Aru koroshi ya

Marvellous, stylish, hip and very cool mid sixties colour movie from the celebrated Japanese 'B' movie director, Kazuo Mori. Starring the impressive Raizo Ichikawa, who reprised the role in the subsequent 'A Certain Killer's Key' and is astonishingly good in this not putting a foot wrong, unless you count the slightly silly fist fight at the end, which is probably intended to be amusing. the other major asset in this sparkling film is the lovely, Yumiko Nogawa who was still working until very recently and whose first film was that of Seijun Suzuki, 'Gate Of Flesh'. The film itself tells of a highly accomplished hit man a few bad yakuza and some even more bad ones and a guy and a girl who tag along with our hero. Great stuff with more than a nod to the French new wave.