Take Aim at the Police Van
| Take Aim at the Police Van | |
|---|---|
 Japanese film poster | |
| Directed by | Seijun Suzuki |
| Written by | Shinichi Sekizawa Kazuo Shimada (Story) |
| Produced by | Ryoji Motegi |
| Starring | Michitaro Mizushima Mari Shiraki Misako Watanabe Shinsuke Ashida |
| Cinematography | Shigeyoshi Mine |
| Edited by | Akira Suzuki |
| Music by | Koichi Kawabe |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Janus Films[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Take Aim at the Police Van (十三号待避線より: その護送車を狙え, Jūsangō taihisen yori: Sono gosōsha o nerae) is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Michitaro Mizushima.
Cast
[edit]- Michitaro Mizushima as Daijirô Tamon
- Mari Shiraki as Tsunako Andô
- Misako Watanabe as Yûko Hamajima
- Shinsuke Ashida as Jûbei Hamajima
- Ryôhei Uchida as Kuji
- Akira Hisamatsu as Masaki
- Shôichi Ozawa as Gorô Kashima
Production
[edit]The Nikkatsu Company conceived Take Aim at the Police Van as a borderless action film, a studio subgenre with internationalized characters and setting. Contract director Seijun Suzuki had previously worked mainly on pop song films, a youth subgenre in which the films were built around an already popular song, and yakuza films with an occasional film noir bent.[2] It also marked the beginning of his practice of co-writing his films.[3] Leading man Michitaro Mizushima had also starred in Suzuki's Underworld Beauty two years earlier. He was atypical of borderless action films by virtue of his age, forty-eight at the time, as they typically featured Nikkatsu's younger stars such as Yujiro Ishihara and Akira Kobayashi.[2]
Release
[edit]Take Aim at the Police Van was released in Japan by the Nikkatsu Company on January 27, 1960.[4] It was subsequently released in a five-film DVD box set, titled Nikkatsu Noir, in North America on August 25, 2009, under The Criterion Collection's Eclipse label. The set focuses on noir-themed Nikkatsu Action films and also includes I Am Waiting (1957), Rusty Knife (1958), Cruel Gun Story (1964) and A Colt Is My Passport (1967) with liner notes by film historian Chuck Stephens.[5]
The A.V. Club's Noel Murray felt the film holds up against contemporary Hollywood film noir. Rating it less abstract than Seijun Suzuki's films of a few years later, he highlighted its vim and social candor and named it "[a testament] to how artists pumping out quickie exploitation product can often work in truths about their times that prestige filmmakers can't."[6]
Has been shown on the Turner Classic Movies show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller.
References
[edit]- ^ Take Aim at the Police Van Janus Films. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ a b Stephens, Chuck (August 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ Weisser, Thomas (1998). "The Films of Seijun Suzuki". Asian Cult Cinema. 21. Vital Books: 47.
- ^ １３号待避線より その護送車を狙え (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo Movie Database. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ Erickson, Glenn (August 13, 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ Murray, Noel (September 2, 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
External links
[edit]- Original trailer at The Criterion Collection
- Take Aim at the Police Van at IMDb
- Take Aim at the Police Van (in Japanese) at the Kinema Junpo Movie Database
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