaku explored throughout his career: youth vs. older generations. Having lived through the horrors of war and having felt betrayed by the nation and the older generations, this theme got increasingly violent cinematic incarnations in Fukasaku’s later classics like Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972), Battles without Honour and Humanity (1973) and Battle Royale (2000), where army, yakuza and the government respectively took to roles of rotten authorities. Hepcat in the Funky Hat, however, is a celebration of youthful energy, passion, and early 1960’s youth culture. Its young heroes leave the old men eating dust at every turn!

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 5: June 22nd (Sunday)

Game of Chance (aka Samurai’s Lullaby) (Rokyoku komori-uta) (Ryuichi Takamori, 1966)

In the 1960s ninkyo yakuza films became Toei’s most successful genre. These old school yakuza films inspected the themes of honour, loyalty and brotherhood in a historical setting. The heroes in these films may have been yakuza, but they were honourable men who followed the codes of honour and never exploited the innocent. These movies would usually start with the hero arriving to a town where a good gang he belongs to is being pitched against a dishonourable gang that exploits the innocent. There would also be a seminal supporting character that the hero meets and becomes friends. We would later discover that that man is actually working for the enemy, but only because of some kind of blood relation or obligation that he cannot escape. The film’s climax would see the two men forces, and the supporting character redeeming himself with a heroic death.

There are a couple of different variations of this ninkyo formula, but the basics remain the same: honourable men put in difficult situations where obligations, personal feelings and the morals would conflict. The genre was a huge hit among the audiences and made actors like Ken Takakura and Koji Tsuruta the biggest stars of their time. It was therefore no surprise that Toei also had Sonny Chiba star in a couple of old school yakuza films, although he never became a star in the genre. Game of Chance is an interesting off-note ninkyo yakuza film in which Chiba stars as a swindler who has to escape with his 5 year son (Hiroyuki Sanada in his first role) after being caught cheating in a card game.

Game of Change is an odd film because it’s constructed very much like the typical Toei ninkyo film except that the protagonist commits some slightly dishonourable acts you wouldn’t usually see in the genre. In fact, the hero in Game of Chance is very much like the seminal supporting character in numerous other Toei ninkyo films. It’s also an unusual film because of its heavy dosing of family drama, which gives the typically very masculine genre a feminine spin. These elements make it an interesting movie, although it never really finds the perfect alignment nor perfects its art. Some of this may be actually because of the utterly mediocre director Ryuichi Takamori not knowing what he was doing. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining yakuza drama with only a few minor action scenes. It was followed by two sequels, both starring Chiba, and shot in colour, unlike the first film which is black and white.



Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (Wolfguy: Moero ôkami-otoko) (Kuzuhiko Yamaguchi, 1975)

This incredibly entertaining action film stars Sonny Chiba as a karate skilled crime reporter who also happens to be a werewolf. He keeps his true nature hidden from the mortal world and lives among normal people as one them. As the film opens, he begins investigating a series of ultra-brutal murders in which members of a rock band have been slaughtered by a woman with supernatural powers. Her skills are demonstrated in the opening scene, in which one of the rockers (Rikiya Yasuoka) bumps into Chiba’s car and pretty much explodes into pieces a moment later on a side alley.

Wolfguy just may be the most outrageous Sonny Chiba ever made! The film goes from psychedelic city noir to science fiction set in mysterious research labs, and eventually mythical action as Wolfguy returns to his birthplace in the mountains. It’s packed with unbelievable scenarios such as werewolf vs. werewolf karate fight, werewolf shooting people with machine gun and Chiba pulling off the prison bars with his bare hands. The film also features ultra-gory murders straight out of a splatter movie, super funky soundtrack, great action, frequent female nudity, and odd mother syndrome with Chiba rubbing his nose between pinky violence star Yayoi Watanabe’s breasts because she resembles him of his mother!

