is a 1964

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

film directed by

Koreyoshi Kurahara (31 May 1927 – 28 December 2002) was a Japanese screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''Antarctica'' (1983), which won several awards and was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. He also co- ...

based on a story by

Tensei Kono was a Japanese science fiction writer. Among other works, he wrote ''Triceratops'' (''トリケラトプス''), which has been collected in ''The World Treasury of Science Fiction'' edited by David G. Hartwell David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, ...

and starring

Tamio Kawachi was a Japanese actor. Career Kawachi was a student at Kanto Gakuin University when Yujiro Ishihara, one of his neighbors in Zushi, Kanagawa, invited him to join the Nikkatsu studio. He made his debut in ''A Slope in the Sun'' (1958) playing Is ...

and Chico Lourant (often cited as Chico Roland). The film had many of the same cast, crew, and characters as Kurahara's earlier film

The Warped Ones is a 1960 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Go, Yuko Chishiro and Noriko Matsumoto (actress), Noriko Matsumoto. It was produced and distributed by the Nikkatsu Company. The story concerns the y ...

Cast

Source: *

as Akira * Chico Roland as Gill *

Tatsuya Fuji is a Japanese actor. He was born in Beijing and raised in Yokohama. In 1962, Fuji joined Nikkatsu Company and began his acting career with small roles in Nikkatsu film. In 1968, Fuji married actress Izumi Ashikawa. He gained popularity throu ...

as Akira's friend * Shogen Shinda as the Engineer * Yuko Chishiro as Yuki *

Hideji Ōtaki was a Japanese actor. He has served as President of the Mingei Theatre Company. Career After serving in World War II, he became interested in the theater and helped found the Gekidan Mingei troupe in 1950. He gained fame for his television work ...

as Old Man of the Junk Shop * Zenji Yamada as Owner

Plot

At the start of the film, Mei commits larceny and buys a jazz record, an upbeat recording of "Six Bits Blues". In town, he encounters civil insurrection following the killing of an American soldier, presumably by one of his colleagues who is now missing. When Mei returns to his home and his dog Monk in a half-destroyed church, the missing soldier appears from behind a curtain and points a gun at him. His leg is injured, supposedly by the real assailant's firearm. Since the soldier (Gill) is

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, Akira is convinced that he will appreciate the jazz record he bought and tries to use it as a way of communication. He plays a few songs on the record, but the G.I. responds badly and, in a fit of restlessness, attacks and kills Mei's dog. Eventually, the soldier asks Mei to take him to the sea, for unknown reasons, and on their way there, they form a bond and become close friends. However, eventually they encounter MPs. In a moment of despair, the soldier sings "Six Bits Blues" as its original blues dirge, affecting Mei. Mei and Gill find their way to the top of a building, overlooking the sea, where Gill ties himself to a balloon. He asks Akira to cut the rope, hoping to float up in the air and from there, to see his mother one more time. Mei reluctantly fulfills his request and they all watch the soldier, buoyed on his airborne balloon, as he approaches the sea.

Music

The film featured music by the Japanese composer

Toshiro Mayuzumi Toshiro Mayuzumi (黛敏郎 ''Mayuzumi Toshirō'' ; 20 February 1929 – 10 April 1997) was a Japanese composer known for his implementation of Avant-garde music, avant-garde instrumentation alongside traditional Japanese musical technique ...

. and American jazz drummer

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

References

External links

* *
Chico Lourant, the Black Sun of Shibuya
on The Tokyo Files 1964 films 1960s Japanese-language films Films directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara Japanese crime thriller films 1960s Japanese films {{1960s-Japan-film-stub