We’ve been waiting a long for that, and it’s finally coming! Criterion, via their sublabel Eclipse, will release this August 25th a Nikkatsu Noir boxset including nothing less than 5 real japanese rarities:
• I Am Waiting – Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1957
In Koreyoshi Kurahara’s directorial debut, rebel matinee idol Yujiro Ishihara stars as a former boxer working as a restaurant manager, who saves a beautiful, suicidal club hostess (Mie Kitahara) trying to escape the clutches of her gangster employer.
• Rusty Knife – Toshio Masuda, 1958
In Toshio Masuda’s smash Rusty Knife, Yujiro Ishihara and fellow top Nikkatsu star Akira Kobayashi play former hoodlums trying to leave behind a life of crime, but their past comes back to haunt them when the authorities seek them out as murder witnesses.
• Take Aim at the Police Van – Seijun Suzuki, 1960
At the beginning of Seijun Suzuki’s taut and twisty whodunit, a prison truck is attacked and a convict inside is murdered. The penitentiary warden on duty, Daijiro (Michitaro Mizushima), is accused of negligence and suspended, only to take it upon himself to track down the killers.
• Cruel Gun Story – Takumi Furukawa, 1964
Fresh out of the slammer, Togawa (Branded to Kill’s Joe Shishido) has no chance to go straight because he is immediately coerced by a wealthy mob boss into organizing the heist of an armored car carrying racetrack receipts.
• A Colt Is My Passport – Takashi Nomura, 1967
One of Japanese cinema’s supreme emulations of American noir, Takashi Nomura’s A Colt Is My Passport is a down-and-dirty but gorgeously photographed yakuza film starring Joe Shishido as a hard-boiled hit man caught between rival gangs.
Retail Price: $69.95 – Criterion Store price: $55.96
Thanks Riton.