House of Bamboo (Fox Film Noir) | Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell

House of Bamboo (Fox Film Noir) | Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell | SAMUEL FULLER, OPUS 8

DVDs:

House of Bamboo (F...

	House of Bamboo (Fox Film Noir) Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell 20th Century Fox, 2005 average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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In Tokyo a ruthless gang holds up U.S. ammunition trains. Ex-serviceman Eddie Spannier arrives from the States apparently at the invitation of one such unfortunate. But, Eddie isn't quite what he seems.

A Surprisingly Good Lost Treasure

Robert Ryan & Robert Stack (yep, the guy from "Unsolved Mysteries") vie for control of Tokyo's underworld. In reality, it was the Yakuza that ruled the black-markets and pachinko parlors, and the more realistic tales of this plague are told by director Kinji Fukasaku with his "Yakuza Papers" series, or "Street Mobster", "Graveyard of Honor", etc.

But this movie is worth the price for a number of reasons: Principally, for what it gets RIGHT, the scenery (exteriors were shot on location in post-war Tokyo!), the behavior codes. It amazingly doesn't overstep its bounds in presenting something that pretty much couldn't have happened. Sure, you can smile at Robert Ryan's swank Tokyo bachelor pad, where men wear shoes inside (aurgh!) among the awesome mid-century design furnishings, and ignore the geographically-impossible views of Mount Fuji. But marvel at RARE views of post-war Tokyo and rarer glimpses of the Japanese countryside.. at a time when Japan was just starting to pick itself up following being nearly annihilated. Not to mention the exciting climax and money-shot atop what was then Tokyo's greatest modern landmark.

And above all, enjoy a good script, crisp direction and fine performances from Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell and Shirley Yamaguchi. It's as brutal as mainstream American Movies could be at the time.

Dang! Good script, good acting, good visuals: That's a good movie!

Another note about the script: When the Americans mispronounce certain Japanese words and misunderstand culture, I don't think it's a flaw of the script, it's the writers' attempt to reflect how the crude men didn't quite get the local lingo.

Do yourself a greater favor and see "House of Bamboo" in your own living room double-feature with Kurosawa's "Stray Dog", another Tokyo crime story from the same general time-frame. Compare and contrast the depictions of the Tokyoites, the approach to police work, etc. See semi-related stories from the POV of Americans who've maybe been to Ginza, and from the people in the places that Americans just didn't go to.

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SAMUEL FULLER, OPUS 8

***1/2 1955. Directed by Samuel Fuller. Tokyo. A military police officer investigates the murder of an American soldier killed by Robert Ryan's gang. Shot on location in Japan, HOUSE OF BAMBOO is a fascinating study of a civilization's clash. Then, observe how, in the first part of the film, Robert Stack is described, although we know he's a cop, as an antipathetic hero, Shirley Yamaguchi and Robert Ryan being the sole interesting characters of the film. The ambiguous attraction felt by Robert Ryan towards Robert Stack is also suggested with subtlety by Samuel Fuller who signed here a very personal film. Recommended.

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.......... "MUSHIE---MUSHIE" ..........

I agree with Zack's take on this movie...I had just returned from two [2] sojourns in Kyoto, Japan [ 1954]...and I found this movie/DVD lacking of any Japanese mystique to a great degree...standard crime movie with the predictable ending, all taking place in Tokyo, Japan [1955]....yes, where were the Yakusa??...Robert Stack and Robert Ryan headline with the charming Shirley Yamaguchi, but that's all you get for your time and effort; incidentally, Director: Sam Fuller lured Shirley Yamaguchi away from her wealthy/socialite lifestyle in NYC...to return to her native Japan for this 20th Century Fox cinemascope picture, she remained onboard for a few more flicks and then, just disappeared from the silver screen forever.

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The location shooting is the real star...

Robert Ryan easily outshines Robert Stack in this rigid, brittle noir flick... The script is a bit clunky, but what's most fascinating here is the on-location shooting in an urban Japan that has long since vanished in a cloud of modernity. Like Akira Kurosawa's postwar crime films, this shows crowded, poor neighborhoods filled with tumbledown shacks and wooden sidewalks -- an urban landscape long since covered over with concrete and glass, and all the shiny trappings of the ultramodern, wealthy new Japan. Where Kurosawa shot his crime thrillers such as "Stray Dog" in tight, claustrophobic black-and-white, Fuller chose a more expansive Technicolor, with wide, open shots of the neighborhoods and temples. It has a nice postcard-like effect, and gives a fascinating glimpse at the last vestiges of old-world Japan. The movie's pretty dumb, though: for one, thing, how would all these white guys have cornered the mob action in Tokyo? I'm pretty sure there would have been a little competition from the hometown team. (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue)

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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