What is most surprising about Wolfguy is how it makes shockingly much sense structure-wise. Unlike many other Chiba films where the main difference between the beginning and ending was the number of opponents, Wolfguy really comes a long way storywise. It also manages to retain a sufficient level of continuity, despite being a combination of several 'Adult Wolfguy' graphic novels by Kazumasa Hirai. Hirai also published the similarly titled but more youthful 'Wolfguy' manga that Toho had already adapted into a film in 1973, but Toei wanted to fill their movie with non-stop sex and violence so they went for the adult version.

The film was expertly handled by director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Sister Street Fighter, Karate Bearfighter). The shaky cam style that hurt some of his other movies is virtually absent here, resulting in several excellent action scenes that vary from martial arts to gunplay. There's even a tank in one scene, though it never enters the frame! Overall Wolfguy is one of those rare cult movies that not only live up to their outrageous premise, but exceed it. The fact that there is no DVD or even video release anywhere in the world is a crime against humanity!

It says something about the film that I watched it three times during the same day. It was the first film I saw that day, followed by Game of Chance, after which I simply decided not to give away my seat. After the insanely enjoyable second viewing I initially left the theatre and headed for Laputa Asagaya for Co-ed Report: Yuko’s White Breasts (1971), but it turned out the screening was sold out and I couldn’t get a ticket. With nothing better to do I went back to Cinema Vera for one more go at Wolfguy, and I didn’t regret one bit!

Wolfguy was certainly a hit with the audience. In the last screening one poor Japanese fella became mentally insane! He sit quiet during the film, but as soon as the film ended he burst into uncontrollable laughter and couldn’t stop. He left the theatre laughing like a madman. His maniac laughter echoed in the theatre for several minutes, essentially turning the whole place into a madhouse. The film’s greatness must have been too much for him to handle.







This was the end of my second Tokyo stay, but I was only halfway through the festival. Stay tuned for more reviews!

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 6: July 3rd (Thursday)

It had been almost two weeks since my last visit to Tokyo. I missed the screenings of Gambler Tales of Hasshu: A Man's Pledge (1963), Karate Warriors (1975), Swords of Vengeance (1978) and Message from Space (1978). The rest of the screenings during my absence were second or third screening days for films I had already caught before.

This day did not start so well. I did all I could to be there on time, including taking an early flight to a closer airport than usual. Little by little everything started to fall apart. First, the flight was 20 minutes late. Next, there was no rapid train from the airport for whatever reason. Finally, when I got to Tokyo there had been a train accident, which resulted in about a 20 minute delay. The 45 minutes of extra time I had scheduled for getting from the airport to the theatre eventually shrank to 14 seconds! Yes, after defying death by running through Shibuya like a crazy person, and silently cursing everyone on my way down to hell, I got there 14 second before the film started and spent the opening credits trying to catch my breath.

Abashiri Prison: Northern Seacoast Story (Abashiri bangaichi: Hokkai hen) (Teruo Ishii, 1965)

The film I successfully caught was the 4th film in the long running Abashiri Prison series (1965-1972), which cemented Ken Takakura’s status as the most popular Japanese actor of the 1960s. The series started in 1965 with the original classic, which saw Takakura as a tough guy sent to the Abashiri Prison. It wasn’t necessarily the greatest movie ever made, but it brought together many of Toei’s best yakuza film actors and benefitted from the snowy landscapes of Hokkaido. As the series advanced, many of the sequels departed from the original setting and didn’t necessarily even include prison scenes. Northern Seacoast Story brought the series back to the Abashiri setting after a couple of entries set in warmer locations.

Northern Seacoast Story stars Takakura in his usual tough guy role. The film takes a while to kick off because it dedicates most of the opening act for tiresome comedy routines about two gay inmates. Things get more exiting once Takakura is set free and he takes a job to drive a certain truck through Hokkaido. This is when the film becomes a variation of the John Ford classic Stagecoach (1939), with Takakura’s truck packing an unusual cargo: a runaway teenager (Reiko Ohara), a mother accompanied by sick child, and two ruthless criminals (Tooru Abe and Takashi Fujiki).

