At last on Blu-ray and DVD -- Masuda/Ozawa's OUTLAW GANGSTER VIP: Complete Collection

TrustMovies had never heard of OUTLAW GANGSTER VIP -- a very popular series of late-1960 era Japanese Yakuza movies directed by Toshio Masuda (who evidently did only the first in this series) and then by Keiichi Ozawa and starring Tetsuya Watari, all three of whom now hold a firm place in TM's personal film canon -- until he read one of those lengthy articles in one of our better film magazines about the directors and the actor they helped make famous. (I've just spent more than an hour online, trying to look up which magazine this was -- either Cineaste, Film Comment or CinemaScope -- with no luck. So I can't give proper credit here, but I'd like to thank the unfortunately anonymous author of the article, anyway.)

The complete collection of OutLaw Gangster movies -- there are six of these -- feature the leading character, Goro, a guy who would dearly like to leave the world of the criminal Yakuza gangs, but is consistently drawn back in order to either seek revenge or help a desperately needy woman, relative or friend. This is not, shall we say, all that original a situation, but in the more-than-capable hands of the directors (Mr. Masuda is shown at left) and actor Watari (shown below and further below), the result is something quite beautiful and often moving -- due to its understanding of place, time and the social/economic concerns of the day that bring this particular genre very close to its zenith.

One could compare Tetsuya Watari to a kind of Japanese version of Clint Eastwood -- ultra-low-key, handsome, strong, and bent on doing the right thing. But so much better, acting-wise, is Watari than Eastwood that comparisons soon wobble and topple. This guy is the real thing, and directors Masuda and Ozawa, via their (and their several screenwriters') understanding of both film technique and the most important social concerns of the day (they're still the most important) turn their star into the kind of icon whose light shines and lasts. Watari does not simply embody cliches, as Eastwood has long done, he brings them to alternately roaring and moving life.

The films are so filled with iconic situations and visual compositions that, were it not for the social context that's always front and center here, the films might border on camp. We're in the period during which Yakuza clans began their move toward becoming large corporations, so loyalty, trust and anything else resembling fair play more easily goes by the wayside. Along with the chase scenes and hand-to-hand battles (mostly fabulously handled), there are some charming and quite moving scenes, as well. When characters die, you feel it down to your bones, and the scene in the first of the films in which the gangsters clean up their apartment to welcome the hero's new girl is simply dear. (The scene below of Goro making a particular bodily sacrifice is a humdinger, surely the first of its kind to have been shown in movies.)

Post-war Japan is brought to quite believable life, and the film's sub-plots are often as special as the main Goro story. In the first film, centering finally around vengeance, there's a  moving subplot involving two brothers in warring gangs. The second film in the series begins almost exactly where the former film left off, but this time Goro joins his girl and a dear friend in the hinterlands (below), and of course gets immediately involved in gang life due to his insistence on serving justice at any cost

Time constraints have meant that I've been able to view only two of the six films in the series. But these have been enough to ensure my return to Outlaw Gangster VIP until I make my way through them all. Released here in the USA via the fast-becoming-indispensable British distributor Arrow Video, this six-disc set -- in Blu-ray (as usual with Arrow, this is a stunningly produced transfer) and DVD -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, April 19,  for purchase and (one hopes) rental, from both the MVD Entertainment Group and Amazon. Click any/all of the above links for further information.

Marcus Warren's British-based gangster thriller, THE HEAVY, hits the Netflix streaming source

Gary Stretch -- a Lancashire lad who went on to become a well-known (in Britain) boxer, then a model and now an actor -- is a guy it turns out we've seen a few times already (Savages, Alexander) but had not noticed. There's no way you can't notice Stretch in THE HEAVY -- a crime thriller set alternately and interestingly in the world of expensive art and a rather scuzzy gangland element (they turn out to have much in common) -- because he's the star. Just who is the titular "heavy"? That's up for grabs, but it could be anyone from the rogue cop (played nastily by Vinnie Jones) to the art/crime boss (essayed smoothly by Stephen Rea) to the fellow who's about to run for British Prime Minister (played close-to-the-vest by Adrian Paul), as the estranged brother of our Mr. Stretch.

