The Rapacious Jailbreaker


Prison movies are their own particular breed of cinematic experience.  Like a lot of genres, they’re flexible enough to encompass a variety of emotions: inspirational (The Shawshank Redemption), meditative (Birdman of Alcatraz) or exploitational (Midnight Express).  But often the most engaging films aren’t those about coming to terms with life on the inside; instead it’s the raw determination to get back outside.  Director Sadao Nakajmia’s The Rapacious Jailbreaker (1974) is one long toboggan run of escapes, murders, mistakes and arrests set on repeat. Imagine the relentless energy of The Road Warrior set within the Japanese prison system and you’re on the right track.

Sentenced to a 20-year stretch for murder and burglary on a job gone wrong, Ueda (Hiroki Matsukata) isn’t content to wait for good behavior.  His first breakout sets the stage for a series of escapes (some carefully planned, some merely convenient) that keep him on the run, surviving on handouts from his ex-lover and black marketeers.  But inevitably he winds up back behind bars, navigating the complicated convict ecosystem until another opportunity for freedom presents itself.

Bouncing between first-person voice-over and intermittent narration that explains the intricacies of Japanese-style incarceration, the film’s script is brilliantly abrupt, with Ueda’s decades-long misadventures documented like something out of a John D. MacDonald novel.  From murderous wardens to vengeful yakuza, the film is trimmed of any unnecessary dialogue or supporting characters; Ueda is an honorable lone wolf who simply won’t be caged.  Played the hulking nobility by Hiroki Matsukata (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), the character manages to remain sympathetic despite not having any real agenda besides making money and staying alive.  And Nakajima makes sure the film shares his worldview, highlighting the escapist novelty of it all, insinuating there’s nothing more tedious than a reformed criminal…or a refined prison movie.

Making its world Blu-ray premiere on a 3000-copy limited edition from Radiance Films, The Rapacious Jailbreaker looks very good here, with an appropriate amount of grunge and grain that sells the ‘70s aesthetic. Special features include an audio commentary by Nathan Stuart, visual essay from Tom Mes and collectible liner notes. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hollywood 90028

Image
While everyone praises a film that is timeless, those that are  of their time  an inevitably more interesting. And  Hollywood 90028  (1974) occupies a singular moment of L.A. cinematic history written by the early generation of UCLA film school grads; an urban desert of sleazy peep shows and dashed artistic aspirations populated by Midwest transplants looking to make it big.  Director Christina Hornisher’s obscure addition to this tragic catalog was sold as a sexed-up piece of violent exploitation (and retitled  The Hollywood Hillside Strangler  and  Twisted Throats ) but this low-budget effort is really anything but.   Mark (Christopher Augustine) is a frustrated filmmaker shooting dirty movies to pay the bills, unable to put together a highlight reel that will get him out of the celluloid gutter.  Michele (Jeannette Dilger) is on the other side of the camera, ashamed of her “performances” but lured by the easy money. ...
Read more

School in the Crosshairs

Image
A pop-music confection of psychic powers, first love, and invaders from Venus, 1981’s School in the Crosshairs is a mainline rush of anime aesthetics and pre-MTV aspirations. And if you think that’s a mouthful, wait’ll you get a look at the film itself! Director Nobuhiko Obayashi ( House ) stacks plot devices like Jenga pieces, relying on the charisma of super-producer Haruki Kadokawa’s handpicked pop princess to keep it from collapsing under its own weight. That secret ingredient is star Hiroko Yakushimaru, the cherub-faced schoolgirl who’d break out later that same year in Sailor Suit and Machine Gun . Here she plays Yuka, the most popular girl in school, who discovers her telekinetic abilities have drawn the attention of a power-hungry alien bent on enslaving her fellow students. With help from a mysterious new girl on campus, the villains drain all the fun from Daii Academy, transforming it into a fascist state devoted entirely to academics.   Based on an oft-adapted novel by ...
Read more

Terminus

Image
Road Warrior   rip-offs are legion. After the success of George Miller’s post-apocalyptic actioner, every two-bit producer with access to a stretch of desert and a box of leftover shoulder pads scrambled to cash in. In the U.S., Roger Corman unleashed   Battletruck , Charles Band gave birth to   Metalstorm   (in 3D, no less), while Italy cranked out so many copycat productions it’s a wonder the Colosseum didn’t wind up with a gun turret and a flamethrower. But France—ah, France—they just might have delivered the most bafflingly sideways homage of them all: 1987’s   Terminus . Set in a near future where a tricked-out truck must pass through hostile territory to reach a predetermined “terminus,” the story begins with its hired driver (Karen Allen) captured and killed by rival gangs. That leaves Stump (Johnny Hallyday), a mysterious ex-con, to complete the journey—accompanied by a mute 8-year-old named Princess. Their mission is guided by an AI system called Monste...
Read more