Masahiro Shinoda's brilliant film opens with mobster Murakami just getting released from prison for murdering a member of a rival clan, only to learn that during his internment, the two syndicates arranged a truce. Not unlike the protagonist in Albert Camus' The Stranger, Murakami's motives for killing were vague and that life holds little value for him. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious waif-like young woman named Saeko (Mariko Kaga) who lives life from one
thrill to the next. Though she seems remarkably adept at losing large sums of money, she asks Murakami to find games with larger and larger stakes. Soon they become involved in an intense mutually destructive relationship. High stakes gambling and racing her little sports car eventually grow tiresome, and Saeko becomes attracted to drugs. Instead of dope, Murakami offers to let her watch him kill a rival clan leader, describing it as the ultimate thrill. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
Director Masahiro Shinoda takes lots of chances, using close-ups and off-kilter edits to deepen his characters. A jazzy, avant-garde score throws things even more off balance.
A lively yet bleak allegory for post-war Japan and a totem of the Japanese New Wave, the underappreciated Pale Flower finally gets a fitting transfer from the Criterion Collection.
*sigh* '64 not '74. in a lonely place as directed by melville and set in tokyo
June 21, 2009
Stella Dallas
Super Reviewer
While the French were creating the new wave movement of the 50s-60s, Japanese studios were turning out bold, fresh, new films. The yakuza drama is as old as Japanese cinema itself, but director Masahiro Shinoda joins it with expressionism and shadowy western noir themes that lean more towards fate and love than your
average gangster flick.
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