If we're speaking solely in moral terms, the heaviest fellow in the bunch is clearly our "anti-hero," Boots (Mr. Stretch's role) above, recently out of prison and now working the that naughty art-and-crime kingpin, who appears to have given his "enforcer" one lulu of a job. What it is we don't know, but it's important and it concerns an apartment occupied by the lovely Shannyn Sossamon (below).

The movie moves back and forth in time and location, introducing us along the way to the brother's parents (Jean Marsh and Christopher Lee, the latter pictured below with his "son"), involving us some sleazy drug dealings, and letting us watch that nasty cop take out his sadistic whims on various characters he meets along the way.

One of those characters is the kingpin's very cute right-hand-man, below, played by the smooth and sexy (but evidently rather unpleasant) singer/actor Lee Ryan. The plot here is pleasantly convoluted -- you'll have some fun following it -- even if it sometimes gives off an air of being hastily cobbled together. The dialog is generally serviceable, though in one scene between Jones and Rea, it does get a bit much: You'll want to ask the writer/director Marcus Warren what the hell he was going for here. Warren's direction is relatively fast-paced and sleek, and he gets good performances from his whole cast. (Why not? Most of them are uber-professionals.)

There is a rather limited budget on view, so what ought to be a large crowd scene is shot with a handful of extras. Still, there is enough suspense, surprise and thrills to carry most intelligent audiences along, and the ending, together with the reason for it, is quite something. Villain-wise, it unmasks the heavy, gives added moral weight to the decision of the hero, while simultaneously making us understand why we hate so many politicians.

The Heavy, a better-than-average time-waster, is available now via Netflix streaming, but can also be found on DVD via Amazon and perhaps other sources, too.

Solvan ‘Slick’ Naim's FULL CIRCLE: Urban filmmaker's vanity debut hits film fests

Vanity, as in "a vanity produc-tion," doesn't have to mean low quality or lack of talent. This is something to keep in mind when you come upon a movie like FULL CIRCLE, which can only be called a vanity production, since the star also wrote, co-directed, co-produced and co-executive-produced the film, supervised the music  and also had a hand in the editing. Among other endeavors. The multi-hyphenate in this case is a fellow named Naim -- Solvan Naim, aka "Slick the Misfit." According to the press information, Mr. Naim, shown below, is a 23-year-old Algerian-American rapper and music video director from the Bushwick area of Brooklyn.

The guy has talent. This is apparent from the first few frames, as he pulls us in with the question, "Where's the fucking money?!" screamed over and over to a young man beaten bloody, as a couple of other young men watch from across the room, tied up and so unable to help the poor fellow. Then our bloody boy is shot at point blank range -- and then saved in an escape that is utterly unbelievable by any standards -- unless you've seen very few movies in your day or have never dealt with hardened criminals. This opening section is stylish, too, but in a been-there-many-times-before manner.

Not only are our hardened criminals as dumb as they come, so is just about everyone else in the film -- from our pizza-delivering heroes and their friend to the nattily-attired criminal kingpin -- played by Rob Morgan (above center, surrounded by his henchmen), who gives the most sustained, intelligent and funny performance in the film).

One of the questions that quickly presents itself is whether or not the filmmaker means all this to be a comedy, because (or maybe despite itself), it mostly is. But Mr. Naim (in character, above right) has as yet barely a trace of the skill needed to combine murder and mayhem with truly clever comedy. Instead he relies on the coarsest of tired gimmicks like our pizza-delivery guy coming on to a pretty girl who turn out to be -- oh! -- a lesbian. Matter of fact, Naim is almost shockingly anti-woman of any kind (except the sweet little girl who plays our hero's sister and is clearly too young to be bad). Otherwise all his women are ultra-nasty or betraying gold-diggers whom our boy treats as such. Well, gosh, that's womenfolk for you.

These would include the wife of a old friend who insists on certain toilet etiquette (portrayed as the harpy of all time), and a new girl (Celestine Rae, above) our hero meets who so clearly outclasses him in every way that of course she must be treated like shit. This kind of ghetto garbage does no one -- men or women -- much good. There's a question of whether or not Naim knows this and is just trying to kiss up to the male audience he hopes will embrace his film -- or doesn't know it and clearly still has a lot to learn about the other half of humanity.