There are few surprises to be encountered, but the presence of ever reliable genre actors, winter landscapes, and groovy jazz score make it a passable time waster. Sonny Chiba appears in a pretty small supporting role as an inmate with health problems. His character actually kicks off the storyline, however, he is only seen in the early scenes. Chiba later returned for another supporting role in the 6th film: Duel in the South (1966), which was a slightly bigger part, but nevertheless quite forgettable.







The Street Fighter (Gekitotsu: Satsujin ken) (Shigero Ozawa, 1974)

This was the film that started the golden age of Japanese karate entertainment. Two important factors should be considered when we discuss the film: timing and talent. Although Chiba had been making action movies since the early 1960s, including a couple of full-fledged martial arts films, Japanese karate films had never really taken off. For years Chiba had to deal with producers and directors who had little interest in the fighting aspect. Matters were made even worse by tight filming schedules. Things finally begun to change Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon was released in Japanese theatres in December 1973 and proved a major hit. All of a sudden there was a genuine demand for martial arts films. The producers naturally went for Chiba. The Street Fighter was Toei’s response to Lee’s success, produced at lightning fast schedule to hit the theatres less than two months after Enter the Dragon.

The timing was perfect also because the other vital requisite for a good martial arts movie, the necessary action talent, had just been discovered a few months earlier. Chiba’s earlier action films had suffered from the lack physically capable supporting actors who could make good opponents for Chiba. Most of Toei’s action film stars were yakuza film actors who looked fine with a gun or sword, but made pretty poor karate fighters. This finally changed when Chiba discovered Masashi Ishibashi, who was cast as a villain in Chiba’s previous movie Bodyguard Kiba 2 (1973). Ishibashi was a real life karate master and Chiba’s senior, who had been acting in movies for a good while already but hadn’t done much on-screen action before. With Ishibashi on board Chiba had finally found an actor who could keep up with the choreographies even when films had to be completed at lighting fast pace.

The action scenes in The Street Fighter were co-designed by Chiba and Ishibashi, who played the film’s famous villain and returned for countless other Chiba films like Karate Bullfighter. There were other real life martial artists involved as well, like Masafumi Suzuki, who plays the martial arts master Chiba challenges in the dojo scene. Chiba’s brother Jiro, who later went on to star in The Defensive Power of Aikido (1975), and Chiba’s protégé Etsuko Shihomi, who would become the biggest Japanese female martial arts star of all time, were also featured in minor roles.

The Street Fighter also became an unforgettable showcase of Chiba’s anti-hero charm and ultra-violence. Chiba was given relatively free hands at creating the main character, who was a badass mercenary called Takuma Tsurugi. Chiba drew influences from the psychotic yakuza villain he had played in Kinji Fukasaku’s yakuza film Deadly Battle in Hiroshima (1973), but made the character a little les evil this time round. What resulted was 90 minutes of cinematic badassness that remains one of the most enjoyable action films of the 1970s.

For better or worse, The Street Fighter has characterized Chiba’s reputation since then and made him a cult hero all around the world. However, his best work as an on-screen martial artist was still to come. The Street Fighter was still a contemporary action film where, for the most part, gunplay had merely been replaced with martial arts. It wasn’t until the next year when Chiba’s martial movies found their purest form in films like The Killing Machine, Karate Bearfighter and The Defensive Power of Aikido, all of which were biopics of real life martial artists.

As a side note, there is some confusion regarding Chiba’s side-kick character calling him “darling” throughout the film in the Japanese language version. This is quite amusing indeed, especially considering he even cooks Chiba’s meals, however, it’s a misunderstanding. The word is not “darling”, it’s “talen” which is Chinese for “master”. This makes perfect sense since the character is supposed to be Chinese or Singaporean, whose life was saved by Chiba. The Japanese mispronunciation of the term has, however, even fooled Japanese audiences.







The evening was characterized by beaten up prints. Abashiri Prison had essentially turned into a “pink film” if you know what I mean. The Street Fighter, too, had little of the original colours remaining, and frames were missing in several points throughout the film. In fact, the famous bit of ultra-violence where Chiba sticks his fingers into the opponent’s eyes was completely missing due to print damage. Even in this condition the film still kicked major ass and it was a pleasure seeing it on 35mm. Although these two prints were in poor condition, most of the films at the festival screened from very good, sometimes even near pristine prints.

