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IMDbPro

Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu

  • 20092009
  • 2h 10m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
Kaiji Ito (Fujiwara) moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalising cars, and drinking. Two years later and his life is no better. A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect payment. She then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt and possibly make a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won't come back from his voyage. Kaiji is then up for the night of his lifeÂ…Â…
Play trailer1:10
1 Video
8 Photos
  • Drama
Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Tôya Satô
  • Writers
    • Nobuyuki Fukumoto(manga)
    • Mika Ohmori(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Tatsuya Fujiwara
    • Ken'ichi Matsuyama
    • Shogen
Top credits
  • Director
    • Tôya Satô
  • Writers
    • Nobuyuki Fukumoto(manga)
    • Mika Ohmori(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Tatsuya Fujiwara
    • Ken'ichi Matsuyama
    • Shogen
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 15User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Kaiji
    Trailer 1:10
    Kaiji

    Photos8

    Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ken'ichi Matsuyama in Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Ken'ichi Matsuyama in Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Tatsuya Fujiwara in Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Tatsuya Fujiwara in Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)
    Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tatsuya Fujiwara
    Tatsuya Fujiwara
    • Kaiji Itoas Kaiji Ito
    Ken'ichi Matsuyama
    Ken'ichi Matsuyama
    • Makoto Saharaas Makoto Sahara
    Shogen
    Shogen
    • Majimaas Majima
    Yûki Amami
    Yûki Amami
    • Rinko Endoas Rinko Endo
    Teruyuki Kagawa
    Teruyuki Kagawa
    • Yukio Tonegawaas Yukio Tonegawa
    Tarô Yamamoto
    Tarô Yamamoto
    • Joji Funaias Joji Funai
    Yuriko Yoshitaka
    • Yasudaas Yasuda…
    Kei Satô
    Kei Satô
    • Kazutaka Okadaas Kazutaka Okada
    Takuma Anzai
    Takuma Anzai
    Nobuyuki Fukumoto
    Nobuyuki Fukumoto
    • Black Suit Aas Black Suit A
    Shôhei Uno
    • Participant #2 of Brave Men Roadas Participant #2 of Brave Men Road
    Ken Mitsuishi
    • Koji Ishidaas Koji Ishida
    Suzuki Matsuo
    • Taro Otsukias Taro Otsuki
    Masako Motai
    Masako Motai
    • Houseboat Proprietressas Houseboat Proprietress
    Sôtarô
    Sôtarô
    • Kitamias Kitami
    Ryushin Tei
    Ryushin Tei
    • Participant #4 of Brave Men Roadas Participant #4 of Brave Men Road
    Yasuhi Nakamura
    • Otaas Ota
    Jun Tsuchiuchi
    • Director
      • Tôya Satô
    • Writers
      • Nobuyuki Fukumoto(manga)
      • Mika Ohmori(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

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    7.2
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    Gyakkyô burai Kaiji
    8.2
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    Liar Game
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    Raiâ gêmu: Za fainaru sutêji
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    Memoirs of a Murderer
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Nobuyuki Fukumoto, creator of the "Kaiji" manga on which this film is based, appears in the film as a black-suited man.
    • Quotes

      Yukio Tonegawa: A Slave... why? Didn't you swap it before the blood sprayed on it?

      Kaiji Ito: Sorry, but no. All I did was pull the face down Citizen and Slave cards close to me, then put a Citizen card over one, only to pull it back. In other words, I only pretended to swap.

      Rinko Endo: He didn't swap them?

      Yukio Tonegawa: Impossible! HOW COULD THIS BE POSSIBLE? WHY, WHY DIDN'T YOU SWAP THEM?

      Kaiji Ito: That's easy. Because I had faith.

      Yukio Tonegawa: Faith?

      Kaiji Ito: Clearly, you're brilliant. Out of anyone I've ever met, you have the sharpest mind.

      [holds up a blood-stained card]

      Kaiji Ito: A man like you... would never fail to notice this blood. Of course you'd notice. And when you do, you'd be suspicious. You'd scrutinize it, realize it's a scheme and see through my plan.

      [slams the card down on the table]

      Kaiji Ito: YOU HAVE TO, BECAUSE YOU'RE SMART! That's why you'd be suspicious, and would recall how I'd swapped cards on the ship, and that I had the chance here. Then you'd snicker... how foolish I am. You'd be completely convinced. And why not? After all, your opponent is trash compared to someone like you. TRASH! You'd gloat. Because you're superior. NO TRASH HAS EVER COME CLOSE TO BEATING YOU. SO I USED YOUR ARROGANT SUPERIORITY AGAINST YOU! AND THIS PATHETIC SLAVE BEAT YOU!

    • Crazy credits
      The Nippon Television Network Corporation logo is accompanied by a ghoulish chant of "zawa".
    • Connections
      Followed by Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      It's All Too Much
      Performed by Yui

    User reviews15

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Brilliant!
    The colourful cast of Death Note (2006) reunite for this inspired manga/anime adaptation. It is a riveting sizzler of a movie made with nerve-jangling Japanese brutality. Kaiji is a down and out thirty-year-old blue-collar loser who has no luck in life. He is bored of his dead-end job at the hypermarket, irritated that pompous and prosperous people drive around in Mercedes and depressed that he never has enough dough to rise above his comatose lifestyle. One day, a debt collector arrives at his flat to offer him the chance to change his empty existence: go on a cruise with other down and outs, gamble, and repay his debts in the ultimate game of deception. If you win, you start your life afresh, if you lose, well, you will never want to fool around with rock-paper-scissors again because Brave Men Road is the only way to escape 15-years of forced underground slave labour.

    Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009) examines the languor of Japanese consumer culture: work, devour, and squander your verve in an everlasting cycle of mass suppression that upholds the lower-class/upper-class divide. This regimented Metropolis style nightmare comes to fruition in the symbolic utopian underground kingdom that blue-collar slave workers must construct for aristocratic city-dwellers. The languid masses march in union, take showers together and buy beer and munchies with their meagre pay to nullify and distract themselves from their authoritarianism. The moral at the heart of Kaiji is simple: if you want to achieve your dreams in this hum/drum existence, you have to wake up, fight, and live recklessly. Would you be willing to walk across an electrified beam between two skyscrapers to pay off your debts while superficial business executives watch you on television screens? If you want to rise above your own worthless comatose lifestyle, why not take up the challenge, you could win lots of money because that is what Brave Men Road is all about, or is it… Verdict: This riveting Battle Royale intoned masterpiece is made with nail-biting suspense, brain-teasing intelligence and mind-blowing wit:-
    helpful•9
    5
    • george_a_romero
    • Jul 25, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 10, 2009 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official site
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler
    • Filming locations
      • Kiryu, Gunma, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Nippon Television Network (NTV)
      • Horipro
      • Toho Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $24,709,016
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 10 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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