As a filmmaker, Naim's talent is on view in his ability to creates lots of violence and action (above and below) then cutting away just before the blood and gore hit. Is this due to a limited budget? Rating worries? Taste? Budget, most likely.

Where Naim is most successful, oddly enough, is in his creation of characters and scenes that are clearly peripheral but lots of fun. Rating the new couch is one such (even if the action and remainder of the scene is ridiculous from any standpoint). Characters like Hippy (a fun Sam Eliad) and that Persian/French arms dealer (a terrific job by newcomer Alex Piovezan, below) go far toward making the movie watchable. As does its actual ending, combining music with some tasty documentary shots of the Bushwick area.

The main story and action is mostly second-hand stuff. And yet it's clear that Naim has some talent. How he grows and where he goes with that talent will tell the tale. Meanwhile Full Circle, running 86 minutes and first seen at the Palm Beach International Film Festival this past April, made its debut at the NYC International Film Festival last Friday and Sunday and will be seen again in New York City during the Manhattan Film Festival at the Quad Cinema on June 27.

Park Hoon-Jeong's NEW WORLD, in which power just keep congregating until...

...it doesn't matter whether it's the supposed good guys (the police) or the bad (a corporation made up of the top criminal gangs) who wield it. Because they're pretty much the same thing. So it goes in the new movie NEW WORLD, from Park Hoon-Jeong (who earlier wrote I Saw the Devil and here both writes and directs) -- just as, I am beginning to believe, it goes in today's almost totally power/money corrupted world.  Mr. Park does a good job of both writing and directing, allowing us to follow an incredibly twisting path that doesn't conclude until the very last of the end credits have rolled and the final visual scenes -- rolling right along with those end credits -- have played out. (Don't walk out during those credits, or you'll miss some more fun.)

New World, indeed. The filmmaker (whom I believe is shown at left but I could be wrong) is cer-tainly onto something, and that something isn't confined to Korea. We see power colluding all over the globe, what with globalization, inter-national banks "too big to fail" (but please, let's allow them this honor), and our own Supreme Court siding (just barely but enough to do the job) with corporations and money over citizens and democracy. So this latest bit of provocation from Korea seems on target and only slightly pumped up from reality.

When the head of the corporation that combines the major crime syndicates is suddenly killed in a freak car accident (which may very well have been planned), someone must replace him. While the movie spends the rest of its time in internecine warfare between possible successors, all this is aggravated by the fact that these fellows, to a man, it would seem, are all either in the pocket of the top policeman (above) assigned to oversee the gangland investigation, or an actual police plant (below) who has for ten years been rising to the top of the gang's hierarchy.

There is a little too much exposition of character and history wedged into the dialog, but as the film rolls along, there is enough violence and action to keep us occupied and wincing (feeding one poor fellow accused of betrayal a milkshake made of cement is the opening gambit).

 Midway along, there's a terrific automobile/gang fight (above) resulting in one of the possible successors entering an elevator (below) only to discover... hmmm: I'll just say you're in for one hell of an enclosed-space fight scene.

The movie, while perhaps not the best of its genre, is good enough to add even more luster to Korea's already ripe reputation for grandly entertaining, over-the-top, genre film-making. It joins the recent BAM series, the continuing Tribeca Cinema Korean film series, the theatrically-released The Berlin File, and the numerous Korean films that can now be streamed via Netflix to provide an up-to-date look at what's coming from a country that is now arguably the most exciting and entertaining film capital of the world.

New World, from Well Go USA Entertainment and running a lengthy but never uninteresting 134 minutes, opens today, Friday, March 22, in New York City (at the AMC Empire 25) and fifteen other cities across the U.S. and Canada. Click here to see all currently scheduled cities and theaters.

Nathan Morlando's CITIZEN GANGSTER tracks the career of a Canadian criminal

Canadian criminal? Sounds like a contradiction in terms. But no, our neighbor to the north -- for all its reputation as being kinder, gentler and (unfair!) more boring than the good ol' USA -- has had its share of criminals over the decades. One of the more interesting of these was Edwin Alonzo Boyd, a WWII vet who grew unsatisfied with the opportunities offered by post-war Canada and so turned to crime to pay the rent and other outstan-ding bills. This happened, or so the new movie based around Boyd's life tells us, partially because of Lorne Greene (that's right: the Bonanza star) whom Boyd had evidently met and who told the soldier to stop in to his acting school and give "the boards" a try. He does, but Greene is off in Hollywood by then and no help at all. What's a poor guy to do but to put those would-be acting talents to work by, yes, robbing banks while wearing heavy-duty make-up.

