Synopsis
College students come up with a scam to rob a gambling house. When it comes time to collect, the money isn't there, leading the young men into even more serious crime.
The Perfect Game
1958 ‘完全な遊戯’ Directed by Toshio Masuda
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Alternative Titles
Kanzenna yûgi, The Tragedy of Today
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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Japan
Releases by Country
Japan
11 Nov 1958
- Theatrical
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A real fine blend of taiyōzoku and noirish elements. Cold, nihilistic, brutal. First half is little rough but still has merits especially opening scene. Second half with a darker turn is where things improve a lot, perhaps the ending could've been little different, it's still extremely strong. Masuda directs it very well and it looks nice and has a solid cast. Very good.
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this movie is called "the perfect game" not "the tragedy of today" wtf. no idea where letterboxd got this title. also way more people need to see this movie, it's nearly perfect and it wasn't even listed under the director's filmography on wikipedia under either title. i had to add it myself lmao
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A con gone wrong story, here as realized by a group of young college students seeking to rip off a bookie through an elaborate scheme. There is some fun to be had in the realization of this portion through the detailing of the steps, but the characters are a little vague at times though the plot carries it. The character's down come to life until the second half when things get complicated around the plot and one bad decision after another is made by the characters. There are some great moments within this, such as a romantic luring becoming an honest relationship, the humanity of the bookie being revealed when he's put into a corner, and the unrepentant group partying "their guilt" away. However it doesn't all quite build or com together to something more than just moments. It's never less than good, but almost frustrating in how it never quite achieves greatness.
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Five people on Letterboxd have watched this. Five? Even though it's part of the Criterion Collection? Even though it's a pretty good crime thriller?
The Perfect Game is directed by 'one' of the directors of Tora! Tora! Tora! I haven't seen that one, but it seems like that is Toshio Masuda's only well known film. It's surprising, because I thought The Perfect Game was really well done.
The opening is terrific. We are introduced to the characters of the story, four lazy college students trying to think of ways to make some easy money. Soon they have a plot schemed, and we get to see them plan the details. Once we get to the execution there is a great deal of tension that has built.
It's no masterpiece, but this film definitely deserves to be seen.
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Youth thriller tight directed by Toshio Masuda. It is predicted by starting promising a far more lighthearted low stakes genre film and just start to close in at its main characters as the situation got serious, Nasuda dynamic framing start to less promise genre thrills than to feel like a trap.
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Holy fucking shit. Watch this movie. And don't look up a goddamn thing about it before you do.
Also wtf it's called "The Perfect Game." I don't know what this Days of our Lives soap opera shit is in the letterboxd title. -
An alternate title for The Tragedy of Today listed on IMDb is The Perfect Game, maybe referring to the way this film involves a group of young college students trying to “game” the system of gambling for a bike race in order to pay off debts. Spoiler alert: the game is not perfect. Things go wrong.
Things go surprisingly wrong, actually. The film really takes you off-guard by how dark it gets. It’s quite light and breezy early on, feeling like a crime caper or even something of a heist movie, the way they set up their plan, and the fact that while it’s risky, it’s not exactly life or death stakes.
At least not at first. Complications arise and…
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This movie is just perfect to relax and enjoy AT LEAST FOR THE FIRST 40 minutes
This movie is about 4 college students that want to make some extra money besides being already wealthy, so they plan to scam a bookie on bicycle track races.
This movie was great honestly like the whole concept of it was really entertaining. BUT what made it great for me was that our heroes that we are watching from the beginning turn into BAD VILLAINS, and I don’t know if it was intended I could bet to it. But I was watching it until I said oh shit, we are actually watching this story from the side of the villains. And yeah I mean…
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You always have to pay,
what you owe!An early Japanese Noir with a tight story and a pretty grim Ending. I wonder how many people were into Sport-Betting before everyone had a TV at home. It seems that a lot of movies around the fifties and about crooks is always some betting games. On Horses, on Bikes or on Dogs. Everything is game for the top prize and against boredom.
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Watched this on The Criterion Channel, where it's called THE PERFECT GAME. Some of the characters could have come straight from a Charles Willeford novel. I might have preferred that it ended maybe 7 minutes earlier (you'll know the scene) but I didn't mind at all what it did with those last 7 minutes.
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