There really isn't anything to distinguish House of Bamboo from other thrillers and noir from the 50s other than the fact that it was set in and shot in Japan. Other than its exotic location, the film is a standard, generic thriller that was a dime a dozen back then. The heart of the story is that the police become embroiled in an undercover investigation of a crime syndicate that has been knocking over military trains. One of the men falls in love with the ex-wife of one of the gangsters who was killed in an operation. This story could have easily been transplanted anywhere in the United States. But instead we get shots of post-war Japan in all of its glory: geisha, bath houses, the Kamakura Shrine, pachinko parlors. They are interesting, but considering the massive amount of films that are about Japanese culture and actually come from Japan, they seem unnecessary. I can only recall two principal characters who were Japanese. The rest of the cast, including the evil criminal overlords, were American. Overall, the film, while competent enough on its own, just begs the question of why bother?
[I later wrote a more in-depth review of the film which can be read here: http://theretroset.com/house-of-bamboo/]
6/10
0 Yorumlar