House of Bamboo

Robert Ryan & Robert Stack (yep, the guy from "Unsolved Mysteries") vie for control of Tokyo's underworld. In reality, it was the Yakuza that ruled the black-markets and pachinko parlors, and the more realistic tales of this plague are told by director Kinji Fukasaku with his "Yakuza Papers" series, or "Street Mobster", "Graveyard of Honor", etc.But this movie is worth the price for a number of reasons: Principally, for what it gets RIGHT, the scenery (exteriors were shot on location in post-war Tokyo!), the behavior codes. It amazingly doesn't overstep its bounds in presenting something that pretty much couldn't have happened. Sure, you can smile at Robert Ryan's swank Tokyo bachelor pad, where men wear shoes inside (aurgh!) among the awesome mid-century design furnishings, and ignore the geographically-impossible views of Mount Fuji. But marvel at RARE views of post-war Tokyo and rarer glimpses of the Japanese countryside.. at a time when Japan was just starting to pick itself up following being nearly annihilated. Not to mention the exciting climax and money-shot atop what was then Tokyo's greatest modern landmark.And above all, enjoy a good script, crisp direction and fine performances from Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Cameron Mitchell and Shirley Yamaguchi. It's as brutal as mainstream American Movies could be at the time.Dang! Good script, good acting, good visuals: That's a good movie!Another note about the script: When the Americans mispronounce certain Japanese words and misunderstand culture, I don't think it's a flaw of the script, it's the writers' attempt to reflect how the crude men didn't quite get the local lingo.Do yourself a greater favor and see "House of Bamboo" in your own living room double-feature with Kurosawa's "Stray Dog", another Tokyo crime story from the same general time-frame. Compare and contrast the depictions of the Tokyoites, the approach to police work, etc. See semi-related stories from the POV of Americans who've maybe been to Ginza, and from the people in the places that Americans just didn't go to.

"I hate it!" "Its so so." "It was great!" Sure, no great films could satisfy everybody's taste, but no other film is so controversial as Sam Fuller's HOUSE OF BAMBOO. Its a gang story. Its a melodrama. Its an action film. But was Fuller really needed to go to Japan to film all this? Could he just wrapp this thing up in the Fox studio at Hollywood? Truth is we are so grateful that Fuller went to a real location to shoot this. Because of that, the film is full of genuine dynamism due to the authenticity of cultural settings. From this film, we actually can sense fresh air of post war Japan in face to face.More importantly, ever graceful Japan is menacingly challenged by the brutal act of foreigners, in this case foreigners are the gang of ex-G.I. led by a crime lord Sandy Dawson, played by Robert Ryan. This conflict, beauty versus brutality, is heart of the cinema, and it is quite effectively presented. A strict code of honor and harshness of the manhood are sharply contrasted with the peaceful romance between Eddie Kenner, played by Robert Stack, and local girl Mariko, played by Shirley Yamaguch. This sociological contrast added considerble amount of poetic depth which is the hallmark of Fuller's major works.Moreover, wide screen color image is breathtakingly beautiful, so we cannot look away from the screen even for a second. Every scene is carefully composed and stylized. This powerful aspect of HOUSE OF BAMBOO is all doing of director Sam Fuller. He is brutal, greedy, active, and also quite romantic. Many fans would much prefer better received films such as PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET or FORTY GUNS but I prefer HOUSE OF BAMBOO to these films, because it is simply beautiful and dramatically stylish. This is the real Samuel Fuller's film.

