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Kanto Mushuku
Kanto Wanderer
The Woman Sharper
Japan 1963
produced by
Nikkatsu
directed by Seijun Suzuki
starring Akira Kobayashi, Chieko Matsubara, Daizaburo Hirata, Hiroko Ito, Sanae Nakahara, Kaku Takashina, Chikako Shin, Hideaki Esumi, Ichiro Kijima, Keisuke Noro, Hiroshi Kono, Yanagiharo Ito, Masuo Kinukasa, Keiko Sasaki, Shiro Yanase, Koji Sayama, Toru Sumikawa, Takero Hisamatsu, Hiroshi Takao, Shiro Toba, Yunosuke Ito, Toru Abe, Kinzo Shin, Taiji Tonoyama, Hiroshi Chiyoda, Terue Shigemori, Masako Urushizawa, Seiji Matsuoka, Kosuke Sumita
story by Taiko Hirabayashi, screenplay by Yasutaro Yagi, music by Masayoshi Ikeda, art direction by Takeo Kimura
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Schoolgirl Tokiko (Chieko Matsubara) is yakuza boss Izu's daughter, and
she is in love with Katsuta (Akira Kobayashi), his top man, but he's not
interested in her but rather in Mrs Iwata (Hiroko Ito), who in turn is the
sister of Diamond Fuyu (Daizaburo Hirata), a hothead in Yoshida's (Toru
Abe) employ, who is boss Izu's fiercest competition. Fuyu though has the
hots for Hanako (Sanae Nakahara), Tokiko's best friend and also a
schoolgirl. Thing is, Fuyu has made enemies with Tetsu, a hotheaded thug
in boss Izu's employ, who to get his revenge sells Hanako into
prostitution. When Katsuta learns about this, he, man of honour that he
is, wants to buy Hanako back, but then he crosses paths with professional
gambler Omaru-Hachi (Yunosuke Ito), Mrs Iwata's husband, and a master
cheater who often uses his wife as assistant. Katsuta tries to beat the
gambler at his own game - but only loses everything to him. Soon enough,
a gangwar between the Izu and the Yoshida family is breaking out, which
Katsuta can end with killing some of Yoshida's men and then giving himself
up to the police. Yoshida though tries to take advantage of the situation
that boss Izu has indeed bought Hanako and he gets Fuyu to kill his rival
... after which Fuyu only has to learn that she never really felt anything
for him and actually enjoyed her life as a prostitute/gangster moll. And
in the end, Mrs Iwata, who has since become intimate with Katsuta, has two
men to visit in prison, her lover and her brother. Kanto
Wanderer is certainly not one of Seijun Suzuki's best films, the plot
is just to formulaic to really allow him much improvisation, and his
directorial playfulness that is evident especially in his later films can
only be witnessed in traces here. Still, all that said, Kanto Wanderer
is by no means a bad film, it's just your rather typical genre picture
that only makes feeble attempts to leave the genre realm and that only
hints at Suzuki's later stylistic excesses - and in its own way, that's
rather interesting as well.
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find Kanto Wanderer at adultvideouniverse.com
