Escape from Hell / 無宿人別帳/ Mushukunin-betsucho (1963)

Obscure Japanese Film #93

Keiji Sada

During the winter of 1802-3, a group of convicts are transported in individual bamboo cages to the island of Sado, where they have been sentenced to hard labour draining a gold mine. Among them is Yaju (Keiji Sada), a formerly honourable samurai who became a criminal after the woman he loved, Kumi (Mariko Okada), was forced into a marriage with the more senior Kurozuka (Hiroshi Nihonyanagi). 

 

Hiroshi Nihonyanagi and Mariko Okada

In an unfortunate coincidence, Kurozuka becomes the new governor of the mine, while his scheming subordinate Kojuro (Hiroyuki Nagato) informs Kumi that her former lover Yaju is among the prisoners. Always planning ahead, Kojuro also decides it could be to his advantage to push his own mistress, Rin (Sachiko Hidari), into the arms of the inexperienced new magistrate. 

Hiroyuki Nagato and Sachiko Hidari

 

Meanwhile, the prisoners find themselves not only working in life-threatening conditions, but also treated brutally by the foreman (Ko Nishimura) and his henchman Hachizo (Toranosuke Tennoji). 

 

Rentaro Mikuni and Kanemon Nakamura

However, two trusties, Shinpei (Rentaro Mikuni) and Seibei (Kanemon Nakamura) are more sympathetic and do what they can for the men. Seibei also has a daughter, Miyo (Masuyo Iwamoto*), who treats the men when they are wounded, but is raped by one named Senta (Masahiko Tsugawa) for her pains. When conditions become unbearable, the men decide to make a desperate escape attempt headed by Shinpei – but can the trusty be trusted?

Mariko Okada

 

This Shochiku production takes its Japanese title from the title of Seicho Matsumoto’s 1958 short story collection containing the story ‘Tobo’ (‘Escape’) upon which the film is partly based. The title is hard to translate into English, but in the Edo period during which the stories were set, the mushukunin were people who had been removed from the family register, and each of the stories in Matsumoto’s collection was centred on a character who was some kind of social outcast, i.e. a homeless person or criminal. However, the film is also partly based on a second Matsumoto story, ‘Sado runinko’ (‘Sado Exile Journey’), published in 1957. I’m uncertain whether there was really a mass escape attempt at the Sado gold mine, but it’s certainly true that, during the late Edo period, the authorities would round up vagrants and send them to do forced labour there. In any case, the man who used this interesting historical setting along with other elements of the two Matsumoto stories and turned it all into a fine screenplay was Hideo Oguni, known for his work on many of Kurosawa’s most famous films. 

Mariko Okada

 

The director, Kazuo Inoue (1924-2011), had worked as an assistant to Minoru Shibuya, Yuzu Kawashima and Yasujiro Ozu before becoming a Shochiku director himself in 1954. Escape from Hell is the 11^th of 12 films he made for the company before going freelance in 1964, after which he seems to have been unable to sustain a career in the declining Japanese film industry. Although he managed to direct a further eight pictures, most of these were comedies of little note, the exception being his final film, a documentary about Ozu entitled I Lived But… (1983). Apart from allowing some of the actors in the smaller parts to overact, his direction of Escape from Hell is impressive and he clearly knew how to get the most out of a scene.

Hiroyuki Nagato

 

Another factor which makes Escape from Hell worth seeking out is the host of well-known faces among the cast, even including Tora-san actor Kiyoshi Atsumi as a convict with a snoring problem. Hiroyuki Nagato from Pigs and Battleships is especially good as the devious Kojuro, constantly figuring all the angles to his own advantage, although Mariko Okada is sadly wasted in her role, which gives her little to do. Used to better advantage is Rentaro Mikuni, who gives one of the strongest performances here as an escaping convict. This fact, together with Sachiko Hidari’s appearance as a giggling former prostitute, suggests that Tomu Uchida saw the film and was influenced in his casting for A Fugitive from the Past (1965). 

 

Rentaro Mikuni

However, the real revelation for me among the cast was Keiji Sada – I’ve seen many of his films and always liked him, but would never have imagined Sada as the tough, unshaven, moody samurai he plays here, a role he pulls off very well indeed. It’s a reminder of what a loss to Japanese cinema his premature death in a car crash the following year was. 

Keiji Sada

 

 *Sometimes incorrectly listed as Tayo Iwamoto in English.

World War III: 41 Hours of Fear / 第三次世界大戦 四十一時間の恐怖 / Dai-sanji sekai taisen: Shi jū-ichi jikan no kyōfu (1960)

Obscure Japanese Film #92

Yoshiko Mita

Based on a magazine article, this Toei production opens with a shot (inside a church) of a statute of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. ‘As long as humanity has a conscience, World War III will never happen’ reads the subtitle before the main title flashes up, undermining the previous statement to read: ‘World War III: 41 Hours of Fear’. After the main credits play out against a background of rising smoke, we see several still images of children killed by the atom bomb. This segues into a high school lecture in which the teacher expresses concern that the rise in juvenile delinquency and its accompanying aggressive attitudes could lead to an increased threat of nuclear war in the future. However, subsequent scenes reveal that it’s actually anxiety about nuclear war that is at least partly responsible for the nihilistic outlook fuelling the delinquency, although not all of the students are reacting in the same way. 

