A former soldier is caught working the black market and sent to prison while his partner escapes and goes on to become a gangster, but their paths cross again as they both fall in love with the same woman.
Directed by Tai Katô, the 1967 film “Eighteen Years in Prison” examines Japan’s prison system following World War II. The year is 1947; Kawada (Noboru Andô) and Tsukada (Asao Koike) are attempting to steal some valuable copper wire to use it to help out people still suffering from the losses of the war. As the pair are in the act, the police show up. A gunfight ensues, leading to Kawada being imprisoned while Tsukada escapes.
This is one movie that I’d actually recommend starting with the special features (more on them later) portion of the disc. In the film, the characters are introduced quickly, not allowing the viewer to orient themselves with them and what’s going on in their world before jumping into the main plotline. I found the story a little hard to get into because of this. The film is from 1967, a relatively short time after the events depicted took place, suggesting that the filmmakers expected viewers to have some prior knowledge going into the movie.
Most of the film takes place years after Kawada has been in prison. He’s soon to be up for parole when a young convict, played by Masaomi Kondô, is transferred from juvie. As the young man is causing trouble for the other inmates, Tsukada returns. He’s now the leader of a yakuza gang, going against the values that led to Kawada winding up in prison in the first place. To top things off, both men are vying for the affection of the same woman (Hiroko Sakuramachi).
The film’s presentation on the disc is decent. The disc’s case mentions that the film is from a high-definition digital transfer. The booklet included doesn’t go into detail on this, which probably means this isn’t a new scan. It doesn’t look bad, especially when the image is in close-up, but the long shots look a little rough. The sound is always clear, with no hissing or popping.
A handful of special features are included with the disc, including an appreciation by Tony Rayns, a visual essay by Tom Mes, the original theatrical trailer, a booklet with writing from Tom Mes, and an archival interview with star Noboru Ando. Perhaps the best place to start with this disc is the visual essay “Tall Escapes.” It focuses on Japanese prison films and starts to put things into perspective for potential viewers. Likewise, the appreciation of Tony Rayns gives some deeper insight into the movie and its star. While this feature is also enlightening, it contains potential spoilers for the film itself so viewers will probably want to wait until afterward to view this feature.
Despite my occasional confusion with the movie, I did think it was good. This disc has a nice presentation of the film and some insightful extras to seal the deal. I’d recommend checking this one out.
Available on Blu-ray™ July 30th
