More than his indie debut Skinless Night, this was the film that launched Mochizuki on his distinctive trajectory through the crime and yakuza genres. Matsuzaki (Eiji Okuda) is a racing tipster for a sports paper, a lowlife who spends half his time drunk, hangs out with yakuza and other riff-raff and complicates his sex life by succumbing to advances from his girlfriend’s sister. As played by Okuda, he’s also a figure of considerable hangdog charm. Less a plot-based movie than a guide to the several forms of high stakes gambling in Japan, this centres on his attempt to help a friend swindled in a bent mahjong game. Hakuryu appears (memorably) as an inscrutable yakuza in a black leather jacket. The film’s success led to two sequels.
Akira Kurosawa
Angel of Darkness Collection
Criterion Collection
Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa
Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir
Eclipse Series 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties
Eclipse Series 26: Silent Naruse
Eclipse Series 28: The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara
Godzilla Collection
Nakano School Collection
Ninja Vixens Series
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Tora-san
Zatoichi