House of Bamboo

House of Bamboo
Originally uploaded by livingfilm.

Recently I've become obsessed with Samuel Fuller's 1955 film House of Bamboo. I've watched it three times in as many days.

In true Samuel Fuller fashion, House of Bamboo is a very a-typical Film Noir. It is set in Tokyo -actually it was the first American Movie Filmed in Japan, the cast is mostly American, it is filmed in vivid color by DeLux, almost all of the action takes place in the daytime, including the heists, and instead of the ever present Femme-Fatal we are given Robert Stack as a sort of Male-Fatal. Samuel Fuller loved subverting expectations, and this film is beautifully unusual.

Robert Ryan plays Sandy Dawson, leader of a gang of ex-army thugs who use their military trained skills to rule a portion on Tokyo's underworld -there is no Yakuza in this film. He loses it all when he gets eyes for the rakish Eddie Spainier Robert Stack, who replaces Sandy's right hand man Griff, to become Sandy's "Ichibon". Little does Sandy know that Eddie is really an undercover US Army police officer.

The photography in this film is really beautiful. Fuller studied the Japanese masters before making this film, in particular Mizoguchi, yet, his style would influence modern Japanese directors such as Seijun Suzuki, who would make a mark in the Yakuza genre ten years later. Full of exciting and wonderful scenes, and a very memorable climax! This film is a must see. Highly recommended!