Original Title: Yajû no seishun
Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Jôji ‘Jo’ Mizuno (Jô Shishido) looks for the truth behind a friend’s suspicious suicide and ends up pitting two Yakuza gangs against each other.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Jo is invited into a gang and meets the leader Tatsuo Nomoto (Akiji Kobayashi). Nomoto is holding a very large longhair white cat with black markings.
When Jo enters the room, Nomoto turns, still holding the cat, and throws a knife at Jo and the man who led him in.
Not knowing this is the big boss, Jo says he must be a killer and asks if he’s fast with guns. Nomoto explains he dislikes such unreliable weapons and prefers to feel the results with his own hands. He pulls out a knife and then rubs it against the cat’s fur.
When Jo says he wants to meet the boss, Nomoto explains he is the boss and then slams his hand on the big conference table, telling his subordinates they should be more respectful. The cat barely blinks during this.
The cat only appears twice more, once when the gang enters to find Nomoto kissing his cat. They don’t seem too surprised by this, but the cat is licking Nomoto’s lips and it’s highly awkward, to say the least!
Finally Nomoto is holding the cat again when Jo calls him on the phone. The cat never plays any direct part in the story.
Final Mewsings: Please don’t use a cat to polish your knives.
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