My thoughts and admiration for Mark Schilling’s work have already been shared in the review of “Art, Cult and Commerce“. In that regard, continuing with his bibliography was inevitable, and the fact that the present book deals with the oldest Japanese motion picture studio, and particularly its Action Cinema period, made its appeal even more intense. Even more so, since, during the latest years, there seems to be a renewal of interest regarding the genre, especially through the home video releases of companies like Arrow and Eureka.
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
- 5/15/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Stars: Tetsuya Watari, Ryûji Kita, Chieko Matsubara, Hideaki Nitani, Eimei Esumi | Written by Yasunori Kawauchi | Directed by Seijun Suzuki
It would be easy to assume that Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 crime thriller is a construct of a TV series. With its strictly-defined three-act structure, divided by subtitles, it has the feel of a succession of episodes stitched awkwardly together across 90 minutes. But it actually is a cheesy, kind of likeable, complete film.
Tetsuya Watari plays Tetsu “The Phoenix” Hondo, an ex-mobster trying to go straight. He and his avuncular old boss Kurata (Ryûji Kita) live in peace in a building owned by a kindly landlord named Yoshii (Michio Hino). However, Kurata’s old foe, Otsuka (Eimei Esumi) isn’t done with him yet. They force Yoshii to sell the building to them, triggering a fight between the Kurata and Otsuka clans. Tetsu can’t help but get involved.
To save Kurata from further conflict,...
It would be easy to assume that Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 crime thriller is a construct of a TV series. With its strictly-defined three-act structure, divided by subtitles, it has the feel of a succession of episodes stitched awkwardly together across 90 minutes. But it actually is a cheesy, kind of likeable, complete film.
Tetsuya Watari plays Tetsu “The Phoenix” Hondo, an ex-mobster trying to go straight. He and his avuncular old boss Kurata (Ryûji Kita) live in peace in a building owned by a kindly landlord named Yoshii (Michio Hino). However, Kurata’s old foe, Otsuka (Eimei Esumi) isn’t done with him yet. They force Yoshii to sell the building to them, triggering a fight between the Kurata and Otsuka clans. Tetsu can’t help but get involved.
To save Kurata from further conflict,...
- 2/19/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Review by Roger Carpenter
After laboring for close to a decade as an assistant director for Nikkatsu Studios, Yasuharu Hasebe burst onto the scene as a lead director in 1966 with Black Tight Killers and 1967 with the more subdued but very good Massacre Gun. Retaliation, which starred some of Nikkatsu’s primary actors (called the “Diamond Line”), was an A-list film, in color, and was a return to a more violent yakuza tale than Hasebe’s previous Massacre Gun.
Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro, a yakuza who has just been released from a long stint in prison. He returns to find his family dismantled, with only his ailing boss and one loyal yakuza member remaining. On top of this, Hino (Jo Shishido), brother of the man Jiro was imprisoned for killing, is tailing him and seeking revenge. Jiro reaches out to another family for help in rebuilding his gang and is...
After laboring for close to a decade as an assistant director for Nikkatsu Studios, Yasuharu Hasebe burst onto the scene as a lead director in 1966 with Black Tight Killers and 1967 with the more subdued but very good Massacre Gun. Retaliation, which starred some of Nikkatsu’s primary actors (called the “Diamond Line”), was an A-list film, in color, and was a return to a more violent yakuza tale than Hasebe’s previous Massacre Gun.
Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro, a yakuza who has just been released from a long stint in prison. He returns to find his family dismantled, with only his ailing boss and one loyal yakuza member remaining. On top of this, Hino (Jo Shishido), brother of the man Jiro was imprisoned for killing, is tailing him and seeking revenge. Jiro reaches out to another family for help in rebuilding his gang and is...
- 1/8/2018
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Nikkatsu logo, especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was a bit of a promise – 80-100 minutes of wild guys, sexy ladies, mob showdowns, a handful of visually-striking locations (get ready for nothing but bars, nightclubs, and docks), and a good deal of brooding over morality before the inevitable eruption of violence. These were as programatic as they come, yet within those strictures, the filmmakers under contract to the studio found enough room to practice some pretty wild stuff, or at least have some fun in so doing. Though the true classics from the studio (especially those by Shohei Imamura and Seijun Suzuki) were definitely outliers, to the point that the directors behind them were punished or fired for making them, that baseline promise captured the imaginations of young moviegoers at the time and have remained steadfast pleasures for today’s cinephiles.
For those whose curiosity was piqued...
For those whose curiosity was piqued...
- 3/30/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
In celebration of Japan’s oldest film studio, Nikkatsu, Arrow Video assembles its first collection of titles reflecting the late 1950s inauguration of a star system contracted for their ‘Diamond Line.’ This trio of features reflects the rising popularity of extravagant genre narratives in the evolving system, and includes obscure titles from master auteurs such as Seijun Suzuki, Toshio Masuda, and Buichi Saito (early titles from Suzuki and Masuda were also part of a notable 2009 Eclipse series set, Nikkatsu Noir).
The pearl of the collection is Suzuki’s Voice without a Shadow, a rare gem from the master director’s early period. One of four films he made in 1958 (another being the early classic Underworld Beauty), it feels rather heavily modeled after various American film noir tropes, but in true Suzuki fashion, much more complicated. If “Beauty” felt like a generous Sam Fuller riff, then “Voice” seems a recalibration of something like Sorry,...
