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Based on a novel by Laurence Meynell, this film tells of a young businessman from England who who gets involved in a scheme to inundate a small communist country in the Middle East with counterfeit money. Things do not go as planned when his wife begins digging into matters. This thriller runs a short 59 minutes. ~ Kristie Hassen, RoviRead More »
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Fresh off the box-office success of Violated Angels, an eroticized dramatization of the Richard Speck case, director Koji Wakamatsu turned his attention to another real-life criminal, Yoshio Kodaira, the rapist who terrorized Tokyo in the post-WWII period. Renamed Marqui de Sadao here, and played with a skillfully detached cruelty by future director Osamu Yamashita (Joji Zankokushi), the rapist is depicted as far more perverse than his real-life model, including whipping and mutilation in his bag of evil tricks. As in Wakamatsu’s previous film, capitalism takes the blame for nearly every wrong in Japanese society, but in the context of such an exploitative and calculated attempt to earn box-office attention, much of the social criticism falls flat. Miki Hayashi co-stars with Kazue Sakamoto and Mikiko Ohkawa.Read More »
Synopsis: In the Edo era, two man arrive in a village and engage in criminal activity. While one of them becomes successful and rich, the other gets betrayed and ends up in prison, burning for revenge. The truth changes with the viewpoint in this previously unavailable Wakamatsu film, which has inspired comparisons to Rashomon.Read More »
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An average Los Angeles citizen witnesses a gang murder when he stops to use a telephone. Aware that he is the only witness against them, the gang members seek out his identity and terrorize him and his family to keep him from testifying against them. Only by psychologically playing one gang member against the others is the man able to bring the police to his rescue.Read More »
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The story takes place in two parallel time planes. The first plot follows the events of one autumn night in 1978. Edward Srodon, a zootechnician, makes an accidental stopover in a farmhouse of Dziabas family in the remote area of Bieszczady Mountains. He stays for the night. The initial distrust between the guest and his hosts is quickly dispelled with moonshine and turns into a camaraderie, intimacy and even friendship. A plan of making a joint business arises, as well as passion and lust, which lead to a surprising and tragic consequences… Second plot is set on a winter day, during the Martial Law in Poland. An investigating team of Milicja Obywatelska (People’s Militia) is visiting the crime scene. Lieutenant Mroz is trying to solve the multiple murder case from four years ago. The tool he has to his disposal is the reconstruction of events with help of the chief suspect, Srodon.Read More »
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Albert Spaggiari (Francis Huster), a legendary bank robber, assembles a team of assorted experts, all with great gangster names such as 68, Mike La Baraka, The Egyptian. Together they plan to tunnel up through the sewers and break into the vault of the bank in Nice. Director José Giovanni, himself an ex-convict and a successful crime writer, steps up to helm this film about a super-robbery. Will it work? Will they crack? Will Albert and Charlotte (Lila Kedrova), resolve their differences, or will the police catch them all? Albert Spaggiari was one of the most notorious and successful bank robbers in history, this film tells the tale of just one job!Read More »
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One can certainly wonder why the prolific Takashi Miike is hooked on directing such nutty films. First, lactic effusion, a recurring theme in his cinema (Visitor Q), seems to obsess him, even though that doesn’t explain everything!
Be the judge: a yakuza, at his life’s end, starts to exterminate chihuahuas, convinced that the poor animals have fomented the destruction of his fellow human beings. His paranoiac crises multiply, he becomes a threat for his Organization. His boss orders his execution and charges his most faithful friend to take care of the dirty job.Read More »
Regarded as a milestone in cult maestro Takashi Miike’s career, Osaka Tough Guys (Naniwa Yuukyôden) is the bridge between his work as an apprentice director and as an auteur. It also displays the two distinct themes that he would explore in later work.Read More »
Filmed as a traditional Japanese play, a yakuza boss is released from prison, but finds his gang usurped by a shady politician. With the help of his former cell mate he decides to assassinate the politician with an explosive pen.Read More »