Film Forum

関東無宿 (Kantô mushuku)

Director Seijun Suzuki
Cast Akira Kobayashi, Chieko Matsubara, Hiroko Itô
Screenplay Yasutarô Yagi, Taiko Hirabayashi | Cinematography Shigeyoshi Mine
1963 | Japan | 35mm print courtesy The Japan Foundation Film Library | approx. 92 min. | In Japanese with English subtitles

Beetle-browed yakuza Akira Kobayashi plays it by the giri rules, even as red-clad schoolgirls get feverish over a clan tattooing, Kobayashi’s own oyabun closes their last gambling house, and he romantically encounters a card cheat who got him his scar. Cult director Suzuki has lots of fun with the formulae, staging scenes with bright, constantly changing primary color backgrounds.