A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.
Acting
Raizō Ichikawa's eyes do the heavy lifting—haunted, hollow, hypnotic.
Cinematography
Shadow-drenched Yokohama streets that breathe cigarette smoke and regret.
Direction
Mori's patience: violence arrives like an afterthought, which is the point.
Director
Kazuo Mori
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of Daiei's 'Borderless Action' wave—rebel yakuza films that critiqued American occupation and Japanese complicity. Mori and Ichikawa made seven films together, each exploring men trapped by their own competence.
The 82-minute runtime was studio-mandated for double bills, yet Mori uses brevity as brutality—Shiozawa's emptiness feels lived-in because we don't get redemption arcs to comfort us.
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