[HungFist]

Sonny Chiba Festival Day 7: July 4th (Friday)

Memoir of Japanese Assassins (Nihon ansatsu hiroku) (Sadao Nakajima, 1969)

Sadao Nakajima was one of Toei’s seminal genre film directors. He worked in almost any genre that was popular at the time, and delivered competent films that ranged from ninja adventures to sexploitation and yakuza movies. He had, however, also an urge to deliver something more ambitious, as evidenced by his surprising 1973 visit to Art Theatre Guild where he directed the gangster drama Aesthetics of a Bullet. Memoir of Japanese Assassins is another odd beast is his filmography. This all star political slaughter fest chronicles murders committed by assassins in different eras, all based on reality. Stars like Ken Takakura, Tomisaburo Wakayama and Bunta Sugawara pop up for their 5 minute episodes only to cut someone’s head off, stab someone to death or blow someone into pieces with a hand grenade.

The seemingly endless cavalcade of ultra-violent kills finally comes to an end about 25 minutes into the film. This is when the film finds its main story: an impressive tale of a young man slowly transforming into a political assassin. Sonny Chiba portrays this character; a youngster living in the middle of never ending poverty and misery. He eventually finds new home with a revolutionary group, which begins his long road to becoming a political assassin. This episode takes no less than 90 minutes of the film’s 142 minute running time, features almost no action or bloodshed, and gives Chiba more screen time than all the other stars combined.

Chiba is quite good in the leading role, despite slightly overdoing his most emotional scenes. He actually won an acting award for his performance at the Kyoto Citizen Film Festival (Kyoto shimin eiga sai), where Hideo Gosha’s Hitokiri was also awarded the same year. Yakuza film queen Junko Fuji also appears in a seminal supporting role in this episode. Once their story concludes, the film still continues with two more short episodes (one of them featuring stock footage from the earlier Chiba film The Escape, 1962). As a whole the film is a bit uneven, but it’s nevertheless a fascinating and occasionally epic (partly thanks to composer Isao Tomita, whose score plays on repeat) movie. Easily recommended!








Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 (Kiyoshi Nishimura, 1980)

The second film for Friday was a real rarity: the 1980 special effects extravaganza Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 (literally Tokyo Great Earthquake Magnitude 8.1). This generously budgeted TV film premiered on Nihon TV in 1980, and completely disappeared from the face of earth until it was screened in a special event in Tokyo last year. That screening was reportedly so popular that only a fraction of the willing customers were able to obtain a ticket. Cinema Vera gave the film no less than three screening days, during which it was seen from a relatively worn out 16 mm print, which would of course be the original format.

As the title suggests, it’s a disaster movie based on the premise of a giant earthquake hitting in Tokyo. This fear stems from real life: Tokyo has been destroyed by earthquakes several times, most recently in 1923 when more than 140 000 people died and over 400 000 buildings were destroyed. When it comes to Japanese cinema the genre may not seen very common – a couple of exceptions aside there aren’t many Japanese disaster movies – however, it closely relates to monster movies and other tokusatsu epics that have long traditions in Japan. It was a short way from giant monsters stamping Tokyo to a natural disasters creating similar cinematic destruction.

Indeed, a couple of shots in Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 seem so familiar that they just might be old Godzilla sets put into new use. That wouldn’t be surprising considering many of the filmmakers, including producer Tomoyuki Tanaka and special effects director Koichi Kawakita, and co-production company Toho, had their background in Godzilla films. The fine, even if obvious, miniature work is actually the best thing about the film. There are a couple of especially memorable scenes, like a passenger plane flying over Tokyo that has turned into a giant inferno, and dawn in the destroyed metropolis.

