Kenjû zankoku monogatari

Fairly mundane set up, criminal looking to do one last job, with fairly typical characters, but well done and with a Japanese outlook and form. Bleak and dark with some nice action and final act. Worth seeing for old Chipmunk Shishido who plays it cool as usual.

Perennial Nikkatsu Studios hard-case Joe Shishido plays 'Togawa', a recently released con who is convinced by a mob boss to plan and execute an armoured car robbery, targeting 120 million yen in race track proceeds. In a typical narrative trajectory for these types of stories, he assembles his team, plans the heist, does the job, deals with the unforeseen complications, and then is double crossed, leading to a third act of reprisal and vengeance. Togawa is an interesting, ambivalent character: he's initially portrayed in a sympathetic light as the orphaned son of parents murdered by the Chinese at the end of WW2 and loving brother of an invalid sister, yet his role in the heist is to ambush and gun down the two escorting police men in cold blood. In keeping with the film's cold, evocative title ("Cruel Gun Story"), the body count is high as 'Togawa' is forced to deal with treachery within his own team, betrayal by the mob boss who hired him, as well as a corrupt ex-lawyer trying to move up in the criminal ranks. The ending is bleak and grim, but satisfying in a noir way. Well worth watching by fans of crime melodramas.

This wonderful box-set from Radiance, World Noir Vol.2 with the German, Black Gravel (1961) and the French, Symphony for a Massacre (1963) were fine but this third one from Japan was not as good. Of course, Joe Shishido is great and all the actors fine but the story is just too simple and predictable. There is a lot of shouting and hitting each other for little reason and much double cross although there are some decent shoot-outs. Shishido was starring the same year with Youth of a Beast (1963) and later with Branded to Kill (1967) both fantastic and it is just a shame that this one just not good enough.

Cruel Gun Story, originally known as Kenju Zankoku Monogatari, is a Japanese film noir that mixes elements of a personal drama with gritty action-thriller sequences. This is one of the last movies directed by Nikkatsu Studio employee Furukawa Takumi who would live to get one hundred one years old and stars charismatic lead actor Shishido Jo who has been excelling in such particular genre flicks.

This film tells the story of a young criminal named Togawa Joji who has been spending time in prison for getting his revenge on a reckless truck driver who brutally injured his sister who has since been living in reclusion in a sanitarium as she is confined to a wheelchair. Upon getting out of prison, Togawa Joji is immediately forced by his influential employers who managed to get him out of prison earlier than expected, to organize and execute an ambitious theft with three partners in crime. While one of them is a dear friend of old date, the other two are scheming outcasts who cannot be trusted. When the four criminals are forced to go into hiding after their crime, they turn against one another. To make matters worse, Togawa Joji is also betrayed by his employer. He is now on a quest for survival, motivated by a thirst for revenge and obsessed with taking care of his sister.

Kenju Zankoku Monogatari is an above average film noir that ultimately qualifies as a very good crime drama. The actresses and actors become one with their roles and Shishido Jo excels as rough protagonist with a heart of gold. The mixture of brutal scenes such as prolonged car chases are fluidly intertwined with heartfelt moments such as the protagonist's relation to his physically challenged sister who has no hope for recovery. The script comes around with interesting twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end that might get you to the edge of your seat. The desolate settings such as crumbling buildings, abandoned industrial areas and dirty sewer systems have been chosen with great care. This film has been shot with great care thanks to precise light and sound techniques. The fact that this film has been shot in black and white due to a limited budget actually enhances its gloomy atmosphere that fits perfectly with its genre.

On the negative side, the film's script is expertly written but fails to come around with any new ideas that would appeal to cineasts who aren't interested in the film noir genre. It's also obvious that this film has aged quite a lot due to its limited budget and actually looks much older than other genre films created at the same time or even earlier. Another element that deserves to be mentioned is the movie's controversial ending. Personally, I feel that it fits in perfectly but other reviewers might be disappointed by its particularly dark tone. This movie is most certainly only recommended to mature adults and shouldn't be watched by children at all.

At the end of the day, Cruel Gun Story, originally known as Kenju Zankoku Monogatari, is highly recommended to film noir fans, cineasts who enjoy gripping personal dramas, anyone looking for old-fashioned action-thrillers and people interested in Japan's post-war culture of the sixties.

CRUEL GUN STORY is very reminiscent of Kubrick's THE KILLING: a group of motley criminals plan to rob a horse race track (or in this case, a truck transporting money from one). They believe this will be an easy pay day, the perfect crime. Unfortunately, human folly and bad luck get in the way.

While this idea has been done before, CRUEL GUN STORY is a great take on the classic tropes with its very human characters and chilly style. The action scenes are thrilling and the undercurrent of weary humanity puts this among the best of late-stage classic noir.