Sabata (1969)

(Note that this was a review written for Film-Talk’s World Cinema Club, so it contains plot information and possible spoilers.)

Sabata is the exact kind of movie I think of when I hear the term “Spaghetti Western”. It uses all the elements from the traditional Hollywood westerns, but with a decent amount of Italian quirkiness thrown in. It has the extravagent sets and costumes and the very stereotypical storyline…but the characters and action are ridiculously over the top.

Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) mosies into town and immediately gathers an entourage that consists of the town drunk and a mute, acrobatic, Indian. He hits up the local saloon and patrols the craps table. He spots out a cheater and shoots up his loaded dice right on the table…and apparently none of the locals have a problem with this. He is instantly popular and trusted by the townspeople.

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The Great Silence (1968)

(Note that this was a review written for Film-Talk’s World Cinema Club, so it contains plot information and possible spoilers.)

The Great Silence is set against the backdrop of the snowy mountains of Utah in a town called “Snow Hill”. It is a corrupt and lawless town where the businessmen have driven out the Mormon community by branding them outlaws, forcing them to live like savages in the hills outside of town. To make sure that they stay in the hills, the lead businessman Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli) has hired a band of bounty hunters to kill these “outlaws” at $1,000 a head. This conflict is where the film begins…

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Django (1966)

(Note that this was a review written for Film-Talk’s World Cinema Club, so it contains plot information and possible spoilers.)

Django has virtually the same plot at Sergio Leone‘s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), as both are pretty much direct adaptations of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961). Where Django differs from it’s predecessors is in the gritty, hyper-stylized look of the film and in the extreme violence. Violence which happened to get the film banned in the UK until 1993.

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Branded to Kill (1967)

(Note that this was a review written for Film-Talk’s World Cinema Club, so it contains plot information and spoilers.)

Branded to Kill is the film that got Seijun Suzuki banned from Nikkatsu Studios. They claimed that his films simply made no sense and made no money. It would be 10 years before he would make another film.

The film tells the story of Hanada (Joe Shishido), the yakuza’s rice-sniffing, womanizing, No. 3 killer. It starts with Hanada and his wife, Mami Hanada (Mariko Ogawa), arriving at an airport. They are driven to a restaurant where Hanada is given the information about his next job. He must transport a client to his destination safely, as there are going to be multiple attempts on his life. What follows are a series of bizarre, yet well-executed, action sequences as Hanada defends his client. The action in this film is so over-the-top and ridiculous, but if it were anything less, it just wouldn’t fit in.

Once Hanada disposes of all the attackers, he hitches a ride with the dark and depressed Misako (Annu Mari) who drives her convertible with the top down…in the rain. She is either a yakuza or another assassin, we never know for sure. She drops him off at home, but he is instantly obsessed. Her image flashes in his mind as he is at home with his wife, and it turns out they have quite the interesting relationship. His time at home is divided between sniffing rice, beating his wife, and having LOTS of sex.

Hanada is then contracted to kill four men and once again we get to see his skill in action. He is inventive and swift and encounters no problems. Then the dark and depressed Misako hires him for a job. He has three seconds to kill a man that Misako will be escorting down the street. As Hanada is ready to shoot, a butterfly lands on his barrel moving it just enough that he kills an innocent woman and his target is able to escape. This apparently is the biggest shame an assassin can cause himself. Misako tells him that he has not only lost his ranking of No. 3, but now he will be killed by the yakuza.

He returns home only to be shot in the gut by his loving wife. He then stumbles to Misako’s house, where things plunge deep into surrealism. She lives in a house filled with dead butterflies and she likes to poison her pet birds. And yet…Hanada finds himself in love with her. After an awkward love scene, Hanada is contacted by the yakuza, and for whatever reason they tell him to be at a certain spot at a certain time so that his men can kill him. Hanada uses this information to his advantage and scouts the location.

When he goes to meet his death, Hanada cleverly eludes and kills his attackers. But he can’t relax for long, as he finds out that the yakuza have kidnapped, tortured, and killed Misako. This sends him spiralling into depression and to make matters worse, he meets the notorious No. 1 killer (Koji Nambara) who tells him that he’s going to be the one that kills him. So, now he’s depressed…and paranoid.

Hanada starts to crumble under the constant pressure of No. 1′s threat. He is trapped in his apartment and he can’t even sleep because No. 1 is always watching and constantly calling just to mess with Hanada’s mind. Eventually, No. 1 pays a visit to Hanada and the two make a temporary truce so that they can get some rest. Once they’ve had time to sleep and do some bonding, No. 1 disappears and gives Hanada a place and time frame during which he will meet his doom. Apparently this is a common practice with these particular yakuza. He also finds out that his love, Misako, is not dead…only badly burned. He then gets the thought that if he can defeat No. 1, then he will be No. 1 and he can get Misako back.

Hanada decides to face his fate and meet No. 1 at the gymnasium. He gets there right at 1:00am and as time progresses he gets increasingly nervous and stressed. Right at 3:00am he is greeted by No. 1 and his plan to wear him down mentally is revealed. Hanada then places a metal headband on his forehead (right in the spot that No. 1 is known to place his bullets) and takes his position. He screams out and No. 1 fires his shot, knocking Hanada to the ground. No. 1 smiles at his victory and just then Hanada jumps up and shoots No. 1 in the stomach. Hanada rejoices and is immediately startled as someone walks in the gym. He fires without thinking, killing Misako…who had been released back to him.

Not knowing what he has done, he continues celebrating his victory…jumping around like an idiot in the middle of a boxing ring screaming “I’m number one!”.  No. 1, barely alive, shoots Hanada down in the ring. With his last breaths, Hanada is still saying “I’m number one” and then he falls out of the ring and dies. The film ends with a shot that lingers on the empty, stark white ring in the dark gymnasium.

This is my favorite of the Suzuki films I have seen. He masterfully blends influences from noir, french new wave, and surrealism into this wild and fun yakuza story. The black and white cinematography is fantastic and the film is filled with unique and eccentric characters. He took the standard studio yakuza script and turned it into a wonderfully bizarre and beautiful film…and got fired for it. In his defense, Suzuki says that he simply tried to make his films entertaining. Branded to Kill is really a fun and weird little film…a B-movie with some flare.

Grade: A

Tattooed Life (1965)

(Note that this was a review written for Film-Talk’s World Cinema Club, so it contains plot information and spoilers.)

Tattooed Life opens with Tetsu (Hideki Takahashi), a yakuza, brutally stabbing the man he was hired to kill. Afterwards, he takes the money he received and gives it to his mother so that his brother can go to art school. He wants a different, better life for his kid brother Kenji (Akira Yamauchi). Just then, a messenger arrives and requests Tetsu’s presence with another yakuza. Kenji enthusiastically comes along with his brother. On this journey, Tetsu is double-crossed by one of his own men and he and Kenji are forced to kill the men accompanying them in self defense. For fear of what prison will do to his fragile brother, Tetsu decides that they will flee to Manchuria where they can find work. So, they scrape together all of their money and head out of town.

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