As a character drama Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 falls flat. All the usual clichés from helpless grandmother to dumb children and even animals escaping at the wrong moment are included, not to mention characters discussing how terrible it would be if an earthquake hit Tokyo just a few hours before it really happens. That is quite disappointing considering the film was directed by Kiyoshi Nishimura, who had helmed interesting thrillers and existential action films like The Creature Called Man (1970) and Hairpin Circus (1972) for Toho in the 1970s. Perhaps he just couldn’t help the screenplay.

Sonny Chiba plays the starring role; however, he doesn’t have much else to do than run back and forth in the special effects shots, and worry about supporting characters constantly getting in trouble. It’s not an especially physical role since most of the effects are make-believe. His most memorable scene involves blowing up a door while taking cover inside a safe. Yutaka Nakajima, who appeared in some earlier Chiba films like The Executioner (1974), plays the female lead, but her role is very forgettable as well. There are a few other supporting actors as well, but amusingly a great lack of extras. It seems the entire budget went to special effects since there are only a handful of people in Tokyo and they miraculously run into each other throughout the film.

Because of its rarity Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 will remain to be sought after movie. It’s a decent special effects show that probably deserves to be seen by genre fans, especially for its nostalgia value, but it’s hardly a great movie. For fans of Chiba it’s passable viewing, but not among his most memorable roles.

As a side note; the film’s budget was 150 million yen, which was five times higher than the episode budget for the famous cop-action series Seibu Keisatsu (which is still fondly remembered for its insane action scenes full of car wrecking and explosions) that was screening on TV around the same time. By the 1980s many of the former actions stars, like Yujiro Ishihara, Tetsuya Watari, and Chiba himself were mostly working on TV. Chiba had already starred in hundred of TV episodes in various different shows since the 1960s, like Key Hunter (1967-1973) and The Bodyguard (1974). In the 1980s television became his primary employer as well. It was a great era of epic small screen action entertainment that often rivalled, and sometimes surpassed, the theatrical films. Nothing like it exists on Japanese TV anymore.

[HungFist]

I ran out of time to write reviews... There's still gonna be three more Chiba posts, but I gotta take a break now. I'll get back to it as soon as I have time, but I don't know when that will be.



To be continued...

[HungFist]

[Reserved for Chiba]

[HungFist]

[Reserved for Chiba]

[HungFist]

[Reserved for Chiba]

[HungFist]

Since it's going to take time before I can get back to Chiba I decided to move on for now. I reserved three empty posts which I can update with Chiba content later (I'll let you know then).

So, last week was in Tokyo on business, supposed go to meet some quests at the airport in the morning, and feeling pissed off for going to miss Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970) on 35mm as it was playing at Ginrei Hall at the same time. Then, the Gods raised a typhoon which delayed their flight by 6 hours! Hah! Just enough for me to see the film!

Great movie of course, my second favorite in the series (after Machine Animal). Among the noteworthy things: Golden Half, a girl band whose members all consisted of half-Japanese women, playing in the club scenes (one of the members, Runa Takamura, later had a brief Roman Porno career as well with the Runa's Confession movies) and rock star Rikiya Yasuoka as the heroic male lead – he’s much better known for bad guy roles and yakuza brutes that dominated his later acting career!



I also saw Wet Sand in August (1970) by Toshiya Fujita in the same theater a few days later. It's a nice early 70s zeitgeist, but one gets the feeling it resonates best with audiences who have lived through the time period depicted in the film. In cinematic sense, unlike some of Fujita’s other films, it's hardly extraordinary. The director spent most of his career bouncing back and forth between youth dramas and crime films with similar themes. This film belongs to the former category and follows a handful of rebellious and restless youngsters hanging out on the beach and eventually heading to the sea with a stolen boat.

This was my first time visiting Ginrei Hall. They usually play semi-recent movies in double features, much like Meguro Cinema, but every once in a while they have special program and 35mm screenings. Very nice cinema with a pretty big screen, not much in terms of lobby, though, as it only takes about 4 steps from the street into the screening room. The cinema has operated since 1974.

Theater website:
http://www.ginreihall.com/

Event Page for special program:
http://www.ginreihall.com/event/index.html

[HungFist]

Oh, and for anyone wishing to visit these places I recommend doing it soon. They're not going to be around forever. Every year one or two of the best places close... I'm still gutted over Shinbashi Bunka closing.

