Blackmail Is My Life

Year: 1968

Grade: B+

Country: Japan

Director: Fukasaku

Review

stylistic yakuza film from kinji fukasaku (battle royale, tora! tora! tora!, fall guy, etc.). it’s about four young japanese people (three men, one woman) who basically fall into the blackmail business. slowly the jobs they pull off get bigger and bigger and, in the end, they are out of their depth. editing, use of color and use of zoom lenses were strong points of the film. fukasaku, from my experience of his films, seems a flashier, less artistic version of suzuki. this film had artistic elements, but i just felt that it was a little forced. really, though, this is just me being nit-picky – being compared to suzuki is high praise, and the artistry of this film, though it may have been a little more than fukasaku could handle, is quite refreshing and enjoyable to watch. films like this are such a breath of fresh air when compared to some of the modern films that try to be the same thing (think snatch and other ‘style over substance’ gangster films whose style is forced or unappealing).