Norifumi Fujishima

 

Three young male students take a boat out on Tokyo Bay and talk about sailing to Africa to escape the nuclear threat. When they are caught in a typhoon and have to be rescued, the press use their story as an example of the all-pervading atmosphere of dread the youth are living in. Soon, their worst fears are realised: North Korea shoots down an American plane carrying a nuclear weapon over South Korea, killing thousands on the ground. Events escalate rapidly and it looks like World War III will begin at any moment…

Yayoi Furusato

 

Given the scant 77-minute running time and the lack of big names among the cast, I had expected a silly B-movie, but was surprised to find a fairly intelligent, well-made, sober film with a deadly serious anti-war message. Although it’s not really a big special effects movie either, there is a bit of that toward the end (combined with stock footage), and what there is of it is well done. 

Yoshi Kato (former husband of Isuzu Yamada)

 

This is an ensemble piece with no real stars, but among the characters whose destinies we follow are a young reporter, Masaki (Tatsuo Umemiya), and his girlfriend, Tomoko (Yoshiko Mita), who works as a nurse, together with high school students Mie (Yukiko Nikaido) and Shigeo (Norifumi Fujishima), his sister Shizuko (Yayoi Furusato) and father (Yoshi Kato), and musician Tonomura (Junji Masuda) and his sick wife, Keiko (Michiko Hoshi). The ending of the film features another scene inside a Christian church in which Keiko is singing a hymn along with the rest of the congregation, but I’m at a loss to account for this film’s emphasis on Christianity. Perhaps the director was a Christian, or maybe they thought it would help distribution abroad. In any case, the acting is generally good, with Michiko Hoshi being a stand-out. 

Michiko Hoshi

 

Michiko Hoshi

 

Director Shigeaki Hidaka (1916-?) had studied under Teinsouke Kinugasa and worked as Chief Assistant Director to Kenji Mizoguchi on The Lady from Musashino (1951). He directed 18 films between 1955-1962, first for Toho, then for Toei, and on this evidence he clearly knew what he was doing. The brief scenes featuring American actors speaking English were directed by William Ross, an American actor based in Japan.

The film was bought by an American company who dubbed over the Japanese actors and added scenes from another Japanese film, Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961), including – inexplicably – flying saucers! This was released in the States as The Final War in 1962, but is now (perhaps thankfully) believed lost. The original, at least, is a fascinating time-capsule which sheds light on the mindset of the era and also holds up surprisingly well as a film drama. It may be a little simplistic, but it certainly gets its message across and does so in a compact way without outstaying its welcome.

The following year, Toho released a similarly-themed film entitled Sekai daisenso (aka The Last War), which I've yet to see. 

Black Torrent/ 黒の奔流 / Kuro no honryu (1972)

Obscure Japanese Film #91

Tsutomu Yamazaki and Mariko Okada

 

Takeshi Yano (Tsutomu Yamazaki) is an ambitious but struggling lawyer whose office shakes every time a train goes past on the tracks outside. He’s in a casual relationship with his pragmatic assistant Yukiko (Kaoru Taniguchi) but hopes to marry Tomoko (Keiko Matsuzaka), the daughter of Masamichi Wakamiya (Tatsuo Matsumura), the head of a law firm. 

Kaoru Taniguchi

 

Keiko Matsuzaka

When the state needs someone to defend Fujie Kaizuka (Mariko Okada), a maid accused of murder, Yano agrees although the pay is negligible because he hopes that defeating tough prosecutor Kuraishi (Kei Sato) will be his chance to impress Tomoko’s father and turn his luck around. However, when he finds himself attracted to Fujie, things become complicated… 

 

Kei Sato

To reveal any more of the plot would spoil things as this is one of those crime dramas in which the twists are pretty much the raison d’etre. Based on a 1967 short story by Seicho Matsumoto entitled ‘Shuzoku domei’ (‘Tribal Alliance’), Black Torrent is a Shochiku production reminiscent of the films of director Yoshitaro Nomura, who frequently adapted Matsumoto’s work for the screen. The director of this film, Yusuke Watanabe (working together with co-writer Takeo Kunihiro), changed the details of the original story considerably and transformed the character of the defendant from a male to a female. This is probably a good thing as it created an interesting role for the great Mariko Okada, who turns in her usual highly convincing performance (and appears able to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat). 

