Another gem uncovered as part of Third Window Films’ / Rapid Eye Movies’ pink film anthology. This one is more of a historic gambler/pre-yakuza drama set in the Meiji period. Directed by Watanabe Mamoru and written by Atsushi Yamatoya, who also co-wrote Seijun Suzuki’s classic gangster noir Branded To Kill as well as wrote and directed the totally incredible Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, this is a sequel to a film considered lost by now, yet gives you enough context to understand what’s going on with its protagonist. I’ve seen this one compared to the Red Peony Gambler series, although in terms of style, plot and historical setting i’d rather draw comparisons to Lady Snowblood, while the trope of a well-meaning yet insanely murderous travelling outcast chased by his own bad karma is more reminiscent of the Zatoichi franchise. As with many of these earlier pink flicks, this doesn’t stay clear of lots of sexual violence, so please proceed with caution. On the plus side, you get strong acting performances throughout and tons of stellar cinemascope photography.

The decision of shooting occasional scenes in color (sex scenes, mainly) strikes me as odd, as i can’t derive any meaning out of that and the context of these scenes is primarily a tragic one. That said, although black and white photography lingered around a few years longer in Japan’s film industry than it did in Hollywood, by 1970 i’d say that color finally was the norm and thus, the decision to shoot most of it in monochrome has to have been a creative one, rather than a cost cutting measure.