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Yasuharu Hasebe’s RETALIATION (1968) – The Blu Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Blu-Ray Review

Yasuharu Hasebe’s RETALIATION (1968) – The Blu Review

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Review by Roger Carpenter

After laboring for close to a decade as an assistant director for Nikkatsu Studios, Yasuharu Hasebe burst onto the scene as a lead director in 1966 with Black Tight Killers and 1967 with the more subdued but very good Massacre GunRetaliation, which starred some of Nikkatsu’s primary actors (called the “Diamond Line”), was an A-list film, in color, and was a return to a more violent yakuza tale than Hasebe’s previous Massacre Gun.

Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro, a yakuza who has just been released from a long stint in prison.  He returns to find his family dismantled, with only his ailing boss and one loyal yakuza member remaining.  On top of this, Hino (Jo Shishido), brother of the man Jiro was imprisoned for killing, is tailing him and seeking revenge.  Jiro reaches out to another family for help in rebuilding his gang and is assigned to mediate between some factories wanting to buy out a group of farmers in Takagawa City.  The Hasama Family boss assures Jiro he will be allowed to do things his own way but moves to take things over just as Jiro finalizes the deal.  Angered by this betrayal, Jiro and Hino—who have become reluctant friends—seek retaliation towards the Hasama Family.


Hasebe’s previous effort was an old-fashioned, low-key, atmospheric film noir, filmed in black-and-white (as B-pictures were in those days) and nearly bloodless in the fashion of American Westerns during the 30’s and 40’s.  Retaliation is quite the opposite.  Because it featured some of Nikkatsu’s biggest stars at the time, it was an A-picture and was shot in color.  It also featured a larger budget which allowed for more special effects.  Thus, Retaliation is quite a bit more violent and features not just that great, bright-red blood so ubiquitous to Japanese genre films of the 60’s and 70’s, but also some nudity and other adult situations in the style of American roughies of the time.  Hasebe would go on to more success and fame with the Stray Cat Rock series and several violent pink films in the mid- to late-70’s, but his first forays into the yakuza genre are solid efforts.  Some might even describe them as cult faves or minor classics.

While Kobayashi was the undeniable star here, many other established character actors or up-and-comers populate the film as well, including the aforementioned Jo Shishido, Hideaki Nitani (Cat Girl Gamblers; Tokyo Drifter; Massacre Gun), Tamio Kawaji (Youth of the Beast; Tokyo Drifter; Gangster VIP), Jiro Okazaki (Goro the Assassin; Massacre Gun; Stray Cat Rock series), and a young Meiko Kaji, who surely needs no introduction and who is looking as beautiful as ever. One of the strengths of the film is in the acting while the story is also solid without being overly detailed and confusing, as some of these films can be.  Hasebe is a more than competent director and I feel like he doesn’t always get his due and is unfairly compared to his mentors like Seijun Suzuki.  His cinematography and use of color, while not as wildly creative as his debut, Black Tight Killers, or the films of Suzuki, is still interesting.  For example, there is a tracking shot through a series of blinds hanging up in several windows.  As two gangsters fight the camera tracks along these blinds, allowing viewers flashes of the fight through the windows.  It’s creative and fun and provides ample energy without falling back on the typical full-frame shots of men fighting.  The film is populated by many of these types of additions for viewers who watch carefully, perhaps elevating the film above the typical yakuza fare of the time.


As previously mentioned, the sex and violence quotients are upped in this film.  There are plenty of bloody gangland murders with at least one gloriously gory arterial spray that precedes Argento’s Tenebrae-style kills by 15 years.  While there’s no real sex in the film, there are a few nude shots and at least one sequence that foreshadows Hasebe’s move to violent pink films in the mid-70’s that’s a bit strong.  This is certainly an adult-oriented film.

In the end, Hasebe shows a flexibility in his film style over his first trio of films that I think is impressive, as is this package from Arrow Video USA.  Released in a two-disc (both standard and Blu) special edition, the film looks spectacular, with vivid colors and clear picture.  Similar to Arrow’s release of Massacre Gun, this release features a continuation of the Jo Shishido interview (13 minutes) with the first part being on the Massacre Gun release, another superlative video essay by Tony Rayns, this time about Hasebe and Shishido (31 minutes), the theatrical trailer for the film, and a short promotional image gallery.  As with all Arrow releases, the first printing also comes with a nice booklet with new writing on the film by Jasper Sharp.  The film can be purchased on Amazon or directly from Arrow Video at http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/category/usa/.