The trilogy is now available in a box set containing the first three films on two blu-ray discs. The movies are presented in original Japanese Mono with optional subtitles, and commentaries from experts on the stars and subject matter, and much more. I had a blast with these, and if you didn’t pre-order these discs yet, I highly recommend ordering them now. It’s a must-have for anyone in the western world who discovered actor Ken Takakura in Tony Scott’s Black Rain like I did, and is purely keen on venturing into a space of cinema nary handed a spotlight until now.
I’ve segmented each review with a duration. Enjoy, and remember to head over to MVD and get your orders in today!
ABASHIRI PRISON (1965)
3 min. read
One of the foremost leading auteurs of his time, it was director Teruo Ishii whose 1965 film, Abashiri Prison;- a.k.a. Abashiri Bangaichi, would be the one to elevate leading man Ken Takakura into household stardom. There are seventeen of these, and accordingly, the first three are up for grabs as part of Eureka Entertainment’s Eureka Classics line-up in a trilogy box set dubbed as the Prison Walls Trilogy, restored in 2k by Toei.
Based on a book by Hajime Ito and filmed on location in wintery Hokkaido per the film’s setting, Ishii’s inaugural movie introduces a bevy of characters among the inmates of Abashiri prison. Takakura stars in the role of Shinichi Tachibana, serving a three year sentence for violent offenses. Other colorful characters include Gonda (Koji , an inmate doing hard time for multiple crimes as is the “big brother” authority of the bunch, Yoda (Toru Abe), and a repentant, elderly man known as “42” a.k.a. “the Death Number” (Kanjuro Arashi).
There isn’t much in the way of story for Abashiri Prison as most of the film chronicles inmate life and the politics of coexistence with other inmates, and working around the stringent rules of the prison to acquire certain liberties. The movie still calibrates itself around Tachibana with a series of flashbacks that reveal a protagonist with greater depth to his story, as well as empathy and purpose. Those aspects are put front and center as soon as Tachibana learns that his mother is dying. He wishes to see her, but his intentions are jeopardized when at just six months to go of his sentence, the inmates plan a daring escape.
Abashiri Prison is a contained affair, while ever stimulating its audiences with character-driven suspense and intrigue, and whimsical laughs to pepper the mood. Arashi brings one of the most standout and memorable roles to the fray in a supporting capacity, for a story that really starts to get going well into the second half. The final leg of the film propels as Tachibana and Gonda lead a harrowing chase from the warden (Tetsuro Tamba) and his lawmen, preambling a major turning point for our characters as the film recapitulates.
At its core, the first installment of the Prison Walls Trilogy is a transformative tale – one that elucidates that not all men who do evil deeds are without hope and redemption. Everyone has a story to tell behind their actions, and to our delight, Tachibana’s is brought full circle in a compelling prison drama told with plentiful depth and nuances, and even ample color beyond Ishii’s black-and-white palette.
The commentary for the trilogy is hosted by film historian Tom Mes, whose dialogue is a guaranteed enrichment for any and all engaged in cinema of the Far East. He talks about the film’s influences, the atmosphere of the industry at the time of its production, Takakura’s burgeoning starpower with respect to his breakout status in Ishii’s flick, and much more for the film’s ninety-minute duration.
ANOTHER ABASHIRI PRISON (1965)
4 min. read
The second chapter included in Eureka’s Prison Walls Trilogy is much more of an adventure with Another Abashiri Prison. Directed by Ishii, the film features several returning characters from the first film joining Takakura who reprises his role as former Yakuza hitman Tachibana. Joined by fellow ex-inmate Otsuki (Joji Ai), Tachibana is fresh out of Abashiri after doing his three years and is looking to start anew, boarding a cruise ship that just so happens to have an unsavory lot amongst its passengers.
The actions of a thief upend the trip and force an immediate investigation as the ship docks for emergency, stranding its passengers until its next departure. Little does Tachibana know that he and two others are being scapegoated as suspects of the theft as they try to get by and earn some cash, only to be thrwarted when a fake algae ball lands in his possession.
