Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Koreyoshi Kurahara's INTIMIDATION is a delicious little heist-noir. It revolves around Takita - a corrupt, ladder-climbing banker who's blackmailed into robbing his own bank before he leaves for a cushy corporate promotion. There's also Nakaike, his guileless, unambitious subordinate (and childhood friend - who might make the perfect fall-guy) and his hateful sister Yukie who's harbouring her share of regrets and bitter resentments.Cerebrally intense, INTIMIDATION never lets us off the hook throughout its 65 min runtime. Kurahara comes across as a seasoned exponent of the genre particularly during the supremely executed, tension-fraught heist sequence - effectively employing quick cuts, sweaty close-ups to highlight the desperation-infested, claustrophobic bank setting.There's also some daring Hitchcockian camera-work: Like a distinctive high angle shot during a key extortion scene (a la DIAL M FOR MURDER) or a pair of eerily-lensed bookending train sequences (a la SHADOW OF A DOUBT).But it's in its final act where INTIMIDATION soars, loaded with clever twists & turns as it transforms into a vengeful game of chess where the players use coercive leverage and deep-rooted hostilities to one-up each other.This is a brilliant little film that needs to be seen and appreciated.

Based on a story by Kyo Takigawa, the 65-minute crime flick Intimidation (1960) is often referred to as the first Japanese film noir, but the very same director, Koreyoshi Kurahara, made a noir film titled I Am Waiting three years prior so we can safely say that this isn't the case. So, while Intimidation might not have big historical importance in the film world, it's a fine film on its own.Despite its short running time, the film is heavy on character backstories and there really are no wasted moments - every scene is here for a reason. It's a pocket noir tale which intermingles the situations faced by a corrupt bank manager blackmailed to rob his own bank and his timid underling (played by Ko Nishimura, a face probably familiar to you if you've seen a few old Japanese films) who got screwed over by the manager in terms of career and family life. There are twists and turns at every corner, and I also really like the bank robbery scene, conducted in absolute silence. Also, where can I get one of those floral clocks?

Intimidation (1960)A start, clean, moody heist film. Not really a noir, but a short bank robbery narrative with some troubled main characters. Most of it occurs at night or inside and it has a precision to the photography and lighting that's beautiful. The plot is at first more straight forward than you might wish, and in fact the acting isn't evenly good, though solid enough to work. But it has a quiet startling steadiness and an almost petty drive for some money to pay someone off for a blackmail scheme.What is meant to make it work is the realization that an ordinary bank clerk, even when driven to the edge, might not make a criminal. The pressures after all are too unexpected. And that the double-crossing he plans is not as clever as the double-cross his enemies have in mind. Exactly why all this is happening is slightly unexplained, or at least I missed it.Besides all the gloomy tension there is a small town feel here, a Japanese parallel to the wonderful small Robert Wise film just one year earlier, "Odds Against Tomorrow." Neither is completely original in that bank heists are common enough--and they all have little twists. The twist here is the mind game that goes on between two of the bank employees (I can't say more). And the twists continue beyond the main heist. That's when it gets most interesting, and narrows down to the two main actors on a train. It's quite archetypal at its best, formulaic at its most bland. And it's short, so give it a go.

From the new Eclipse set, The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara. Criterion had previously released a Kurahara film, I Am Waiting, in their Nikkatsu Noir Eclipse set (one of the absolute must-haves from the Eclipse series). This new set is almost a follow-up to that one, with five Nikkatsu films by Kurahara. Intimidation is a tight little crime flick, running only 65 minutes. Nobuo Kaneko is a bank manager who has embezzled a bunch of money from his bank. Kojiro Kusanagi plays a blackmailer who has discovered this. He attempts to make Kaneko rob his own bank. In the process, Kaneko humiliates the night manager, Ko Nishimura (who gives a wonderful performance), a high school friend of his who frequently finds himself under Kaneko's boot. The most notable thing about the film are its two exquisite bank robbery set-pieces. The first is a dream, filmed entirely in a POV shot, Lady in the Lake-style. The actual robbery is almost entirely silent, as Kaneko, his face hidden behind a bandanna, cannot make a sound lest he be identified, forces Nishimura at gunpoint to help him complete his mission. It's a gripping, beautifully realized sequence. The theme of class is prevalent throughout the film with the relationship between Kaneko and Nishimura. The story itself is kind of flawed and not especially believable, unfortunately. It also grinds to a halt after the awesome robbery sequence, drowning itself in a ton of expository dialogue. The kernels of this film definitely could have grown into something fantastic. As it is, it's a good little noir.