Udaka is a new, post-war city where corruption has already taken hold. A persistent district attorney wants to arrest and convict Katsumata, a laughing, self-confident thug. The D.A. gets an anonymous letter about the suicide five years' before of a city council member. Evidence about the case leads the D.A. to Tachibana, struggling to go straight after involvement with the mob and a prison sentence for killing the man responsible for the rape and suicide of his fiancée. One of Tachibana's friends is Keiko, the daughter of the dead councilman and the ward of another powerful official. How do these stories connect?
Cinematography
Expressionist shadows that would make Welles jealous
Acting
Ishihara's smoldering restraint as damaged goods
Director
Toshio Masuda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This launched the 'Nikkatsu Action' wave and made Ishihara the face of post-war Japanese youth alienation—the James Dean of the East, but with better knife skills.
Mie Kitahara and Ishihara were married in real life; their on-screen chemistry here is allegedly what convinced studio execs to keep pairing them until they became Japan's most bankable screen couple.
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