Tsutomu Yamazaki

 

Her co-star, Tsutomu Yamazaki, is slightly less effective as he overacts a little at times and his expressions are sometimes unintentionally comical. I actually blame the director for this – Yamazaki (the kidnapper from Kurosawa's High and Low) is a very talented actor, but even the best actors need good guidance. However, in regard to other aspects, this is a well-directed film, and the cinematography by Masahiro Shinoda favourite Masao Kosugi is also a strong point. The music, on the other hand, is a detriment as it seems to be alternately emulating spy movies and spaghetti Westerns – even using a harmonica and Jew’s harp at times – none of which feels appropriate. Still, despite a few flaws, this is worth seeing for Mariko Okada and the enjoyably twisty plot. 

Mariko Okada

 

Intriguingly, the previously-reviewed Kao was also an adaptation of a Matsumoto story which transformed the central character from a male to a female played by Mariko Okada. Perhaps Okada felt some affinity for his work, as she also appeared in a number of TV versions of the author’s stories as well as a further feature film, Mushukunin-betsucho (1963).

For more on director Yusuke Watanabe, see my review of Wild Detective.

Tsutomu Yamazaki and Mariko Okada

 

 

The Romance of Yushima / 婦系図 湯島の白梅 / Onna keizu Yushima no shiraume (1955)

Obscure Japanese Film #90

Fujiko Yamamoto

 

Yushima, Tokyo, 1902. Otsuta (Fujiko Yamamoto) is a geisha who has left her profession to become the wife of promising young scholar Hayase (Koji Tsuruta), who is helping his mentor, Professor Sakai (Masayuki Mori), to compile the first German-Japanese dictionary. Otsuta and Hayase have not yet been married officially as Hayase is waiting for an opportune moment to tell the Professor about their union. Having lost his parents in the fire which destroyed much of downtown Shizuoka in 1889, Hayase was adopted by the Professor, and so is under a great obligation to him. However, as the Professor thinks highly of Hayase, the young couple are confident that he will approve their union even though Hayase is expected to marry the professor’s daughter, Taeko (Yoshiko [not Sumiko] Fujita). Unfortunately, Otsuta becomes implicated in a theft despite being innocent. When this is reported in the newspaper, Professor Sakai learns about the secret marriage and is furious, seemingly forgetting the similar relationship he had had in his own youth with Koyoshi (Haruko Sugimura), who is actually the madam at the geisha house where Otsuta had been employed…

Masayuki Mori

 

This Daiei production has the sort of determinedly tragic story that is (or at least was) especially popular in Japan. I found it rather clichéd and predictable, but it should be noted that it’s a faithful adaptation of a 1907 novel by Kyoka Izumi, so it’s quite possible that Izumi’s work felt fresh at the time and it was only when others copied aspects of it that they became clichés. What now seems a quaintly old-fashioned story was also once considered progressive in its attack on the institution of the arranged marriage. Although it’s not one of the few Izumi works to have been translated into English (he’s reputedly difficult to translate), it was one of his most popular and became a successful stage play only a year after publication. There had also been previous film versions – in 1934 with Kinuyo Tanaka and Joji Oka, followed by a two-part version in 1942 with Isuzu Yamada and Kazuo Hasegawa. Remakes followed in 1959 and 1962, while it was also adapted for television on a number of occasions, including in 1966 with Fujiko Yamamoto repeating her role.

Koji Tsuruta

 

The male lead, Koji Tsuruta, is not a name likely to ring many bells outside of Japan, but he was actually one of the country’s biggest male stars of the era. Some readers may know him for playing Toshiro Mifune’s opponent, Kojiro Sasaki, in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy, or perhaps for his starring role in Kinji Fukasaku’s Sympathy for the Underdog (1971). He could probably relate well to the part he plays in The Romance of Yushima given that his own romance with actress Keiko Kishi was nipped in the bud in 1952 by Shochiku, the studio to whom he was under contract at the time. He attempted suicide shortly after, but fortunately survived only to be badly beaten by a yakuza member the following year because his manager had offended them. The attack had involved both a whisky bottle and a brick; Tsuruta required 11 stitches, but luckily was not disfigured and resumed his career, which continued almost until his passing from lung cancer in 1987. 

Haruko Sugimura

 

The performances in The Romance of Yushima are solid if unexceptional. The omnipresent Eitaro Ozawa also pops up as a colleague of Sakai’s, but it’s actually Daisuke Kato who steals it as a cheeky fishmonger sympathetic to Otsuta. 

Daisuke Kato

 

The print I saw was a just-about-watchable VHS transfer, so there’s no doubt that the film would benefit greatly from a higher quality digital version. However, I wouldn’t call it a lost masterpiece as the story hasn’t dated well and the music (a combination of choral singing, harp and strings) is overused and far from ideal. For those reasons, I feel that this is my least favourite of the films I’ve seen by director Teinosuke Kinugasa (the others being A Page of Madness, Gate of Hell, New Tales of the Heike: Three Women around Yoshinaka and Actress).

Note: the Japanese title translates as ‘Genealogy of Women: White Plum Blossoms of Yushima’