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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Once upon a Time in Tokyo..., 6 July 2006 Author: allenrogerj from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Before Suzuki got fed up with making them he was a master of the B-movie and this is a superb example. Set in early twentieth-century Japan, it is a rip-roaring all-purpose historical action picture. Our hero, Kikuju, a yakuza, runs off to Tokyo with his master's proposed bride on the way to her wedding and marries her, leaving a few elegantly-killed corpses behind. He works for corrupt building contractors- the normal method of getting and keeping a contract is gang fights, blackmail and bribery. An assassin from his old gang is looking for him. Add to that: trade unionism, big business, a tattooed bandit-geisha femme fatale, an ex-yakuza going straight, a great detective in love with our hero's wife, sword fights and gun fights, loyalty and treachery, weeping and all-purpose tragedy, clashes between duty and honour, superb settings, extra-ordinary camera work, including beautiful shots that reflect Suzuki's later obsessions and all of it in less than ninety minutes. What more could you want?
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Frenetic brilliance, 6 May 2008 Author: josephbleazard from United Kingdom
I must back up the previous reviewer. This is easily one of Suzuki's best pictures and deserves a much wider audience. At the moment I am writing this it has only 1 IMDb comment - there should be essays and theses on this piece. This is a B movie but one where Suzuki enjoyed a freer rein than in others I have seen. He was also blessed with a charismatic lead and supporting characters full of the deviance he loved to explore.The film itself is a frenetic exploration of modernity and corruption and the collapse of codes of honour in the face of commerce. Add to this gratuitous action and a love story told with a kind of melodramatic fury that stays with me today, despite the fact that it only takes up about 10 minutes of the films narrative.This film is frantic at only 90 minutes long. Suzuki threw the pot the kettle the sink and even the camera at this film. And he caught it. I don't know what that means. I don't know what this film means. But if you like Suzuki watch it and piece it together and come to appreciate just how grand a scope a cinematic master can encompass in a 90 minute action epic.
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