Voice Without a Shadow (1958) User Reviews

A Hidden Gem Finally Unearthed

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 17 February 2016]

Ishikawa, a newspaper journalist, unexpectedly meets Asako, a woman who used to work for his company some time ago as a phone operator. Three years ago, she accidentally heard the voice of a suspect who committed a still-unresolved homicide. Since then, the suspect's voice has remained lodged in her mind as a terrifying memory.

What might strike you about the plot is how it seems to have the same setup as the Italian giallo: someone sees, hears or smells something just for an instant and it lurks in their mind for a while until it finally helps them solve a murder. What makes this plot particularly interesting is how it actually predates the giallo film -- did Japan beat Italy to the punch? "Voice Without a Shadow" is available from Arrow Video on their set Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 1, along with "Red Pier" and "The Rambling Guitarist". Seemingly, no one has seen these films since their theatrical release decades ago, which completely baffles the mind. "Voice" is worthy of Argento or Hitchcock, and how it languished in obscurity is a real tragedy.

I strongly encourage people to pick this set up. Classic Japanese cinema is more than giant monsters (kaiju) and samurai films, more than Toho, Ozu and Kurosawa. They were on the cutting edge of many of the greatest genre scenes, but for one reason or another just never got their due. Thank you, Arrow Video.

Not one of my favorite Suzukis, but good

[zetes · 7/10 · 2 February 2016]

Newly released by Arrow Video, in the Nikkatsu Diamond Guys, vol. 1 set, this mystery by Suzuki was made a few years before he became the experimenter he is best known as today. Still, his talent is quite evident. The direction and cinematography are excellent throughout. I wasn't especially interested in the story of this one, though, and I grew a little bit bored. Hideaki Nitani stars as a newspaper reporter trying to unravel a convoluted murder scheme. Yoko Minamida plays a woman who was a witness - over the phone - to a murder. The main action takes place 3 years later, when that murder comes back to haunt her. Jo Shishido also co-stars.

Taking from another review

[nick121235 · 8/10 · 7 February 2021]

This film was surprisingly phenomenal. With firm roots in Noir, I would nonetheless classify this as a 'proto giallo' along with other films like Les Diaboliques, The Girl who Knew too Much, and The Possessed. There isn't a ton of atmosphere but the plot is really engaging and well done. The concept itself is original and very 'Edgar Wallace', and the photography is really pretty. Something about this is really very giallo, although there's no nudity or sensuality at all to speak of, nor rich and textured sets or outfits. I guess it's all in the plot; themes and plot modes that seem unique to giallo and krimi. I'm not saying that this film influenced any giallo film makers at all, in fact it was shelved for years and so it didn't, but I think it shows that giallo didn't spring up out of nowhere, nor is there even a clear line of succession from director to director that led to the advent of giallo; advances in technology along with globally changing social codes and the evolution of the mystery novel as well as its further mutation brought about by the film industry (and as noir started to expand and change) led to similar styles being realized all around the world and in every culture.

Shadow Without A Voice.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 16 November 2017]

After seeing Nobuo Nakagawa's outstanding Film Noir Onna shikeishû no datsugoku,I started trying to think up of a second title to watch for a Asia Noir double bill. Despite hearing about him for years,I have somehow missed out on catching a glimpse of auteur Seijun Suzuki. Buying Arrow's Nikkatsu Diamond Guys Vol 1 recently,I was thrilled to discover that one of the diamonds in the set is a Suzuki creation.

The plot:

Working at a call centre, Asako Takahashi helps to connect each call at lightning fast speed. Preparing to connect a call, Asako hears that she is trying to connect to the wrong line,when she hears a murder taking place. The only person to hear the voice of whoever did the killing, Asako is asked by the cops to listen to 100's of voices,but fails to catch a match.

3 years later:

Keen to build on their working relationships, Asako's husband Shigeo Kotani invites work mates Kawai, Hamazaki, and Muraoka to play some late night gambling. Seeing them play late into the night,Asako starts sitting in the next room waiting for Kotani to return. Listening in on them one night, Asako's hears a voice that sounds chillingly familiar…

View on the film:

Pulling diamonds from Nikkatsu studios long history, Arrow Video present a crystal clear Blu-Ray transfer,with the picture transfer being sharp,but retaining the Film Noir grit,and the soundtrack being perfectly clean.Working as an "in-house" studio director for his 10th movie, director Seijun Suzuki & cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka transmit peculiar, off-the-wall surrealism into the Film Noir reception,from a murderer re-naming the location of the killing "The funeral centre",to an ominous omen of a chicken being plucked.

Listening in on Asako's calls,Suzuki and Nagatsuka pick up the phone to stylish Film Noir,with superb,ultra-stylised tracking and crane shots gliding round the house as Asako attempts to stay out of sight,being crossed with clipped camera moves round the side streets of Japan going up the youth coffee shops,and down into the Film Noir coal of the underworld. Calling up Seichô Matsumoto's novel Koe,the screenplay by Ryuta Akimoto and Susumu Saji crosses the wires of Film Noir with the first major wave of Giallo that was still a few years away (!),where Asako forming a team with a journalist leads to a gripping desire to finally close the cold case,as recurring fragments of the call haunt Asako in her dreams.

Solving the case with a marvellous Agatha Christie/Giallo-style final flashback, the writers cover the mystery in glittering Film Noir grit, via the constant invitations Kotani gives to his work pals to come round leading to an excellent groove of pessimism to be cast between Kotani and Asako,who expresses her frustrations in snappy asides that Kotani fails to pick up on,but those with deadly intentions do not miss. One of the few ladies to get top billing in this era of Japanese "genre" cinema, Yôko Minamida gives a brilliant performance as Asako,thanks to Minamida highlighting the Noir isolation that Asako is trapped in,not only from the chilling awareness of hearing an unsolved murder,but also seeing Kotani fade into the darkness of the underworld,as the shadow finds a voice.