Kutabare akutô-domo: Tantei jimusho 23

I have no idea why, but Japanese actor Jô Shishido apparently had plastic surgery in order to give him squirrel-like cheeks (you know--filled with acorns)!! This is according to IMDb and I have wondered why he would do this and why the director would keep starring this odd man in his films. I assume Suzuki just had some sort of cheek fetish! Regardless, it's pretty weird.

The film begins with some Yakuza (Japanese mobsters) being viciously gunned down during an illegal transaction of guns. Who did this is unknown--and a private detective (Mr. Squirrel) offers to solve the crime if the cops pay him and give him a new identity. Apparently there is another guy who is a mobster and part-time chipmunk, so they give him fake i.d. for that guy and agree to the rest of his terms. I didn't realize that cops accepted freelance commissions! The film, quite honestly, then gets a little confusing--something I noticed in other Suzuki films. But, the style is so cool and the story so full of neat little twists, that I didn't terribly mind. I am not sure why, but they cast a deliberately bad actress who apparently talks through her nose and dresses like a man as Squirrel-boy's assistant. Why?! I guess it's just another weird touch in a generally weird film. Another thing you do need to say about this film is that it has fantastic music--very 1960s and very cool. It's sort of like James Bond music, cool jazz and Beach movie music combined! And in addition, there are some very kooky music numbers in nightclubs that you just have to see. Weird and fun.

This was made slightly before the time when Suzuki began to experiment with the medium more radically. That would be Youth of the Beast. This one is more straightforward. Yet it is not any less entertaining. The guy was a heck of a director, even when he was apparently bored with what he saw as generic assignments. Jo Shishido stars as a private detective. He is hired by the police to infiltrate a yakuza gang to help them stop their gun running ring. The story doesn't always make a ton of sense, but it moves along so quickly that you might only realize it later. Shishido is awesome, and the film includes three wildly colored musical numbers (at night clubs - it's in no way a musical). Jo Shishido even joins into one of the numbers, which is just orgasmic!

I swear there must be a rule that, when making a crime film for Nikkatsu, one's title must go hard as hell, cause you're gosh darn right I watched this purely for the title alone. An ultra-stylish, rapid-fire yakuza thriller, Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! Plays almost like an anarchic parody of the genre, from its eye-popping colours, wild comedy and even a bloody musical number. Suzuki's send up of post-war greed this has got to be one of his loosest and goofiest, directing it all with the tongue-in-cheek attitude that, while certainly has lost its bite today, makes for a rip-roaring good time. An unholy cocktail of Adam West's Batman, Connery's 007, Warhol's pop art and swinging jazz.

What happens when you mix Adam West's Batman with James Bond, jazz music and pop art? Well... this movie. It's plain fun, full of primary colors, with a stylish hero in silk suit who doesn't take himself too seriously, clever deception tactics, gangs with samurai swords, pow! biff! bang!

Add Suzuki's usual game that transforms "continuity goofs" in virtue... Your usual "time" and "space" will be challenged. This is an acquired taste. If you are fan of Suzuki then this is a must. All of his trademarks are already there. And if you want to taste a new drink, this is a good chance.

Suzuki would be fired some years later since for the president of Nikkatsu Studios "we don't need a director who makes movies nobody understands". Suzuki's reply? "Why make a movie about something one understands completely? I make movies about things I do not understand, but wish to."

This film might serve as an aperitif for a different type of cinema. It will stimulate your appetite.

A detective goes undercover with the yakuza in an effort to expose their criminal ring. He's got a crew with him but is found out pretty fast. He has to think on his feet to stay alive and catch the bad guys.

Jo Shishido and his giant chipmunk cheeks swaggers through this movie, and even gets to sing and dance, but the story itself is pretty slight and the action is a little bland. It's was obviously meant to start a series but didn't pan out. It's certainly not terrible but it is a little on the meh side. If you love yakuza movies on the lighter side or have to see every Shishido movie then you'll probably dig it, otherwise it's a skipper.