This is what it used to look like a few months ago


This what was left a few weeks ago

[HungFist]

Finally: Chusei Sone memorial retrospective in Cinema Vera (same theater as Chiba fest) in Tokyo. November 29 - December 26. 24 films to be screened. I couldn't say no. Reserved a three day trip to catch Red Violation (1980) and couple of others.
http://www.cinemavera.com/preview.php?no=150

Hakuchu no onnagari (1984) and Red Violation (1980)


Modern Prostitution: Lust Under a Uniform (1974) and Secret Chronicle: Crimson Goddess In Paradise (1973)


Super Gun Lady (1979) and Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973)


Hakuchu no onnagari (1984) and Red Violation (1980)


Super Gun Lady (1979) and Hellish Love (1972)


Taiyo no kizuato apparently played as a double feature with a Jackie Chan film at the time it was released


And Hideo Gosha retro at the same time in Shin Bungeiza!

[HungFist]

Well, isn't this nice. I just found out there's something called Kawasaki Museum in Kawasaki (very near Tokyo, 30 min by train from Shibuya) and they play movies, too! They're now screening Toei yakuza films on 35mm! Gonna drop by next time when I'm in Tokyo (which is in two weeks).

Preliminary plan for my visit:

Saturday:
15:15 Tatsuya Nakadai talk event (Shin Bungeiza)
16:10 Goyokin (1969) (Hideo Gosha, 35mm) (Shin Bungeiza)
18:40 Onimasa (Hideo Gosha, 1982) (35mm) (Shin Bungeiza)

Sunday
11:30 Cops vs. Thugs (Kinji Fukasaku, 1975) (35mm) (Kawasaki Museum)
14:00 Yakuza Graveard (Kinji Fukasaku, 1976) (35mm) (Kawasaki Museum)
16:50 Red Violation (Chusei Sone, 1980) (35mm) (Cinema Vera)
18:15 Angel Guts: Red Classroom (Chusei Sone, 1979) (35mm) (Cinema Vera)

Monday
09:50 Three Outlaw Samurai (Hideo Gosha, 1964) (35mm) (Shin Bungeiza)
11:35 Cash Calls Hell (1966) (Hideo Gosha, 35mm) (Shin Bungeiza)
14:05 Hatakko junjo (Chusei Sone, 1978) (35mm) (Cinema Vera)
15:50 Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (Chusei Sone, 1973) (35mm) (Cinema Vera)

[Guro Taku]

I'm loving the poster for RED VIOLATION! May have to buy one for my wall.

[HungFist]

With two legends of Japanese cinema dead within two weeks (Takakura and Sugawara) it was great to see another legend still in pretty good health. Shin Bungeiza was having a Hideo Gosha retrospective to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gosha's debut film Three Outlaw Samurai, and the first guest was none other than Tatsuya Nakadai. The 81 year old actor held a 45 minute talk event during the first day when Goyokin (1969) and Onimasa (1982) were screened. Nakadai shared his memories and opinions of working with Gosha, how it was cold as hell when they were shooting Goyokin, how Japanese cinema lost one of the last true legends when Takakura died (Sugawara died two days later), and other stuff. Although he said he's starting to feel his age, he certainly hadn't lost his sense of humour. Needless to say, the theater was packed with people who came to see him and have him long applauds.



As usual, the theater was decorated with posters and memorabilia Gosha films

Goyokin and Onimasa, both starring Nakadai


Three Outlaw Samurai and Cash Calls Hell


Three Outlaw Samurai


Hideo Gosha




Seeing Goyokin from a pristine 35mm print on Shin Bungeiza's 10 metre screen was beyond epic. Fantastic movie with gorgeous locations, haunting score and great performance by Nakadai. Three Outlaw Samurai and Cash Calls Hell were nearly as great experiences as well. Onimasa is not bad either - Nakadai's manic performance especially is enjoyable - though it pales in comparison to the yakuza films of the 1970s.

