Roslindale Monogatari

Suna no utsuwa / Inspector Imanishi Investigates (Seicho Matsumoto, 1961) Suna no utsuwa / The Castle of Sand (Yoshitaro Nomura, 1974) The title of both book (1961) and movie (1974) is literally translated as "bowl made of sand", the notion being something created with great care that is extremely transient in nature. Matsumoto , the author of the book on which many of Nomura's films were based (including this one) is generally considered one of the greatest Japanese writers of mysteries and crime fiction. Despite his domestic fame, very little of his work (other than Suna no utsuwa is available in English. Both book and film deal with the same basic plot framework. A man is killed at the Kamata rail yard -- and police are not only unable to find the killer but even to identify the victim. Inspector Imanishi and a junior colleague Yoshimura make up two members of the police team assigned to this murder investigation -- and engage in a number of what seem to be wild g...

Harikomi / The Stakeout (Yoshitaro Nomura, 1958) A couple of years ago, I saw (and liked quite a lot) the two Nomura films released on DVD by HVE -- Zero no shoten ( Zero Focus , 1961) and Kichiku ( The Demon , 1978). I kept hoping for subbed DVDs of more of his films, but none ever appeared. Consequently, when Shochiku re-issued a number of his films at bargain prices (for Japan), I decided to try out a few more -- despite the lack of subtitles. The purchase of this film turns out to have been a wise move. Like Zero Focus , this features superb black and white Cinemascope-style cinematography and a first rate cast of veteran stars. Like both these other films, Harikomi is based on a detective story by Seicho Matumoto. As with Kurosawa's Nora inu ( Stray Dog , 1949), Harikomi involves a veteran policeman (Seiji Miyaguchi) and a junior associate (Minoru Ohki) trying to capture a malefactor during an oppressively hot summer. Here, however, the focus is not so much on sea...

Gran Casino (Luis Buñuel, 1947) Gran Casino was Bunuel's first Mexican film -- a musical about chicanery in the oil fields of Tampico. Two ne'er-do-well drifters go to work for an independent oil well owner, whose claim is coveted by a local crime boss. When the owner "disappears" at a shady night club, the drifters wind up in charge. When the owner's younger sister (a singer) comes to visit, she suspects foul play -- and takes a job at the night club incognito . Our hero, of course, loses his heart to her -- and so does the crooked boss. What will happen to the hero? the heroine? the wells? The script for this film is -- shall we say -- a bit light-weight. The acting is mostly just passable. But I actually enjoyed the (mostly gratuitous) musical numbers. I was surprised to find a lot more little touches suggestive of the once and future Bunuel than I expected. There were some interesting links to Huston's soon-to-follow Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- i...