The object in question, its contents bearing stolen jewels from a deadly heist, are now up for grabs from the highest bidder as the jewel’s owners thrust Tachibana into a mission of survival. With the help of a beautiful pickpocket named Yumi (Michiko Saga), a band of strippers, and an old friend from Abashiri’s stomping grounds, Tachibana’s quest soon brings him face to face with a familiar foe.
Another Abashiri Prison comes packaged with many of the same ingridients of the first film, albeit this time in color. Actor Kunie Tanaka gets a brief appearance in the second film as a prisoner aiding what looks to be a murder. It turns out there’s a darkly comedic twist there as his voluntary role was nothing more than a stake at something else, backfiring as a result.
There’s a bit of a romantic undertone between Yumi and Tachibana, although it never strays past anything platonic, which really goes in hand with Abashiri Prison commentary host Mes’s words on how Takakura felt about doing love scenes. Nonetheless, theirs is far from a rigid connection and its played handily well by the end.
Among some of the film’s supporting side cast include are Yoko Mihara who plays a strip-tease dancer. She’s joined by her traveling musician husband – played by Shiro Osaka – who spends most of his days caring for their son while she galavants with her dance troupe. She eventually gets swept into the chaos through her own debauchery one evening. One scene later sees her husband struggling to get care for their son at a local hospital, until Tachibana and Yumi notice what’s happening and take action on their behalf.
The fisticuffs thickens a little more this time as well. Tachibana gets into a few more jams this time around, including at an illegal gambling parlor where he and Otsuki venture at one point to try an require the lost ball which is in the parlor’s possession. Little does he know that the games are fixed, although the tables turn soon enough when a dark horse from Tachibana’s past reappears to flip the script completely. If you’ve seen the movies already or the trailers and clips promoting the trilogy boxset, then you already know what you’re in for, lest I spoil it for anyone discovering these films for themselves.
Bookending the contents of the film on disc one is the commentary from Chris Poggiali, author of “These Fists Break Bricks”. His commentary suffices about the same as that of Mes for Abashiri Prison, detailing many interesting items about the sequel, including – but not limited to – its speed of production, a highlight on the film’s double billing presentation alongside, and factoids about Takakura as well as co-stars Joji Ai and his music career, Michiko Saga and some of the hardship she faced during her acting career, and co-star Hideo Murota with a brief spotlight on what he calls “the Pirahna Army”.
ABASHIRI PRISON: SAGA OF HOMESICKNESS (1965)
6 min. read
The third entry of the Prison Walls Trilogy expands even further with Abashiri Prison: Saga Of Homesickness. Franchise star Ken Takakura leads the way once again that now journeys into the next chapter of ex-convict Tachibana with a return to his hometown in Nagasaki.
Home to a memorable childhood, his history there is still rooted in the past debts he now has to make right. Rejoining his crime family, the Asahi gang, Tachibana manages to line-up a port laboring job under the stewardship of its aging boss whose ordered an era of nonviolence and peacekeeping, while faced with the troubling actions of the rivaling Yasui gang.
When Tachibana is not mitigating blue collar work in the underworld, he’s nuturing a friendship with Emi (Margaret Hayashida), a troubled orphan who resides at a local orphanage but can usually be seen around town trying to tussle with grown ups. Emi’s story is but one of several that Tachibana finds himself pieceing together, particularly when he learns of a woman that follows Emi from time to time.
One other end of Tachibana’s journey will see him veering into a trail of blood and bodies as the rivalry between the Asahi and Yasui gangs comes to a head. Murder and conspiracy are abound, and in an effort to reduce the bloodshed and preserve the lives of those he cares about, Tachibana puts his best foot and blade forward in a violent, final showdown with the Yasui gang.
Ishii’s third entry in his Abashiri franchise marks yet another reunion of familiars from the first film. It’s worth noting that the stakes in this franchise are a little higher, so if you’ve grown attached to any of the actors in the trilogy thusfar, prepare for some tragic losses. They each serve as a preamble to what lies ahead for the final act.