[HungFist]

Pictures from the Chusei Sone Festival (Cinema Vera, Tokyo)

Theater lobby. Only guys in this photo, but there was a blond girl + a few Japanese ladies in Red Violation


Red Violation (1980), Teacher Deer (1978), Supergun Lady Wani Bunsho (1979)


Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975) and Hellish Love (1972)


Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979), Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973) and three posters for Red Violation (1980)


Three posters for Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979) + Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973) and Red Violation (1980)


Teacher Deer (1978) and two posters for Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975)


Three posters for Red Violation (1980), Hatakko junjo (1978) and two posters for Secret Chronicle: Prostitution Market (1972)


Taiyo no kizuato (1981)


Love Bandit Rat Man (1972) and Taiyo no kizuato (1981)


Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform (1974) and Love Bandit Rat Man (1972)


Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975), 100 High School Girls: Secret Motel Report (1975) and Supergun Lady Wani Bunsho (1979)


Sigh 2 (1974), Showa Woman: Naked Rashomon (1973) and Hostess Confidential: Three Juicy Sisters (1975)


As for the films, I hope to write more later, but Taiyo no kizuato (1981) was terrific. It's got everything a good youth flick needs: sex, bikes, car chases, surfing, disco scenes, and Kahori Takeda. It's probably the best film I've seen from Sone. Red Violation (1980) is great, too. A very enjoyable zeitgest that follows the 1980s rock band Devils (played by the real members, including the gaijin member James Hunt in a pretty big role). It's a film that could've been done by ATG just as well. A bit of sex, nice characters, and tons of great music (the film ends with a terrific 10 minute scene where the band is composing and practicing their new song). Note that the reviews by Weisser and Firsching are fabricated. And Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform (1974) was a positive surprise: a stylishly shot grindhouse/arthouse slice of life drama that resembled Tanaka's Secret Chronicle: She-Beast Market + had hot gals with amazing boobs.

Saw a few others, too, but too tired to write now. Except that avoid Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973)! Like plague. Unless you suffer from insomnia!

[HungFist]

I was in Tokyo during the weekend...







Didn't stay night there though... not with my budget. Capsule for me as usual

Video:
https://youtu.be/EMgujv90Y1o

[HungFist]

I was supposed to be in Tokyo right now, but I found out 10 minutes before I went to sleep the night before the flight that Nobuhiko Obayashi all night event is sold out! Fuck! I didn't even stand a chance to get a ticket because they were only sold from the theatre.

I had this ridiculous/genius plan to watch Obayashi flicks until 5am, then take the first train to the airport, fly back home and celebrate by girlfriend's birthday. But with no Obayashi I decided to call off the whole trip.

I guess I should be happy I didn't find myself in Takadanobaba in the middle of the night with neither tickets nor accommodation. Still, can't help but to feel pretty gutted for missing House, and some non-Obayashi stuff I was supposed to see, like Taifu Club on 35mm...

Oh well, another try next month when Cinema Vera is having Meiko Kaji retro, Jinbocho is having manga adaptation live action film special, National Film Centre is screening Takakura and Sugawara flicks, and Laputa plays 1960s Toei crime films.

The following films (and more) are screening within a period of 6 days. All 35mm of course.

[HungFist]

Meiko Kaji film festival

Festival poster


Front


Yakuza Graveyard (1976), Dômyaku rettô (1975), Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter


Women's Police (1969), Kyoka retsuden shumei tobaku (1969), Dômyaku rettô (1975)


Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)


Lady Snowblood (1973)


Double Suicide of Sonezaki (1978), Nihon zankyoden (1969), Monument to the Girl's Corps (1968)


Female Prisoner Scorpion: Grudge Song (1974)


Posting from a capsule hotel... more movies tomorrow!

