Waga jinsei saiaku no toki (1993)

Maiku Hama is a private detective working in Yokohama. Hama comes to the aid of a Taiwanese waiter named Yang and agrees to track down his missing brother. Through a series of ... See full summary »

Director:

Kaizô Hayashi

Writers:

Kaizô Hayashi, Daisuke Tengan

Stars:

Masatoshi Nagase, Shirô Sano, Kiyotaka Nanbara

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masatoshi Nagase	...	Maiku Hama
Shirô Sano	...	Masaru Kanno
Kiyotaka Nanbara	...	Hoshino
Hai-Ping Yang	...	Yang Hai Tin
Te-Chien Hou	...	De Jian (as Hou De Jian)
Akaji Maro	...	Lt. Nakayama
Shin'ya Tsukamoto	...	Yamaguchi
Jô Shishido	...	Joe
Haruko Wanibuchi	...	Lily Hama
Kaho Minami	...	Byakuran
Mika Ohmine	...	Akane Hama
Housei Kondo	...	Kondo
Masako Miyaji	...	Masako
Kenji Anan	...	Kitamura
Zen Kajihara	...	Iwasaki (as Zen Kajiwara)

Storyline

Maiku Hama is a private detective working in Yokohama. Hama comes to the aid of a Taiwanese waiter named Yang and agrees to track down his missing brother. Through a series of double-crosses Hama gets embroiled in a gang war and a revenge plot between the two brothers.

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Plot Keywords:

private detective | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Japan Taiwan

Language:

Japanese Mandarin

Release Date:

5 March 1994 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Najstraszniejszy czas w moim zyciu

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Detective Office, For Life Records Inc., Shutter Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Shiritsu tantei Hama Maiku: Namae no nai mori (2002)

User Reviews

Odd hodgepodge of influences and ideas actually resulting in a really entertaining movie

The Most Terrible Time In My Life is quite simply a real oddity of a film. The film is a hodgepodge of influences (namely Seijun Suzuki and Mickey Spillane), genres (Japanese '60s B-movies, film-noir, and comedy), and ideas. Really, the film should feel like a mess as it shifts on the drop of a dime from trying to appear like a serious noir to being a wacky comedy, but surprisingly it all manages to work.

Kaizo Hayashi, the director, even gets to work in his heavy influence from Seijun Suzuki without it feeling derivative (that right there, you have to admit, is a feat worthy of notice!). It is strange to watch a Japanese movie from 1994 that simultaneously feels like it is a mid-'90s Japanese film and an early '60s B-movie shot by Suzuki on one of his much less abstract and experimental endeavors.

But see, right there is one of the most charming and endearing characteristics of The Most Terrible Time In My Life; that the film feels old and new, original and old-hat, that it acts serious and then suddenly goofy and then back to being serious, that it can be hip and carefree and then gritty and a downer and back again--and all of this throughout the film somehow works.

This film is incredibly entertaining and interesting, and immensely enjoyable (plus the cameo by Jo Shishido *AS* Jo Shishido, who seemingly is not an actor in the world of the movie but instead the long-standing P.I. mentor to the protagonist, is mind blowing to anyone who is a fan of "Cheek's" films or his work with Suzuki). If you can get a hold of this film, you really should, it is well worth your time if you have any interest in film noir/neo-noir, Mike Hammer, Seijun Suzuki, or left-field Japanese cinema.