Inochi bo ni furo - Set in feudal Japan, a new police officer and his assistant are planning to take down a smuggling ring operated out of an Inn on an island in a city crisscrossed with moats. No one dares enter this inn as it is a place inhabited by a small band of cynical criminals.
When a decrepit drunk, played by Shintaro Katsu, stumbles in demanding saké, they throw him out, but the drunk is persistent. Then a representative for a rich family in the city arrives and tempts the gang with a job smuggling forbidden Dutch goods into the city.
A tour-de-force of lighting and black and white cinematography. The pacing is deliberate and the story revolves around the characters instead of action. The movie leaves the confines of the inn only a few times. The ensemble cast is superb with the lead Tatsuya Nakadai delivering his usual tormented soul and from a director who is known for two of the best Samurai films ever, Seppuku and Samurai Rebellion. He also made the seminal Japanese ghost film, Kwaidan.
Stars: TATSUYA NAKADAI, SHINTARO KATSU
1971 - Japanese with Optional English Subtitles - Widescreen - B&W - 121 Minutes