The pearl of the collection is Suzuki’s Voice without a Shadow, a rare gem from the master director’s early period. One of four films he made in 1958 (another being the early classic Underworld Beauty), it feels rather heavily modeled after various American film noir tropes, but in true Suzuki fashion, much more complicated. If “Beauty” felt like a generous Sam Fuller riff, then “Voice” seems a recalibration of something like Sorry,...
- 3/15/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
When it comes to a name for a collection of movies, you have to admit that Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Volume 1 sounds pretty cool. Featuring three films with three iconic action film actors this is a release that just oozes style… The connection between the three movies is not surprisingly the gangster lifestyle. The first film for me is the superior of the three. The Voice Without a Shadow stars Hideaki Nitani and follows the story of Asako a former telephone operator. After she hears the voice of a murder suspect, it continues to haunt her. When she hears the voice once more years later she decides to investigate the man, but when he is killed and her husband is the chief suspect all seems doomed.
The second film sees Yujiro Ishihara star in Red Pier as Jiro the Lefty. A killer who witnesses the death of a man in a...
The second film sees Yujiro Ishihara star in Red Pier as Jiro the Lefty. A killer who witnesses the death of a man in a...
- 1/29/2016
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Stars: Akira Kobayashi, Jô Shishido, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Gô, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Meiko Kaji, Shôki Fukae, Ryôji Hayama, Kaku Takashina | Written by Yoshihiro Ishimatsu, Keiji Kubota | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
- 5/12/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Stars: Jô Shishido, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Ryôji Hayama, Takashi Kanda, Hideaki Nitani, Ken Sanders, Tamaki Sawa | Written by Yasuharu Hasebe, Ryûzô Nakanishi | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
- 4/8/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Branded to Kill is among the Nikkatsu films to be screened.
The BFI will showcase a month long London film festival tribute to Japan's legendary Nikkatsu Studios during the month of June. Below is press release information:
The oldest of Japan’s film studios, Nikkatsu was established in 1912 as the Japan Cinematograph Company (Nippon katsudo shashin kaisha). Home to ‘father of Japanese cinema’ Shozo Makino, it fostered early directors like Kenji Mizoguchi, Daisuke Ito and Tomu Uchida, until restructuring of the industry by the wartime government in 1942 saw its production facilities hived off to form the new Daiei Corporation, with Nikkatsu surviving only in an exhibition capacity.
In 1954, Nikkatsu resumed production, rising phoenix-like under the guidance of studio head Kyusaku Hori to carve out a unique identity in the highly competitive market of the postwar Golden Age. Its breakthrough came with the 1956 double whammy of Takumi Furukawa’s Season of...
The BFI will showcase a month long London film festival tribute to Japan's legendary Nikkatsu Studios during the month of June. Below is press release information:
The oldest of Japan’s film studios, Nikkatsu was established in 1912 as the Japan Cinematograph Company (Nippon katsudo shashin kaisha). Home to ‘father of Japanese cinema’ Shozo Makino, it fostered early directors like Kenji Mizoguchi, Daisuke Ito and Tomu Uchida, until restructuring of the industry by the wartime government in 1942 saw its production facilities hived off to form the new Daiei Corporation, with Nikkatsu surviving only in an exhibition capacity.
In 1954, Nikkatsu resumed production, rising phoenix-like under the guidance of studio head Kyusaku Hori to carve out a unique identity in the highly competitive market of the postwar Golden Age. Its breakthrough came with the 1956 double whammy of Takumi Furukawa’s Season of...
- 5/21/2013
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Hideaki Nitani and Yujiro Ishihara
in Toshio Masuda's Red Handkerchief (1964)
Via Cinema Strikes Back
"Sad news the weekend for fans of Nikkatsu action films of the 1960s," writes Chris MaGee at J-Film Pow-Wow. "Actor Hideaki Nitani, best known for his supporting roles in such films as Underworld Beauty and Tokyo Drifter, died of pneumonia on Saturday, January 7th at a Tokyo hospital. He was 81…. In 1954 Nikkatsu had finally begun to produce films again after having temporarily shuttering itself during the post-war Us Occupation. Joining Nitani during this hiring blitz were stars like Akira Kobayashi, Yujiro Ishihara and Jo Shishido. Nitani made his screen debut in 1956 in Takumi Furukawa's The People of Okinawa. This would begin a string of roles, mostly as tough guys and gangsters, in the films of Seijun Suzuki, Yuzo Kawashima, Ko Nakahira, and Koreyoshi Kurahara, amongst others."
From the Mainichi Daily News: "Nitani shifted his...
in Toshio Masuda's Red Handkerchief (1964)
Via Cinema Strikes Back
"Sad news the weekend for fans of Nikkatsu action films of the 1960s," writes Chris MaGee at J-Film Pow-Wow. "Actor Hideaki Nitani, best known for his supporting roles in such films as Underworld Beauty and Tokyo Drifter, died of pneumonia on Saturday, January 7th at a Tokyo hospital. He was 81…. In 1954 Nikkatsu had finally begun to produce films again after having temporarily shuttering itself during the post-war Us Occupation. Joining Nitani during this hiring blitz were stars like Akira Kobayashi, Yujiro Ishihara and Jo Shishido. Nitani made his screen debut in 1956 in Takumi Furukawa's The People of Okinawa. This would begin a string of roles, mostly as tough guys and gangsters, in the films of Seijun Suzuki, Yuzo Kawashima, Ko Nakahira, and Koreyoshi Kurahara, amongst others."
From the Mainichi Daily News: "Nitani shifted his...
- 1/9/2012
- MUBI
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