Two Lives, Two Yakuza (1964)
An early ninkyo film from before the genre had truly established its form. Koji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an ambush. It turns out the man is the head of a hard working clan appointed to a railway construction project. A ruthless yakuza gang is also trying to get their share of the project and attempts to sabotage the work. After the old man dies, his son (Sonny Chiba) and daughter (Junko Fuji) try to complete the project. Tsuruta joins them while also falling in love with a local woman working in a bar (after all, Tsuruta always was more of a lover than his stoic colleague Takakura).
Director:
Tsuneo Kobayashi
Writer:
Akira Murao
 |
Koji Tsuruta as Shinjiro Kusakari |
 |
Sumiko Fuji as Yukiko Matsuhashi |
 |
Shigeru Amachi as Seiji Nawate |
 |
Takeshi Katō as Makoto Misugi |
 |
Eijirō Yanagi as Genichiro Matsuhashi |
 |
Sonny Chiba as Shinichi Matsuhashi |
 |
Yoshiko Sakuma as Kumi Kitajima |
 |
Kenji Ushio as |
 |
Fumitake Ōmura as |
 |
Akikane Sawa as |
| Writing | Akira Murao | Screenplay |
| Writing | Shunsaku Iwashita | Original Story |
| Directing | Tsuneo Kobayashi | Director |
| Art | Suguru Tanabe | Production Design |
| Camera | Shichirō Hayashi | Director of Photography |
| Sound | Chūji Kinoshita | Original Music Composer |