There are three ways to examine this film: as a standard crime caper; as a cross-cultural examination; and finally as a takeoff on film noir, except in this case bad guy Robert Ryan has fallen for homme fatale Robert Stack.In regards the first, you have a crime in post-war Japan and then Tokyo cops and U.S. Army work together to discover who the bad guys are and put in Stack, undercover, who quickly infiltrates the mob. Ryan is partial to ostentatiously rough-edged Stack and buys his fake ID and planted background data, and wants him as his new second-in-command. Ryan becomes busy subtly phasing Stack in as Cameron Mitchell - in a slick turn as "Ichiban" (boy #1) - steams his way towards a nervous breakdown as he is systematically undermined in favor of Stack. After Stack's life is saved by Ryan, all bets are off, it seems, though Ryan is unaware his new "Ichiban" is working undercover to get evidence against him.In the cross-cultural class, you have Stack off the boat, the prototypical ugly American, but this one with an agenda to contact the gang that killed their own wounded man in the commitment of a crime. His first mission is to locate the fledgling widow of the dead soldier, then find out what she knows. Turns out she knows nothing, except she buys the fake ID he gives her, so she instantly trusts him. She turns out to be a convenient alibi for him, but eventually he softens towards her, just as she is falling for him, and their trust in each other and regard becomes mutual. Nothing overt sexually, perhaps because of the racial implications of the time (mid-50s film). However, his rough and awkward American ways soften and he becomes more acclimated because of his surroundings and the time spent with this woman. In this contrast, you can see the partaking of Japanese ways of Ryan and his boys is purely superficial, as they don't pay more than lip service to the people or their customs.The deliberate director-initiated homosexual subtext is what draws most attention to the movie nowadays. Ryan is instantly attracted to Stack, invites him into his gang, comes up with an alibi for him when it looks as if Stack's alibi and therefore life is in jeopardy, saves his life when his own Code says wounded men are immediately executed, and has Stack move into his house on the pretext he's wounded, but this turns into an open-ended stay. (This great scene has been described by director Fuller as the moment Ryan is forcing Stack to address his attraction to him, but Ryan is also aware the other `boys' are in the room and has to back down.) There follows a wedding reception of sorts, as Ryan has Stack seated next to him at a banquet; at this party Mitchell forces a confrontation with Ryan over the preference of Stack to him. The tensions emanating from Mitchell's character (a great Cameron Mitchell turn as an actor) will climax in a later scene.Some really inventive uses of staging are the military-planning style Ryan uses for briefing his men, and the fun use of a pool table for replicating streets with pool cues and toy cars for the ones they'll use, etc. The long shots and hidden camera techniques also make for some fabulous cinematography and moments, especially as the Stack character is taken for a real criminal on the streets. Also fun for director Fuller, was turning American film convention on its ear, when he had Stack stripping to bathe, etc., rather than the usual film cliché of the woman as the object of beauty.But the overall screenplay seems lacking, with not enough scenes of Ryan and Stack together to display/explain Ryan's fondness for Stack, besides the obvious - Stack was a handsome man. After all, it's several weeks these characters are together, yet we don't see much interaction between them, yet it is their relationship pushing the film. Stack's performance overall is one of a (deliberately) clumsy tough-guy imitation in the first part of the film, then he softens and is quite animated in his scenes with Yamaguchi. But he maintains a steadfast silence in the Ryan and gang related scenes, appropriate to when he's there to learn and not give anything away himself. It's like he's living a double-life along with a dual personality. Yamaguchi is lovely, and acts well, but there are a few moments I was unaware if she was mimicking geisha clichés or if this would have been an honest representation. Ryan steals the film with his icy, elegant determination - a sophistication homosexual characters of 40s and 50s films always seem to have, making it a time period cliche. Mitchell is so spot-on perfect with his character's suspicion, discernment, and rise in seething rage, he is a joy to watch all on his own.

It's wrong to call this film noir; it's a crime film with bang up action sequences--the finale on the ferris wheel is stunning. Robert Ryan is as sinister and crazy as you could wish; good supporting cast.

This film deals with criminal activities in post-war, occupied Japan. It's a bit dated and the pacing is slow but good nontheless.

cop and robbers noir film

I am a fan of Robert Ryan, and lately have been watching quite a few of his films. I enjoyed this film quite a bit, and have added it to my Fox Film Noir collection.

This film was made just after the second World War. It is filmed in Japan and has many real locations featured ( nice shot ofone of the most famous statues of The Buddha in the world). The war is over so the Japanese population is portrayedas calm , upstanding , law abiding individuals , and the bad guys are American ex-patriots who stayed after the war.There have been some decent attempts at film noir working in colour , but this isn't one of them. The whole movieseems contrived and somewhat silly. It would be of interest only to fans of the stars involved , and despite being crappycould never make it as a cult movie. I would bet that some USA agency bankrolled it , as it's the only way I can imaginethat it got made at all.