The third and final entry in the Nikkatsu Action retrospective at this year’s Fantasia Festival, Gangster VIP reunites director Toshio Masuda, star Tetsuya Watari and production designer Takeo Kimura from Velvet Hustler but the two films could scarcely be more different. Where Hustler was a light, playful film Gangster VIP is a much darker piece, one revolving around a man consumed by his circumstances, fully aware that his lifestyle will consume everyone around him and forced by his conscience to therefore shun any sort of “decent” relationships so that only those who somehow deserve it will be in the line of fire. Based loosely on the story of real life gangster Goro Fujita, Gangster VIP casts Watari as a sort of noble outcast, someone forced by poverty into a life of crime but also someone who has managed to retain a sense of honor and who recognizes fully that...
- 7/15/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Goro likes a simple life. The big city. Fast cars. Faster women. That’s all it takes to keep the carefree young man happy. Put him behind the wheel of a car and he has not a care in the world, whistling on his way to work. That the car is stolen and Goro works as a hitman seem almost secondary, secondary that is until Goro draws the task of killing the head of an opposing crime family and then must hide in Kobe - to his point of view a backwards, vulgar place with nothing worthwhile to do. Not to worry, he’s told, it shouldn’t be a long stay. The family will take care of things here and when everything is settled Goro will be free to return.
This is the world of Velvet Hustler, a surprisingly light hearted and carefree crime romp from director Toshio Masuda...
This is the world of Velvet Hustler, a surprisingly light hearted and carefree crime romp from director Toshio Masuda...
- 7/13/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
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