"Sun Above, Death Below".... 1968 movie review part one

 

 Release Date: November 23, 1968  Length: 86 minutes Subs by Mashhamid

Director: Hiromichi Horikawa   Writer: Shuichi Nagahara who also wrote "3 Seconds Before Explosion" which was recently reviewed. Also has gone by the title of Sniper.

 Here's another semi unknown movie which are ones I tend to favor, while not too well known the viewers that watched it seemed to enjoy it. This movie is about an assassin, bet there's many in this genre though I've only viewed a few of them. One that came immediately to mind was "The Mechanic" from 1972 that starred Charles Bronson, that was one terrific film. But even better than that was "A Colt is my Passport" from 1967, that is one of my all time favorite movies and starred the incomparable Jo Shishido. I have that as a part of the five DVD boxset "Nikkatsu Noir" which is truly untoppable, there is no trailer for the film but here's a short scene from the movie that's subbed in English. Think I've viewed 2-3 other Hitman movies, they don't have wall to wall action yet all have been very intense plus the Assassin or Hitman is always a bit of a quiet and refined man.

 

 In the last two films reviewed did talk about the quality of B/W movies compared to ones in Color, of course not from these days but prior to 1970. It was true that B/W film did have higher quality but that difference was soon worked out. This film was in color and I had no qualms with the quality, one reason could be the dimensions. Seems these 1960's movies did have such odd dimensions and wonder why(?), for this movie they were 853x356. Above is the star of this movie Yuzo Kayama and that wasn't a known name to me but he was the son of the famous old time actor Ken Uhara. Yuzo was 31 when this movie came out and is still alive as he turned 87 in April, it was learned after he met the Beatles in 1966 that he was a distant relative of John Lennon! Wonder how that came to be if it is true and what a long Ja.wiki bio Yuzo has and he was also a musician besides being such a busy actor.

 Have only seen Yuzo in a few movies but one I may view soon is from 1974 and titled "ESPY", it's supposed to be a very odd music/spy/action/race car film and may be reviewing that somewhat soon. Now on to the main cast and am starting this section after viewing the first 53 minutes of the 86 minute film. This is a very cool film, Yuzo especially who drove such a fast sportscar and did look so dashing. The action scenes were kind of cool too and there is one other thing to mention. Which is of most movies that came out between 1965-75, you always saw construction going on in Tokyo during the films and what a change in the way the city looks fifty years later. Back then there was a lot of open space but not these days thanks to all of the construction going on during that period which I'm sure lasted longer than the years mentioned.

Yuzo Kayama as Toro Matsushita.... The Assassin who was a very cool and quiet man, not that it matters but did shoot a pistol lefthanded. He never did give a very honest reason for becoming an assassin but Matsushita had hinted around to Akiko it was because of his eternal and extreme nervousness. For some reason when Matsushita plans and performs an assignment he can act perfectly fine and he himself was unsure why that happened. Matsushita does have some habits but they have kept him alive, for instance he will never use the same gun twice and often only brings one bullet with him for if the first didn't hit the target it meant Matsushita had been killed before firing the second bullet! He does get paid well for his efforts, five million yen for the second assignment which is about 20 million yen these days. Of course being a Hitman meant Matsushita was a bit of a loner but was very good friends with Fukazawa who is mentioned below and supplied Matsushita with all of his weapons.

Ruriko Asaoka as Akiko Kodaka.... A fashion model who met Matsushita while on a photo shoot. Akiko wanted him in a group photo which he declined though shortly after the two did become a 'couple'. She is also such a Butterfly fanatic and seems to know everything about them, when she had sex with Matsushita butterflies are what she fantasized about! Her dream was to live on the island of New Guinea and it appeared that would happen near the end of the film though it wasn't to be as Akiko had sadly met her fate....

Masayuki Mori as George Katakura.... Matsushita's new enemy who had been sent back to Japan from wherever to eliminate him after a gold bar robbery. The blond woman who looks American is actually Japanese and her name in the film was Kazuo, not sure if she ever said a word! No she didn't and Katakura is the toughest opponent Matsushita had ever faced. Katakura used an old time German Mauser pistol and never misses with it, he's also so quick on the draw. Like Matsushita Katakura worked free lance, in this movie it was for a Chinese man named Lee to recover some stolen gold and to of course eliminate Matsushita.

Mori Kishida as Fukazawa.... Long time friend of Matsushita who also wanted to be a sniper/assassin but lacked the skills. Fukazawa was the rebellious type who would love to see many country's governments, such as Japan's, be overthrown but is more of a dreamer than doer. However Fukazawa is very talented at fixing guns and owns a weapons shop near a US Army base, Matsushita always gets his guns and ammo from his long time friend.

