Radiance Films UK Blu-ray Synopsis: A yakuza gang selects a good for nothing street vendor to stir up trouble in enemy territory. With a flashy suit, a gun and a pocketful of money, he feels like a king but when trouble comes knocking, he realises that waving a gun and pulling the trigger are two very different things. After the major studios refused to finance it, director Sadao Nakajima (The Japanese Godfather Trilogy) took this project to New Wave bastion the Art Theatre Guild. With a deeply impressive performance by Tsunehiko Watase (Sympathy for the Underdog) that predates Robert DeNiro's indelible turn as Travis Bickle in Scorsese's Taxi Driver by three years, Aesthetics of a Bullet is a lost gem of 1970s Japanese cinema ripe for rediscovery.

 

Views: Directed by Sadao Nakajima, Aesthetics of a Bullet is a feisty yakuza drama from the early 1970s that tells the tale of Kiyoshi Koike, a troubled young man with a gambling addiction and prostitute girlfriend who suffers constant abuse from him. But Koike, who has dreams of success, is soon offered the chance to work for a local gangster, jumping at the chance to give up his job selling rabbits so that he can run into his new position as a yakuza 'bullet'. Here, he is given a new lease of life when he is handed one million Yen and a gun to incite a war with an opposing gang. Naturally, with new haircut and shiny suit in place, Koike's over-confident approach leads to some bad decisions and plenty of violence, resulting in his own inner conflict, regret, and a few life lessons...

 

Intense! Rock 'n' Roll! Gripping! These are only a few words that describe this smart piece of exploitation cinema from Japan's jitsuroku era, but Aesthetics of a Bullet offers so much more. From social commentary to character studies, the story opens with a collection of shots featuring people feeding their faces, shopping, wasting and polluting as a roaring punk-track plays and the credits run. It certainly grabs your attention and immediately sets the tone of what's to come. But of course, director Sadao was no stranger to slapping viewers in the face with gripping stories and images. Making his debut just a decade earlier with Female Ninja Magic (1964) and The Spying Sorceress (1964), Sadao Nakajima fast became one of Toei's most prolific directors going onto deliver films like Yakuza Gurentai (1966), Memoir of Japanese Assassinations (1969), A Modern Yakuza: Three Decoy Blood Brothers (1971), Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School (1973), The Rapacious Jailbreaker (1974), and the highly praised Japanese Godfather Series (1977) among many others, making his final piece in 2018 with the chanbara period-piece, Love's Twisted Path.

 

Of course, the main highlight of the piece is leading man Tsunehiko Watase. Appearing in well over 200 productions, the late actor does a fantastic job as Kiyoshi Koike. Although he had only been acting for a few years prior to this, Watase had already racked-up a number of films under his belt and was clearly in high demand due to his acting talents. As well as being a frequent player of the Delinquent Girl Boss (1970) film series, he would also appear in films like Sympathy for the Underdog (1971), Wandering Ginza Butterfly 1 & 2 (1972), Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences (1972), Battles Without Honor & Humanity (1973), Proxy War (1973), and Bodyguard Kiba 2 (1973), as well as working with Sadao on films like A Modern Yakuza: Three Decoy Blood Brothers (1971), Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School (1973) and it's sequels, before joining him again for The Rapacious Jailbreaker (1974) and many others that followed. Fans of Japanese cinema will also have seen him perform in films like Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist (1976), The Fall of Ako Castle (1978), G.I. Samurai (1979), Sailor Suit & Machine Gun (1981), Heaven & Earth (1990) and more...

 

Cinematographer Toshio Matsuda once again delivers some great visuals, capturing a bustling Japan in different locations, while using close-ups and handheld shots for the grittier moments. Of course, this was a man with plenty of industry experience having lensed films like The Killer Priest's Journey (1969), Sadao's A Modern Yakuza: Three Decoy Blood Brothers (1971), Hot Springs Turtle Geisha (1972) and Girl Boss: Revenge (1973), before going on to shoot films like Bronson Lee, Champion (1974), and Sadao's Japanese Godfather Series (1977). But it's also worth noting that Matsuda himself, at this stage, had already been a successful director in his own right from the late 1950s, delivering films such as Rusty Knife (1958), The Perfect Game (1958), Velvet Hustler (1967), Outlaw: Gangster VIP (1968), Shadow Hunters (1972) and a number of episodes from The Water Margin Series (1973). From here, he would go onto direct the Space Battleship Yamato (1974) series and films that followed, Future War 198X (1982), Godzilla 1985 (1985), the Miyamoto Musashi Series (1990), and so much more.

 

Recently restored and released on Blu-ray by Radiance Films and looking the best it's ever done, Aesthetics of a Bullet comes with a few bonus features worth checking out. The first is a 30 minute interview with Hollywood director Robert Schwentke who discusses his love for Sadao Nakajima's films, including an appreciation for this particular title which made for an interesting watch. Following that, Sadao's assistant director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri looks back at his time spent with the director in an informative 16 minute piece, discussing Aesthetics of a Bullet and how he came to work with Nakajima in his later years. Of course, Kumakiri is now a director in his own right having delivered films such as Hole in the Sky (2001), Sketches of Kaitan City (2010), My Man (2014), The Shrine (2026) and others. Next, in one of his last interviews, Sadao Nakajima himself gives a 19 minute piece on the film, sharing his memories on the production and that of lead actor Tsunehiko Watase which was great to see. And finally, a restored version of the original 3 minute theatrical trailer closes what's on offer – a trailer that is sure to grab your interest if you need any convincing whatsoever. Brutal, exciting, intense and memorable, Aesthetics of a Bullet is the kind of film that will sit with you long after your first viewing.

 

Overall: Wonderfully directed and made, Aesthetics of a Bullet is just another great title from Sadao Nakajima that deserves to be seen!