Irezumi ichidai (1965)

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Kei Hattori (writer)
Ai Kennedy (translation)
(more)

Release Date:

7 October 1966 (USA)

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Ninkyo

Cast

Hideki Takahashi
Akira Yamauchi
Hiroko Ito
Masako Izumi
Kayo Matsuo
Hosei Komatsu
Yuji Odaka
Michio Hino
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kotobuki Hananomoto
Keisuke Noro
Kaku Takashina

Directed by
Seijun Suzuki

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kei Hattori		writer
Ai Kennedy		translation
Kinya Naoi		writer

Produced by
Masayuki Takagi	....	producer

Original Music by
Masayoshi Ikeda

Cinematography by
Kurataro Takamura

Film Editing by
Akira Suzuki

Production Design by
Takeo Kimura		(as Isao Kimura)

Sound Department
Takinosuke Yagi	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Moriyasu Tsuchida	....	gaffer

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu

Distributors

• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD) (as "Tattooded Life")
• Nikkatsu
• Toho Company (1966) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Life of a Tattooed Man
One Generation of Tattoos
Tattooed Life (USA)
White Tiger Tattoo (USA)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M (2007) | Sweden:15

Company:

Nikkatsu

A neglected yakuza classic from Seijun Suzuki

Part of the cycle of genre and Yakuza movies that Suzuki directed for Nikkatsu in the early to mid sixties, this film is one of his most memorable. It may not be as well known here as other films in this cycle, probably due to the period setting (1925), and the fact that the middle section has no fighting or action, as it focuses on the fugitive yakuza hiding in the crew of a tunnel construction project.

Suzuki's design sense shines here, with bridges, trains, boats serving as a modern architectural counterpoint to the beautiful Japanese open vistas. It is interesting how similar the themes of this movie are to recent genre films such as Bangkok Dangerous, and how different the execution. The action scenes are short bursts of stylized fighting mixing gunplay with samurai action. The story is more engaging than Suzuki's other Yakusa films. I got the feeling that the director was trying his best to explode the strict confines of the genre, while delivering a commercial product. The buildup to the extraordinary final confrontation, a choreographed samurai style fight inside and outside a traditional Japanese house, is very satisfying. Also interesting are the weird touches like the red boots two of the movie's characters wear.

In my humble opinion, another classic from Mr Suzuki.