Actress Hiroko Sakuramachi makes her entry into the franchise as Rumiko. She’s the wife of the second generation boss of the Asahi gang and also happens to be childhood friends with Tachibana, which otherwise brings about some complications along the way, sans any room for potential romantic entanglements as noted in the previous installment.
The addition of the young actress playing Emi will sorely stand out for a number of reasons, including and especially because her character is depicted in blackface. For what it’s worth, Hayashida lends a ton of poignancy and heart for the kind of role written in a bygone industry practice that’s deemed much more injurious today on matters of representation.
The movie finishes out in violent yakuza cinema fashion with Tachibana raiding the Yasui gang base. There’s nothing stylish here, so the scenery is also tension based with the kind of quick-draw suspense you’d find in a Western. Ishii really hones in on his strengths and nuances, as Takakura and the cast let loose to bring this particular arc to an amicable, bittersweet close.
Abashiri Prison: Saga Of Homesickness is the sole title featured on the second disc of Eureka’s Prison Walls Trilogy for their Masters Of Cinema Series. Culminating its contents are commentary duo Mike Leeder and Arne Venema who go on to tackle even more of Takakura’s past and upbringing, and even at one point a few memberships the actor had in Boxing and English clubs. Both bounce off of each other really well as they do during the film’s duration, particularly regarding some of the scenic faves in the film. Venema goes especially deeper into the film’s aspects; He talks Japan’s history, everything from films and film credits of the actors and the shape of the film market in the 50s and 60s with respect to the yakuza, filming locations, crew atmosphere and how cinema affected laws and governance in Japan, and more.
The first of the remaining two seperate segments of the disc is Jasper Sharp and Mark Schilling in “Break Out,” a half-hour in which they talk all things Teruo Ishii, and Abashiri Prison. You get some cool poster visuals of Ishii’s work including Shogun’s Joys Of Torture, The Executioner, and Starman, while the two talk about the actors and their histories, the surprise success of the first film and the momentum it spawned for the back-to-back production of the Abashiri films, and Schilling also gets to reflect on his own time with Ishii and perceptions of his creative process.
The second and last half-hour featurette goes to Tony Rayns who goes into the immersion of the jidaigeki genre into television while Toei pivoted to yakuza projects, and Ishii’s transition from childrens’ films to yakuza flicks for the studio. He also talks up Takakura’s filmography and his popularity in China, and the pressure Ishii faced to direct Another Abashiri Prison as the first one rocketed Takakura to stardom. At one point he underscores the momentum Toei had with the yakuza genre given studios weren’t tackling the transition of any sort of underworld crime tales to television, and then goes into Ishii’s career pivot with some of the projects he worked on post-Abashiri Bangaichi.
CONCLUSION:
Some of the common denominators on Eureka’s Prison Walls Trilogy release is the impact the franchise had on Japanese cinema, as well as its lead star and director. Abashiri Prison – or Abashiri Bangaichi as its regionally known – launched Takakura to stardom even though Ishii didn’t necessarily think it would be a big hit, and there’s an addendum here as to Ishii’s purpose for shooting the inaugural film in black-and-white. It worked well to the film’s benefit, and while it won audiences enough for a sequel, the subsequent third is understood to be the best in the trilogy as it brings things a little more into cohesion, even if a few characters are rewritten in the process. The trilogical installment is a return to form for the yakuza crime tale format that worked so well for Toei at the time, and with Eureka priming the release of the films in 2K restoration with the original Mono audio for its debut in the West, fans of Japanese cinema curious for the heyday cinema of this kind should have their hands full with delight.
There’s no telling if Eureka is vying to release anymore Abashiri Bangaichi in the near or distant future at least as of this article. Needless to say, and depending how responses go for this bundle, I’m certain at least that the banner is keeping their options open.
![ABASHIRI BANGAICHI: BŌKYŌ HEN [ABASHIRI PRISON: SAGA OF HOMESICKNESS] Original 1965 Trailer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EZXX382RR2U/hqdefault.jpg)
