Blueprint of Murder
Director: Kihachi
Okamoto
Year: 1961
Rating: 6.5
Director Kihachi Okamoto is clearly more interested
in making this film slick and stylish than in having a cohesive plot. And
he succeeds admirably. This is awash in more style than it really needs
but it gives the film a luxurious sheen. Beautiful women, gleaming motorcycles
and large cars dot the landscape as the men go about their business of industrial
espionage and murder. A large part of it takes place in a swank nightclub
where the chanteuse intones "nobody know my heart" while her three male back-up
dancers part time killers keep step with her. Scotch and cigarettes go down
easily with lovely women willing to keep you company at your table. It is
run by the Yakuza, and they are feeling good. They just killed a man and
the police put it down as an accident. No worries until his brother shows
up with more questions than a SAT test.
The brother Ichiro (Kô Mishima) was
a test driver for a small company on the verge of building a better more
fuel-efficient engine. Everybody wants the blueprints and when the owner
won't sell, they manage Ichiro's accident over a cliff. The brother Jiro
(Yûzô Kayama) takes time off from whaling and comes to Tokyo
to snoop around. He meets up with his university friend Sudo played by the
rubbery faced Makoto Satô, who is nearly always a nasty villain with
that face. The camera seems to adore his face as it goes in for close-up
after close-up. Here he is a one-man reporter who seems to take more money
for not publishing stories than doing so. He plays both sides and money is
his game.
The villains try and do what villains do
- kill the curious and keep their distance from the cops (Tatsuya Mihashi)
who are beginning to wonder if it was an accident. The film has a light air
about it and enough humor sprinkled on it to not take it too seriously. My
heartthrob Kumi Mizuno plays a bar girl who seems to know every thing and
Mie Hama is the owner's sister and doesn't get much to do except look cute.
You Only Live Twice was six years away.
In this also is a young Mickey Curtis.
Curtis is a bit of a legend - half Japanese/English - he popularized rockabilly
in Japan and has appeared in many films. Okamoto had used him in a couple
of his previous films. This never really pulled me in, but it looks great,
is a fast-moving 73 minutes that bounces all over the place and goes down
like a pre-dinner cocktail.