Takashi Fujiki as Hanada... Owner of a trading company which was actually a front for his illegal activities. It was Hanada who hired Matsushita to be his shooter on the heist of a truck carrying gold bars which were worth a total of 300 million yen! The gold was being smuggled by another criminal group, five were killed in the shootout and of course all by Matsushita. Hanada had three aides who had very few lines, Kudo was one along with Ozawa, the third was Konno who did have a brief scene with Matsushita.

 Not many major characters which is not a bad thing as it makes it easier to remember everyone.

 Below is the only trailer or video I could find for the film as it wasn't too well known but it's an exciting video and you can see what I meant by it having odd dimensions. It opens with the last scene, we were left wondering if the 'hero' Matsushita survived the final duel?..

 

 

 

Think the above section is long enough so no sense adding more info and trivial bits but will for the next post. Have no clue who the above woman was and we saw her for about five seconds at the six minute mark, it wasn't that type of movie. Did talk about what to expect and while there was some action there wasn't nearly as much as a Yakuza film but it was much more intense and interesting than most films in that genre. Also did say this was a 'coolish' film and so many Japanese films from the late 1960's were, especially the main character of Matsushita in this movie. Enough blabbering and let us get to the review, almost all of the action took place in Tokyo though there was one scene in Izu, a few right outside of Tokyo and the finale which took place in Yokohama.

 In the intro said how I was unsure how many hitman/assassin movies I've viewed but know the total isn't too high. Did mention two in the genre which I really enjoyed and was reminded of each in the beginning of this film. In "The Mechanic" there was no dialogue for the first ten minutes, we saw the the hitman Mr. Bishop methodically prepare for the killing of his target. In a way the opening was similar as the only two sentences spoken in the first six minutes were via a radio phone to the assassin Toru Matsushita, this film didn't have all that much dialogue. The man in 80% of the screenshots is Matsushita, in the top one above you can see what his orders were. It just so happened that the info about the target was correct, with one bullet Matsushita fulfilled his contract and bet he got over a million yen for the job. Was also reminded of "A Colt is My Passport" for before Matsushita shot at his target he lit a cigarette but didn't smoke much of it. For in the movie just mentioned Jo Shishido had also done that and it was to check the wind by seeing how the smoke blew from the butt, Matsushita also did that. This assignment was to take out a man named Kosano who was in a train pulling into a Tokyo station. He looked like your average middle aged man so no idea why he had been the target. On his assignments Matsushita often only carries one bullet with him, he felt if that one bullet didn't hit its target he would have been killed before firing his second shot! It's hard to call a Hitman the 'Hero' of a movie but Matsushita was a likable man and did have some morals about him, you would want him as a close friend or at least backing you in a fight.

 After the successful hit Matsushita had celebrated by spending some time with that woman in the screenshot right below the video, by then we were up to the eight minute mark of the film and Matsushita still hadn't said a word. And he wouldn't for another 2-3 minutes, if you want to be an Ace Hitman you can never let your skills drop even by .01% as after that romp in the hay Matsushita paid a visit to a firing range. What an impressive performance he put on and there was one woman who was more impressed than anyone else, the woman in four screenshots above. Her name was Akiko Kodaka and was a busy fashion model, she had been on a photo shoot with three others which included her manager. Who was also her boyfriend but will say EX for after Akiko had observed Matsushita she dumped the creep and had taken a gamble. For Matsushita had at first turned down Akiko's request to be in a photo with her, a Hitman needs to be very discreet. Matsushita did feel bad about being so uncivil, he gave Akiko a ride back into town(Tokyo) where the pair ended up at her pad, what a hip place that was. Which was filled with so many pictures of Butterflies as Akiko is such a fanatic about them. You can also see above while in Matsushita's sportscar the radio news had been talking about the man Kosano being assassinated, Akiko made some negative remarks about Hitmen at the time and never knew Matsushita was one until very late in the movie.

 Matsushita and Akiko did hit it off well and though not an official couple in a way were one until the film ended and sadly on a tragic note for at least one of them. In that top screenshot Matsushita was apologizing to Akiko for not being able to perform and am getting slightly ahead here but now is as good of a time as any to explain it. A little later on Matsushita was able to be an Ace in bed with Akiko and it had happened after he had done an assassination, what it was will be coming right up. Matsushita explained to Akiko he can never figure it out which is why he has some sort of eternal nervousness, often acts such as sex are impossible for him. However when Matsushita does kill a person all of his worries and/or tensions go away for a while and he can't understand that, Matsushita somehow still kept it a secret from Akiko at the time of being a Hitman. That person in the third and fourth screenshots is Matsushita's best friend Fukazawa, perhaps only friend as an assassin needs to keep a very low profile. Fukazawa had also wanted to be a Hitman but didn't possess the same skills as Matsushita and not many did. But Fukazawa was very knowledgeable about weapons, he opened a firearms store near a US Army base and that's the only place Matsushita will get his weapons and ammo from.

 As you can see Matsushita purchased a refurbished Soviet AK47 rifle, Matsushita is expecting his next assignment to be a dangerous one. Matsushita also grabbed another pistol at his friend's shop, he will only use a gun once and a Hitman can never be too safe. Prior to seeing Fukazawa Matsushita had met with the man in the second screenshot whose name was Hanada, he owns a trading company but that's just a front for his criminal activities. He had such a lucrative proposal for Matsushita but it was also a very dangerous offer. Another criminal group will be smuggling in a truckload of gold bars which could fetch up to 300 million yen! Hanada's group is planning on hijacking the truck but of course it will be well protected, it's why the services of Matsushita are needed. Once Hanada's group stops the truck there will a shootout, Hanada wanted Matsushita to take out those shooters which should total five or six. That's not the usual kind of job for Matsushita who did accept and will be paid well, perhaps up to ten million yen! The smugglers will be delivering the gold bars early in the morning two days from  now at a pier in Izu, that's the coastal city above and so many movies tend to have at least one scene there. Also above are Matsushita and Hanada's gang staking out the pier, they had arrived the night before the boat arrived and of course the best laid plans often go astray!!!!

 Final segment for this post and of course the next post has part two of the review. What happened in this segment is right above and the first five screenshots below. Hanada's gang waited until the other criminal group transferred the gold from the boat to a truck, then they followed the truck which had two cars guarding it but Hanada had it all planned out. His gang took a shortcut and overtook the small convoy transporting the gold, of course there was a shootout. Which did not go well at first for this criminal group as hiding in the woods was Matsushita who shot and killed five of the smugglers, is the gold now Hanada's? NO for as mentioned the plan went slightly awry as there were three more men guarding the truck than Hanada realized. One was in the back of the truck with a machine gun, three of Hanada's gang were gunned down and the remaining three rushed to Matsushita's hiding place. Seems there's no fear when Matsushita is on your side, he coolly took out that new AK47 and inserted some special bullets his pal Fukazawa had created. Could actually call them mini bombs/grenades for when Matsushita shot those at the truck carrying the gold it exploded killing the last three of the smuggling group and though it didn't go as planned Hanada now had 300 million yen worth of gold bars! That explosion is above and you can also see Matsushita saying he would return for his payment. Instead of cash Hanada tried to pay off Matsushita with fifteen pieces of gold bars which he claimed were worth nine million yen, Matsushita refused that and will get his dough in the next post.

 Now that a job was complete the nervousness Matsushita always felt disappeared for a while and he was able to let his hair down. He did spend the night with Akiko and this time was able to perform to her satisfaction, it's also when he told her of his problems. The pair even took in an evening of dancing at a club and those were so common in Japan during that era, after Akiko told Matsushita she had a modeling assignment right near Mount Fuji. After seeing Hanada and learning of his scheme to pay with gold bars Matsushita headed to see Akiko but unknown to him someone else was also going to pay Mount Fuji a visit. This new character is a very, very important one who had a lot of screen time until the end of the movie but don't think this man ever uttered a word! In the middle screenshot above the man with a blond woman is named George Katakura, he's Japanese though seemed to be living outside the country but made a return for an assignment for Katakura too is a Hitman! That blond with him was Kazue Suzuki who was Katakura's assistant/lover, she too never said a word in the movie.

 Doesn't happen often but need a third paragraph in a section as much did take place. On his way to Mount Fuji Matsushita did notice he was being tailed but had no clue who it was, that's in the second to last screenshot above. After taking in Akiko's fashion show Matsushita went to a nearby racing track which could be used by non-racers, Matsushita had such a souped up car which is below and wanted to see what level of speeds he could achieve. This scene is the first five screenshots below, the others after that are of what else took place in the first half of this movie. Matsushita was certainly zooming around the race track, don't know what kind of car it was but have seen it in a few other films. Soon arriving on the scene was a helicopter, who should be in it but the new assassin Katakura! It's not easy hitting a vehicle going well over 100 mph, with his powerful rifle Katakura shot twice but only took took out both rearview mirrors, was that his plan? For his third shot Katakura aimed at a tire and it was a direct hit, at that high speed there was no way Matsushita could control his car which flipped over a few times and with the job seemingly done the helicopter flew away. But the job wasn't complete as Matsushita crawled out from the wreckage and though hurt it was nothing too severe, Akiko had viewed the entire scene and rushed to his side. That ends this first half and much has happened in this movie so far, I am enjoying this immensely and the intensity picks up in the second half of the film which of course is the next post.