Synopsis
When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.
1973 ‘桜の代紋’ Directed by Kenji Misumi
When 150 guns are stolen from Iwakuni base and two police officers are shot dead, a detective criminal tries to find out the truth.
Tomisaburō Wakayama Hiroshi Sekiguchi Kayo Matsuo Tomoko Mayama Michi Azuma Fumio Watanabe Fujio Suga Akiji Kobayashi Daigo Kusano Renji Ishibashi Hideji Ōtaki Asao Uchida Yoshi Katō Nobuo Nakamura Eizô Kitamura Takashi Ebata Kaoru Kusuda Kōji Fujiyama Hiroshi Hasegawa Kyōichi Satō Manabu Morita Katsutoshi Akiyama Matsujiro Konaka Hitoshi Ōmae Masamiki Kamo Hideki Hanaoka Seiji Mōri Fumio Terauchi Taizen Shishido Show All…
Sakura no Daimon, Cherry Blossom Crest, Un flic hors-la-loi
Hard-as-nails but decent detective Tomisaburo Wakayama's investigation into a stolen cache of US army weapons takes a sinister turn when it becomes apparent there's a leak inside the police force. Terrific,hard boiled 'cops vs thugs' saga plays more like the US cop films popular at the time..'Magnum Force' and 'Serpico' both came out in 73..than the standard yakuza movie. Tomisaburo Wakayama is superb,as always, in an atypical role that takes his character to some very dark places.He also gets to show off his Judo prowess as part of an amazing, extended 'interrogation' scene with scuzzbag Renji Ishibashi that's a highlight of the film. This was helmed by the legendary Kenji Misumi for Shintaro Katsu's producton company concurrently with the 'Lone…
the film is all in that police press conference/courtroom scene underlined by the soundtrack of a pulsating bass and insisting congas: it is so great I could rewatch it for days... HIGHLY recommended!!!
Solid if unspectacular. It's gritty, hard-boiled with a great jazzy score and terrific Wakayama performance. Little slow in places and could have used more action but that ending is fantastic.
Hard Boiled detective Tomisaburo Wakayama butts heads with a rising Yakuza clan as he investigates a missing arms shipment from a US base.
Billed as something of a companion piece to Shintaro Katsu's 'Kaoyako', Kenji Misumi's film is only linked thematically and tells a completely standalone story. And what a wonderfully dark and violent tale it is.
It's a much more conventional film narratively, but Misumi balances the drama with action well (he loves the arterial spray), giving depth and context to his leads and pulling a superb performance from Wakayama, who has a fantastic arc and delivers a surprisingly subtle, yet excellent turn in the lead, while special mention goes to Renji Ishibashi, who gets a bit more to…
killer jazz/groove throughout this. Wakayama's performance is pretty damn enjoyable and the whole thing is just a pitch-perfect execution of the 70s crime/cop movie that at times I was expecting it to step outside that a little more, only to realize with enjoyment "naw, it's just doing this thing, really well." love a good genre execution. was hoping for a little more violence and a couple of the squibs were just so-so but there's some great blood spray and in general it's just very cool!
Internal Sleuth has got close to the most hardcore violence of any yakuza or rogue cop movie I've seen. I remember Ichi the Killer of course being both comically and disturbingly bloody on a level above this but that's about it. I've got to see that again. Going off there. Internal Sleuth shifts between comedy and hell throughout in quite a delightful manner.
This is Kenji Misumi directing a Tomisaburô Wakayama authored script starring the man himself. Produced by his brother Shintarō Katsu's company. It was in their Lone Wolf and Cub era and the action even when it's rifles and revolvers being unloaded has a level of blood splatter and excitement familiar to anyone who knows the Misumi directed…
Ever wondered what a Kenji Misumi cop movie would be like? "Who's Kenji Misumi?" Fuck you, I thought you were cool.
Slow-burn yakuza crime drama. The story's engaging though slow-paced and it's hurt by flashes of out of place comedy. Though it gets better and better and more atmospheric as it goes, leading to an amazing final third.