Cruel Gun Story (1964) Kenjû zankoku monogatari (original title)

Director:

Takumi Furukawa

Writers:

Haruhiko Ohyabu
Hisataka Kai

Release Date:

1964 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Businessmen arrange the early release from prison of Togawa, serving time for taking revenge on the...

Plot Keywords:

Heist | Gun | Neo Noir | Japanese Noir | Ex Convict

Cast

Jô Shishido	...	Togawa
Chieko Matsubara	...	Rie
Tamio Kawaji	...	Takizawa
Yuji Odaka	...	Shirai
Minako Katsuki	...	Keiko
Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi	...	Matsumoto
Hiroshi Kondô	...	Kondo
Shôbun Inoue	...	Okada
Saburo Hiromatsu	...	Saeki
Junichi Yamanobe	...	Yanagida

Directed by
Takumi Furukawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hisataka Kai
Haruhiko Ohyabu

Original Music by
Masayoshi Ikeda

Cinematography by
Saburo Isayama

Film Editing by
Masanori Tsujii

Art Direction by
Toshiyuki Matsui

Sound Department
Tsugio Yonezu	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Masahiro Takashima	....	lighting

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu

Distributors

• Nikkatsu (1964) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD) (English subtitles)

Also Known As:

"Kenjû zankoku monogatari" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Company:

Nikkatsu

Starring Jô Shishido, the epitome of Japanese cool.

"Cruel Gun Story" stars one of the weirder actors of his era, Jô Shishido. I say weird because Shishido actually paid to have surgery to give him bizarre cheeks--making him appear, somewhat, like a human chipmunk! This apparently made him quite popular in Japanese crime films (I didn't realize that Japanese criminals were cursed with this odd facial characteristic!). I've seen him in quite a few films including: "Branded to Kill", "Youth of the Beast", "Detective bureau 2-3" and "Gate of Flesh" and he is the epitome of Japanese cool.

When the story begins, you learn that Shishido's been in prison for killing a man who ran over Sashido's sister. As a result, the sister is wheelchair-bound, so Shishido felt compelled to kill the guy. Now, he's been sprung from prison early--apparently some mob boss wants him lead a team in an armored car robbery. Shishido agrees--as he hopes that the money can pay for some miracle surgery to heal her. Unfortunately, there's more to the plan than Shishido is aware of and perhaps this is NOT a good way to make a fast buck. Can our anti-hero somehow survive this bold caper? I could say more, but it would spoil the film.

This is a very taut and exciting crime film thanks to a great plot, good acting and Shishido's character--a nice mixture of coolness, machismo and, in an odd way, honor. Plus, I sure liked the very dark ending--what a finale. Overall, I'd say this is one of the best examples of Japanese noir I have seen and it's well worth seeing--whether or not you are a fan of the genre.