Another great film by the legendary Koreyoshi Kurahara. Yes, it's a genre film; but Kurahara can't help but make it art, because he's just so damn good. The abundance of on screen talent includes Tatsuya Nakadai (The Human Condition), Yujiro Ishihara (Crazed Fruit) and Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai). The score by Toshiro Mayuzumi is beautiful and is available on Apple Music. His genius can be remembered by his music for Kurahara's The Warped One and Black Sun. He also scored Kenji Mizoguchi's Street of Shame and Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. And then to top off this all star team, you have the beautiful cinematography of Mitsuji Kanau, who if you'll recall, did the cinematography for Kurahara's masterpiece Black Sun.
See what I mean about an all star team??
It was the highest grossing Japanese film of 1969 and because of the genre, it was popular and a lot of fun.
If you're a fan of Koreyoshi Kurahara, like I am, you'll enjoy it.
