Rusty Knife (Sabita naifu)
Directed by Toshio Masuda
Written by Shintaro Ishiharo and Toshio Masuda
1958/Japan
Nikkatsu
First viewing/Hulu
[box] “You can get much further with a kind word and a gun then you can with a kind word alone” ~ Al Capone[/box]
This is a gritty Japanese noir with more graphic violence that we would have seen on US screens at the time.
The authorities have been unable to pin anything on local crime boss Katsumata so he is loose and creating chaos. Finally they get an anonymous letter from one of three men who witnessed the murder of a city councilman by Katsumata and his gang. Katsumata astutely guesses and eliminates the rat. The other two witnesses were named in the letter and it is a race between the mob and the police as to who will catch up with them first.
One of the witnesses has been trying to go straight after five years in jail for murdering the thug who raped his girlfriend and caused her suicide. During the course of the story, he learns that he may not have eliminated all the culprits and sets about trying to do so.
This is solid if not great. There’s some nice cinematography and a jazzy score. One wonders how corrupt Japan really was at the time. It seems to be a recurrent theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0GZPcqod0E
Trailer (no subtitles)
