Ore wa matteru ze (1957)

Jôji is a boxer barred from the ring; Saeko is a singer whose voice is gone. Lost souls, they meet one night by a quay; she may be thinking of suicide. He invites her to his café, and ... See full summary »

Director:

Koreyoshi Kurahara

Writer:

Shintarô Ishihara

Stars:

Ken Hatano, Yûjirô Ishihara, Mie Kitahara

Cast

Credited cast:
Ken Hatano	...	Shibata - Younger
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Jôji Shimaki
Mie Kitahara	...	Saeko
Isamu Kosugi	...	Uchiyama
Kôjirô Kusanagi	...	Takeda
Hideaki Nitani	...	Shibata - Shibata elder
Naoki Sugiura	...	Shibata's brother
Kenjiro Uemura	...	Police detective

Storyline

Jôji is a boxer barred from the ring; Saeko is a singer whose voice is gone. Lost souls, they meet one night by a quay; she may be thinking of suicide. He invites her to his café, and perhaps he will rescue her from the cabaret where she's under contract to a vicious mob leader. When the boss insists on her return, Jôji is bitter. He also despairs over lost dreams. His brother has gone to Brazil to purchase a farm; Jôji planned to join him but now believes his brother abandoned him. When Jôji discovers a clue about his brother, he needs Saeko's help. Like a fighter in the ring, he pursues the truth relentlessly, without regard for his own safety. Will it cost his life?

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Plot Keywords:

dream | fighter | boxer | cabaret | quay | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

22 October 1957 (Japan)

Also Known As:

I Am Waiting

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 91 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"I Am Waiting"
Performed by Yûjirô Ishihara

User Reviews

Good, if a little slow

The earliest film in Eclipse's new Nikkatsu Noir set, this one stars Yujiro Ishihara and Mie Kitahara, the two stars of the previous year's Crazed Fruit (these are only two of about two dozen films they made together). I Am Waiting is a pretty good crime flick about a retired boxer who meets up with a lounge singer who is trying to run away from her gangster employer. The boxer has been waiting a year for his brother to contact him from Brazil, where he hopes to move and help his brother farm. Turns out that his brother never made it there. His mysterious disappearance is linked with the aforementioned gangsters. The story here is really good, and, in general, it's well directed and performed. It does move a tad too slowly, though, and the two halves of the plot, the romance and the mystery of the missing brother, are connected by a pretty big and hard-to-buy coincidence. It's a good film, but it's one that feels like it could have been done a little bit better (the perfect film for a remake!).