Visez cette voiture de police

Film 3/5 in the Nikkatsu Noir boxset I'm working through, and I'd rank this behind Rusty Knife (film 2/5), but ahead of I Am Waiting (film 1/5).

I'll give it this: Take Aim at the Police Van has a great title and a great opening- both work well to get you hooked early to the simple premise (prison guard is partially blamed for deaths that weren't his fault, so he goes looking for the real killers himself) that soon balloons out and gets very complicated.

While some of the complexity and mystery is intentional, given the main character doesn't really know what's going on much of the time, I think it may have left the audience in the dark just a little too much. You could say that about a lot of classic noir, though- I think it's The Maltese Falcon where the writer even admitted he didn't really understand 100% of the plot.

(EDIT: legend actually goes that it was The Big Sleep where the screenwriters were confused by what they were writing. Do remember Maltese Falcon also having a confusing plot, for what it's worth)

But in any event, it stays entertaining because of the fast (if almost a little too quick) pace, the stylish direction, and some exciting sequences. Plus the mystery is a pretty decent one.

It all makes for an overall solid watch.

This film begins with a bus carrying two convicts to prison being ambushed by a man with a rifle which results in both of the prisoners being killed. Outraged about this incident, the authorities quickly suspend the prison guard responsible for the prisoner transport by the name of "Daijiro Tamon" (Michitaro Mizushima). So, with nothing but time on his hands, Daijiro goes about investigating the ambush and what clues he finds eventually leads him to a company known as the Hamaju Agency which is being temporarily run by a young woman by the name of "Yuko Hamajima" (Misako Watanabe). What he doesn't realize, however, is that the closer his investigation gets to the culprit behind the murders, the more dangerous it becomes for him. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a decent film due in large part to the mystery involved along with some good suspense here and there as well. Admittedly, there are some parts of the plot that are a bit unrealistic, but even so, I enjoyed this movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Take Aim at the Police Van is action-packed, fast-moving Japanese Noir. Perhaps though, it's a little too fast moving. And unfortunately employs some rather erratic editing.

The story itself has all the makings of a good noir-ish detective murder mystery. Daijirô Tamon (Michitarô Mizushima) is a prison guard who has convicts murdered during a prison transfer. Tamon decides to hunt down those responsible. He quickly stumbles upon an "agency" that supplies young women as "showgirls" and "masseuses". There is no need to read between the lines or even get metaphorical as the fact they are being used as call-girls is blatantly evident. However, Tamon begins to have feelings for the agency's madam, Yûko (Misako Watanabe).

Directed by Seijun Suzuki, Take Aim at the Police Van builds up a good mystery and adds in a number of chases and shooting sequences. Yet the speed of the story and the choppiness of the editing truly shows that this was simply another movie quickly being fed through the Nikkatsu Studios machine. As swiftly Tamon decides to solve the case, the source of all the woe is discovered (also, such identity is not a shock), and the credits roll.

Take Aim at the Police Van is faster than service at a ramen house. But also quite tasty.

This is one violent (not in gore as it is brute force intensity), gritty film-noir (part of the "Nikkatsu Noir" set from Eclipse/Criterion) that has a helluva hook - a prison van carrying a couple of peeps is driving at night and two criminals knock a truck in its path to stop the van and then shoot to kill. In the aftermath, one of the guards, Tamon (Mizushima, strapping and no BS male star for Japan if I ever saw one, a bit like a Japanese Mitchum or Glenn Ford), takes it on himself to investigate who was behind it, and it leads him into an 'Agency' that pimps out young women among other nefarious crimes (and what does Tsunaka Ando, played by Shiraki, have to do with it all, or does she even know?)

What makes Seizuki's direction so palpable and involving is how he manages to find some stylistic flourishes while keeping this tight 79 minute story moving; there's this one superbly edited bit where Tamon is walking down a street and Seizuki cuts from him and his grim-determined profile and these four young ladies singing along to a pop song on a jukebox. You think he's recognized the young woman he's been after, he followed her and lost her in a previous scene (those darn graveyards will get ya), but it's not till just a slight beat after he goes by her that he does a double take and recognizes her (and her him) and as he lunges for her she gives a look and the other girls pounce on him. It's extremely clever direction placing us in suspense we aren't even sure will come about, and then it ends on a tussle that is more funny than thrilling (and that's good sometimes!)

Take Aim at the Police Van (one of my favorite titles of all time for the record) doesn't have the most original supporting characters, mostly low life thugs and pissants who may only best Tamon because they're a step ahead of him, and even Shiraki is mostly there to get tense when questioned and then fold pretty quickly thereafter. But the mystery is drawn out without any extra fat on the spine, when characters (mostly Tamon but eventually some others in his orbit) are in danger and are either trapped or fending for their lives it feels like anything can happen, and Seizuki understands widescreen can be used formidably for creating spaces and tension and also for an impactful, once or twice nearly iconic close up (like the sunglasses when we get to see them on the man).

Maybe it is "minor" when compared to Branded to Kill, but that's a tall bar to clear and this is perfectly entertaining B moviemaking all on its own - with an ironic twist ending, but one that means to end more on a surprising emotional beat than a simple "gotcha.

An exceptionally well-shot if bitterly average and utterly bewildering mystery, Take Aim at the Police Van marks the very early days for Seijun Suzuki, far less abstract than what I've heard about his more well-known works. He's shooting to a formula but delivering where it matters, be it the woman killed by an arrow to the boob or the faceless gunman who lovingly strokes his rifle's stock before sticking his bubblegum atop its scope. It's a film I wish was slightly more cohesive (and less jazzy) than it is but Police Van benefits from the endless swagger of its lead and fun filmmaking flourishes to stop it from being a frustrating or bad time. A testament to how artists pumping out quickie exploitation movies can often work in truths about their times that prestige filmmakers can't.