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Trying to survive in the ruins of post-war Japan, Kawada (Noboru Ando, By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him) and Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy the Underdog) run afoul of the military police after stealing valuable copper wire. Kawada is arrested and sent to prison, but Tsukada uses their gains to start a yakuza gang. Facing violent inmates and a cruel warden (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss), Kawada vows to escape and stop his former partner. Tai Kato directs this epic prison story with characteristic visual flair, while gangster-turned-actor Ando delivers a stunning performance charged with real-life gravitas. As an examination of the deep scars of wartime, this genre classic is also a clear precursor to Kinji Fukasaku's epoch-making Battles Without Honour and Humanity series.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)
• A visual essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024)
• Original trailer
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling

Sales Points

• Genre star Noburu Ando was a real Yakuza prior to becoming an actor, lending a rare authenticity to the film
• For fans of Escape from Alcatraz, Shawshank Redemption, and Shock Corridor
• First time on Blu-ray

Press Quotes

Ando had been the head of his own gang which at its high point had over 300 members and controlled much of the lucrative Shibuya nightlife scene. His first onscreen appearance was in a gangster movie in which he played himself. Kato explores the seedy underbelly of the beginnings of the economic miracle while his noble hero does his best to offer a course correction to those who have already forgotten their responsibility not just to others but to those they left behind

     —Hayley Scanlon, Windows on Worlds

Noboru Ando was the epitome of unflappable cool. He could go into a bar, order a whiskey, and then, when a gang burst in and unleashed mayhem, he would continue drinking, showing no emotion -- until he snapped and killed everyone

     —Patrick Macias, TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion

[Ando as directed by Kato] expressed the loneliness, desperation and feral toughness of many men of his generation against a backdrop of general lawlessness

     —Mark Schilling, The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangste