| Take Aim at the Police Van | |
|---|---|
 Japanese film poster | |
| Directed by | Seijun Suzuki |
| Written by | Shinichi Sekizawa Kazuo Shimada (Story) |
| Produced by | Ryoji Motegi |
| Starring | Michitaro Mizushima Mari Shiraki Misako Watanabe Shinsuke Ashida |
| Cinematography | Shigeyoshi Mine |
| Edited by | Akira Suzuki |
| Music by | Koichi Kawabe |
| Production company | Nikkatsu |
| Distributed by | Janus Films |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Take Aim at the Police Van (十三号待避線より: その護送車を狙え, Jūsangō taihisen yori: Sono gosōsha o nerae) is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Michitaro Mizushima.
Cast
- Michitaro Mizushima as Daijirô Tamon
- Mari Shiraki as Tsunako Andô
- Misako Watanabe as Yûko Hamajima
- Shinsuke Ashida as Jûbei Hamajima
- Ryôhei Uchida as Kuji
- Akira Hisamatsu as Masaki
- Shôichi Ozawa as Gorô Kashima
Production
The Nikkatsu Company conceived Take Aim at the Police Van as a borderless action film, a studio subgenre with internationalized characters and setting. Contract director Seijun Suzuki had previously worked mainly on pop song films, a youth subgenre in which the films were built around an already popular song, and yakuza films with an occasional film noir bent. It also marked the beginning of his practice of co-writing his films. Leading man Michitaro Mizushima had also starred in Suzuki's Underworld Beauty two years earlier. He was atypical of borderless action films by virtue of his age, forty-eight at the time, as they typically featured Nikkatsu's younger stars such as Yujiro Ishihara and Akira Kobayashi.
Release
Take Aim at the Police Van was released in Japan by the Nikkatsu Company on January 27, 1960. It was subsequently released in a five-film DVD box set, titled Nikkatsu Noir, in North America on August 25, 2009, under The Criterion Collection's Eclipse label. The set focuses on noir-themed Nikkatsu Action films and also includes I Am Waiting (1957), Rusty Knife (1958), Cruel Gun Story (1964) and A Colt Is My Passport (1967) with liner notes by film historian Chuck Stephens.
The A.V. Club's Noel Murray felt the film holds up against contemporary Hollywood film noir. Rating it less abstract than Seijun Suzuki's films of a few years later, he highlighted its vim and social candor and named it " to how artists pumping out quickie exploitation product can often work in truths about their times that prestige filmmakers can't."
Has been shown on the Turner Classic Movies show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller.
References
- Take Aim at the Police Van Janus Films. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ Stephens, Chuck (August 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- Weisser, Thomas (1998). "The Films of Seijun Suzuki". Asian Cult Cinema. 21. Vital Books: 47.
- １３号待避線より その護送車を狙え (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo Movie Database. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- Erickson, Glenn (August 13, 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- Murray, Noel (September 2, 2009). "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
External links
- Original trailer at The Criterion Collection
- Take Aim at the Police Van at IMDb
- Take Aim at the Police Van (in Japanese) at the Kinema Junpo Movie Database
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