Just released from prison, a gangster finds himself involved with the fellow yakuza and a diamond plot.
Written by Susumu Saji and directed by Seijun Suzuki, this crime drama with elements of thrillers is one that plays out a bit slow but works decently well overall. The story is decently written and directed, but those who have seen tons of films of its genre, it’s a bit “as usual”. That being said, it is from 1958 so it came before many many others who do the same or similar things, so its historically important to film. Of course, this could lead to a boring film but here, the process may take a while to get really going and get to the point, it is not boring at all. The film takes its time, develops its story carefully, and makes the most of what it has on hand.
The cast here is really strong, giving good to excellent performances, some of them stoic and some of them more emotional, depending on what the film and the scene need at the moment. Actor Michitarô Mizushima plays Miyamoto really well and brings the viewer into the story with his character and how he connects the emotions to the scenes and for the viewer. Joining him and adding a bit of feminine strength is Mari Shiraki as Akiko Mihara who gives her character charm, vulnerability, strength, and more. She’s the real star here, stealing scenes left and right. The cast as a whole works quite well with a few less-great moments. The work they do is good and they know their parts, showing a great spirit of ensemble.
Version 1.0.0
The cinematography by Wataro Nakao is very pretty, making fantastic use of light and darkness, showing that black and white is not limiting when you know what you are doing. The film here looks fantastic and sounds great, the new transfer is lovely on both those fronts.
The new release comes with a few extras here including best of the crop the new interview with Mizuki Kodama from 2024 and Seijun Suzuki’s Love Letter from 1959. The rest of the extras are also high quality, but those two are the top of the crop here. The new transfer is from a restoration made by Nikkatsu Corporation and it looks great with crisp focus as well as a great upgrade to 4k (seen on Blu-ray here). The images have a stark black and white quality that is hard to recreate these days without filming on film. This looks great here and the sound is good from the mono PCM audio. This is a collector’s item for sure, one that will be great along the other recent re-releases of gangster films from the 1960s from Radiance Films and other companies.