[HungFist]

Here's what I would consider one of the best discoveries I've done this year, seen in Laputa Asagaya a few months ago

Car 33 Doesn't Answer (33 gosha otonashi) (1955)

A terrific, gritty crime film follows two policemen riding around Tokyo in their patrol car, picking up drunks, hookers, junkies and killers on what seems like a never-ending Christmas night. They finally run into professional criminals who highjack their car and take them as hostage. This is a realistic, atmospheric film that beautifully captures the post-war streets of Tokyo on film while also telling a great story with excellent characters. Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece High & Low would be a good comparison point; however, it's remarkable how much time director Senkichi Taniguchi spends documenting the policemen's everyday work and encounters with random people before turning on the plot gear. A rarely seen gem entirely worthy of a Criterion release. Unfortunately it has never been released on DVD even in Japan.

A few images from the film:



And some artwork and pictures related to the film from the theatre:






The film played in Ryo Ikebe retrospective, which also contained a few dozen other movies, like Gorath and Pale Flower (the poster in the photo below).





That weekend I also visited Meguro Cinema where they had a double feature consisting of The Youth Killer (1976) and Ryuji (1983). Unfortunately I'm no fan of Ryuji: I think it's a prime example of the tiresome Japanese 1980s "serious" gangster cinema where action and exploitation were replaced with uninspired drama and realistic characters who spent most of the film sitting in the kitchen because life is hard. The Youth Killer is an interesting film with a mixture of gritty realism, social commentary, and highly theatrical acting. At the same time, however, it's a hard film to stomach with almost no entertainment value whatsoever except for Mieko Harada`s naked body, some very darkly humoristic moments, and a great soundtrack by Godiego. Very much an arthouse film for the arthouse crowd, and not a feel-good film in the least.

[HungFist]

Here's a bit more on Taiyo no kizuato, which I saw at the Sone festival last year



Taiyo no kizuato (1981)
The year 1981 saw two modern sun tribe films hit the screens almost simultaneously. Kichitaro Negishi's brilliant updating of Crazed Fruit (1956) was released by Nikkatsu in April. Chusei Sone's Taiyo no kizuato came out already bit earlier from Toei. The excellent youth film follows a delinquent boy who runs into his shy little brother, and his innocent girlfriend, for the first time in 11 years. He brings them to his beach crib where he's having fun with his no-good friends. This initiates an interesting psychological game where the big brother never seems quite sure if he wants to protect or destroy his brother's innocence. The film also packs literally every single genre cliché in the most enjoyable form: car chases, boat chases, motorcycles, fist fighting, sex, nudity, disco scenes, and rock music. Ken Ogata has a terrific supporting role as the main character's father, an alcoholic university professor who is constantly holding parties and couldn't care less if his son has raped some random girl or not. Probably director Sone's best film, but unfortunately this too has never been released on DVD or VHS.

A few stills from the film






I also bought the original pamphlet for it






The film was originally released as a double feature with Shaolin Wooden Men, so the pamphlet also dedicates (more than) half of the pages for the Jackie Chan film




And here's a few more words about Red Violation.

Red Violation (1980)
This is one of Chusei Sone's best films, a terrific music docudrama released in the Roman Porno series, but actually far more fit for Art Theatre Guild's catalogue. The film follows the real life rock band Devils, played by the band's members, as they perform on clubs, compose new songs, and have their misadventures in private life. The film concludes in an utterly fantastic 10 minute scene where when band is practicing and refining their new song, which must be one of the best scenes of its kind ever filmed. Also of interest is that this is one of the few Japanese movies that dedicates a large portion of the film to an American cast member, The Devils member James Hunt, whose character is treated with no prejudice at all. On the minus side, the lack of strong plot, as well as a few unnecessary sex scenes, sometimes slow the film down a bit. A very strong slice of life picture that beautifully captures its era. Unfortunately, this film too has never been released on DVD or VHS.

Unfortunately there is very little image material available to post.

Here are two stills



Here's an cover for one Devil's records. James Hunt is the guy on the left


Another cover (Hunt on the left again). This these songs are also in the film


And here's the poster one more time. I think this is a beauty, even though in typical Nikkatsu fashion they've put a girl who plays a suppporting role (Megumi Saki) in the front (and what is she holding in her hand... a whip? Certainly has nothing to do with the film) and the guys who star in it in the back.



I originally intended to write more about both films, but it doesn't seem like I'll ever find the time...