Cruel Gun Story

Cruel Gun Story (Kenjû Zankoku Monogatari) (1964)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Takumi Furakawa

Starring: Jo Shishido, Chieko Matsubara, Tamio Kawaji, Yuji Odaka, Minako Katsuki

From: Nikkatsu

A movie that spawned many profile pictures for messageboards & Discord. Many likely will recognize the distinctive-looking Japanese man bleeding from the head but still wearing glasses, smoking a cigarette, holding a pistol, and looking like an utter badass. That’s Jo Shishido from Cruel Gun Story; not only is it currently the main banner for the movie on Letterboxd, the image is the one attached to the Criterion Channel listing of the film.

It was about time for me to view this Japanese noir picture. Shishido is sprung from prison by the Yakuza for a daring armored car heist, the vehicle just having left the horse racetrack. Yes, in fact this was reminiscent of The Killing. The plan requires the murder of more than one cop (think of that how you will) but Jo is somewhat painted with a sympathetic brush—he has a sister in a wheelchair-after an accident-and attempting to cure her is his driving motivation.

As expected, despite how well the scheme is planned out, a spanner will be thrown into the works, something will go askew. Of course, where in the chain that the link breaks and the stakes are raised won’t be disclosed by me. It’s a film with the noir flavors that people enjoy, along with a groovy score, plenty of shootouts, double-crosses (sometimes even triple-crosses), memorable characters, and a darker than Hollywood at the time flavor. In fact, the movie is cruel and people die at the hand of a gun, no matter who is wielding it.

As downbeat as the film can be, Cruel Gun Story was an enthralling story, which was less than 90 minutes to boot. The picture is more than just one remarkable image.