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IMDbPro

Pale Flower

Original title: Kawaita hana
  • 19641964
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
Pale Flower (1964)
ActionCrime
A gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambli... Read allA gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.A gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
    • Masahiro Shinoda
    • Shintarô Ishihara(based on the novel by)
    • Masaru Baba(screenplay)
    • Masahiro Shinoda(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Ryô Ikebe
    • Mariko Kaga
    • Takashi Fujiki
    • Masahiro Shinoda
    • Shintarô Ishihara(based on the novel by)
    • Masaru Baba(screenplay)
    • Masahiro Shinoda(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Ryô Ikebe
    • Mariko Kaga
    • Takashi Fujiki
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 23User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos35

    Pale Flower (1964)
    Pale Flower (1964)
    Mariko Kaga in Pale Flower (1964)
    Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe in Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe in Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe in Pale Flower (1964)
    Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe and Mariko Kaga in Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe in Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe in Pale Flower (1964)
    Ryô Ikebe and Mariko Kaga in Pale Flower (1964)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ryô Ikebe
    Ryô Ikebe
    • Muraki
    Mariko Kaga
    Mariko Kaga
    • Saeko
    Takashi Fujiki
    • Yoh
    Naoki Sugiura
    • Aikawa
    Shin'ichirô Mikami
    Shin'ichirô Mikami
    • Reiji
    Isao Sasaki
    • Jiro
    Kôji Nakahara
    • Tamaki
    • (as Koji Nakahara)
    Chisako Hara
    • Yakuza's Lover
    Seiji Miyaguchi
    Seiji Miyaguchi
    • Gang leader Funada
    Eijirô Tôno
    Eijirô Tôno
    • Gang Leader Yasuoka
    Mikizo Hirata
    • Mizuguchi
    Reizaburô Yamamoto
    Reizaburô Yamamoto
    Kyû Sazanka
    Kyû Sazanka
    • Imai
    Hideo Kidokoro
    Akio Tanaka
    • Patron
    Hiroshi Mizushima
    Isao Tamagawa
    Shin'ya Mizushima
    • Sabu
      • Masahiro Shinoda
      • Shintarô Ishihara(based on the novel by)
      • Masaru Baba(screenplay)
      • Masahiro Shinoda(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The release of this film, originally scheduled for 1963, was held up for nearly a year. Explanations for the delay vary. The movie's co-scenarist, Masaru Baba, apparently complained to the studio, Shochiku, that director Masahiro Shinoda had emphasized visual style at the expense of his more detailed script. Another explanation of the delay is that Japanese authorities were made uncomfortable by the movie's scenes of high-stakes (and illegal) gambling using "flower cards," which were filmed in great detail and in a way that they felt glorified this activity.
    • Quotes

      Muraki: People - such strange animals. What are they living for? Their faces are lifeless, dead. They're desperately pretending to be alive. Why make such a big deal about slaughtering one of these dumb beasts?

    User reviews23

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Lean, dark, and atmospheric
    If you like your film noir lean and atmospheric, this is probably for you. It also has elements of yakuza, sun tribe, and existentialism, and so seems to blend genres, but at the same time, it's completely focused. The cinematography is wonderful - the scenes at night driving, the stares from across the gambling table, and narrow streets all come to mind - and the audio is too, with a great mix of loud cacophony and scenes so quiet you could hear a pin drop. A murder to the sound of an opera aria is pretty cool, and seems like it must have influenced other directors. The film also benefits from a magnetic couple of actors in the lead roles, Ryo Ikebe and Mariko Kaga. His detached persona fits a remorseless killer perfectly, just as her enigmatic look fits her character's recklessness.

    What's haunting about the film is that both characters are so bored with life that they turn dispassionately to crime and gambling. At the outset of the film he's just gotten out of jail for killing a rival gang member, and while looking at people in crowded Tokyo, says "What are they living for? Their faces are lifeless, dead. They're desperately pretending to be alive." As for the murder he committed, "slaughtering one of these dumb beasts," as he puts it, he says "It's a strange feeling. Somebody died, but nothing has changed." As for her character, named Saeko (a homonym for Psycho, surely not accidentally) she needs to raise the stakes on her obsessive gambling to feel anything, dabbles in drugs for the same reason, and says in a wonderful moment "I wish the sun would never rise. I love these wicked nights." The two are so striking and cool, and yet it's as if they're nearly dead within, empty and in need of something positive to live for. Weirdly, though the two seem attracted to each other, when they end up in bed together while hiding during a police raid, they choose to talk about the flower card game rather than make love.

    There is something about these sentiments in a post-war Japan still searching for itself, and a director like Masahiro Shinoda trying to usher in the New Wave, that's powerful. It may rate even higher with a film connoisseurs for just how clean it is, but it left me wishing there had been a little more plot development. Still a very good film though, and one that may be better on a second watch.
    helpful•5
    0
    • gbill-74877
    • Feb 7, 2020

    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 1, 1964 (Japan)
      • Japan
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Tokyo, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Bungei Production Ninjin Club
      • Shochiku
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 36 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

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