Arrested and sentenced for murder and stealing morphine in the chaos following WWII, Masayuki Ueda repeatedly escapes from Hiroshima.
Directed by Sadao Nakajima, “The Rapacious Jailbreaker” is a yakuza film from the mid-70s. Hiroki Matsukata stars as Ueda. As the film begins (shortly after the end of World War II), Ueda murders a man and his lady friend and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. The film’s opening credits show Ueda’s entry into prison and highlight some of the ‘rules’ of the prison. As we can see, some things may be forbidden, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen.
“The Rapacious Jailbreaker” is quickly paced but never rushed. Where many yakuza movies feel hectic and frenzied, Nakajima’s film has a good rhythm to it, propelling the viewers along without overwhelming them. There’s still the onslaught of title cards introducing characters and places, but this is nowhere near as distracting as it is in other films. Maybe I’m just growing accustomed to it?
Ueda is sentenced but not content to wait it out. The film chronicles his multiple escape attempts and recaptures, although it never focuses too much on a single occurrence. The goal of the movie isn’t to thrill us with elaborate, tension-filled escape sequences but to hone in on the man himself. Matsukata feels very natural in this role, creating a character we’re invested in and interested in seeing succeed despite his heinous behavior.
Although he has directed numerous movies, Nakajima is not a director with whom I’m familiar. Having enjoyed this movie, a brief online search revealed that not many of his films are available on DVD or Blu-ray in the US. I’m hopeful that other films from his works will start to be released.
This Blu-ray disc is a limited release from Radiance Films and the world Blu-ray premiere for the movie. Like their other limited releases, “The Rapacious Jailbreaker” features reversible artwork and a booklet containing writing about the film. There’s an essay by Earl Jackson. It lays some groundwork on the genre before focusing on Nakajima’s film. The booklet also includes a review from Masaharu Saito (translated by Tom Mes) that was written at the time of the movie’s release (1974).
Notes in the booklet state that the film was ‘transferred in High-Definition by Toei Company, Ltd. and supplied to Radiance Films as a High-Definition digital file.’ I thought this transfer was mostly excellent. There were a few shots that looked a little rough, but overall, this was a very good presentation of the movie. The only extras on the disc are a visual essay on Nakajima by Tom Mes and a commentary track by Nathan Stuart. Mes’s visual essay serves as a good introduction to Nakajima and his works.
Radiance continues to crank out well-produced discs of hard-to-find films. This is one of the better movies I’ve come across from their label and is one I’d definitely recommend for film fans to check out.
Now available on Limited Edition Blu-ray from RADIANCE
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