The Asian-style trap... This is my last job, then my pension!
- Or prison...
- No, not at my age.
The success of Don't Touch the Prey almost revived the genre of French gangster cinema. Heavy music, black and white image in the style of noir, cruelty, idealization of the thieves' code of honor. All this together led to a fairly rapid popularization of this genre. This was facilitated by the truthfulness in the description of the Parisian criminal environment, especially when you consider that the scripts for the films were written by former criminals, such as Jose Giovanni or Auguste Le Breton. They knew what they were doing. The wave raised by Becker was soon picked up by Dassen and Melville, from whom Jacques Derais just took the baton.
The Tokyo Showdown was Dera’s second full-length work. But if the first film “Alphonse”, was only a search for its own style, then in this tape you can see the nascent handwriting of the future master of “Polyer”. The film is based on the novel by French writer Auguste Le Breton. Having connections with the underworld, thanks to his own experience, he practically raises the famous “black series” of the police novel. Interestingly, for this genre, Le Breton even invents his own name – “Rifi”. In the period from 1953 to 1969 include this word in the headlines of 14 stories, which took place in different parts of the world.
The script of the picture does not differ significantly from other similar ones, strictly adhering to the unspoken framework of the genre and fictional reality by the writer. Retiring aging gangsters, failed but carefully prepared robberies, revenge for a friend, a gangster code of honor and one or two beauty. At the same time, everything must be seasoned with exotic entourage. In this case, Japan. Which, I must say, brings a certain color to the plot. But all this does not spoil the overall picture and it is such films that fans of this genre love. Of the pluses, I note a good cast. From master Charles Vanel to the young charismatic Barbara Lass and Karlheinz Böhm (by the way, on this film they met later becoming husband and wife).
Never trust money to a friend, because then you have to kill him.
9 out of 10