That make-up, used as a kind of disguise, is one of the more interesting aspects of first-time, full-length filmmaker (shown in shadow, left) Nathan Morlando's new movie CITIZEN GANGSTER, which gives us a peek into the life of this guy and his family, as well as at some of the less savory companions he meets in prison and bonds with in his further criminal career. Would that there were more of these aspects, but the director/
writer sticks pretty much to standard-trope story-telling. Since most Americans will be unfamiliar with Boyd's career, this might prove interesting enough to hold us for 105 minutes. It did -- for TrustMovies, at least.

Well-cast and very well performed, the movie gets the dowdy look of post-war Canadian life quite right. In the lead role Scott Speedman (above), looking good, as usual, does well enough as the younger Boyd and really comes into his own in the final scenes. Instead of the usual love-conquers-all, we get love's betrayal in the two relationships that matter most in the film -- in one case probably unavoidable in order to give the family in question a decent life-after-notoriety. At this end-point, for the first time in the film, we feel strongly for the character, due, I think, to the fact that the screenplay makes Boyd's inability to engage with society due more to innate character flaws, unseen by the audience, than to anything going on in the civilization around him. (The single scene of his helping a wheelchair-bound ex-soldier onto the bus he's driving is not enough to make of him a legitimate rebel or hero.)

The other relationship that goes south is that of gang member Val Kozak (played by the now growing-up Running With Scissors' vet Joseph Cross, above, right) and his girl Mary (Charlotte Sullivan, above,  left). Val, you see, has left a pregnant wife at home to run off with his foxy floozie, but when baby arrives, the guy is, as they say, torn between two lovers. It's his choice that leads to the resulting chaos.

The always-good Kelly Reilly (above) plays Boyd's long-suffering wife, while the ubiquitous Brian Cox essays his dissatisfied-with-my-son policeman father. Registering most strongly perhaps is Kevin Durand as gang member Lenny Jackson. Durand's quicksilver changes from smart and decent to angry/crazy keep us -- and the movie -- nicely off-balance.

Citizen Gangster, from IFC Films, opens this Friday, April 27, at the IFC Center in New York City (showing twice daily) and at the Laemmle Monica Four-plex on Friday, May 4.  Simultaneous with its NYC opening, it will makes its VOD debut. You can learn how to VOD it by clicking here.

DVDebut: Don't miss Malcolm Venville's sleeper 44 INCH CHEST

When Sexy Beast appeared a decade back, and the raves -- mostly for Ben Kingsley's over-
the-top performance -- started coming, it was perhaps too easy to overlook the supporting work of actors Ray Winstone and Ian McShane and the screen-
writers Louis Mellis and David Scinto. Now, a relatively new director to movies named Malcolm Venville (shown below), with his first full-length film 44 INCH CHEST, also written by Mellis and Scinto, takes us back to what initially looks like the mob milieu of Sexy Beast but is actually a much more sophisticated and surprising location: the human mind, body and soul.

This interior/exterior belongs to another criminal type, a fellow named Colin Diamond,  played by Mr. Winstone.  He is this time surrounded by a pack of pals that include McShane (again), joined by Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane and John Hurt. Male ensembles don't get much better than this, and the cast delivers every juicy line of dialog, every smile, frown and curse, as though we'd never seen nor heard a bit of it until now.  The story  involves Colin's wife, who has just told him she must leave him for another man.  Winstone runs the gamut in the next few moments.  And then all hell breaks loose.

As TrustMovies recalls (having read a portion of some of the reviews at the time of the film's limited release: mid-January 2010), mention was made of Sexy Beast and of the plot outline and the vicious and bloody goings-on, with the critical assessment more thumbs down than up and box-office results following suit. (Films like this need critical boosting if they are to take off at all.   Even then, few do.)  Now that TM has finally seen the film, he's mildly appalled at the misapprehension of what is basically a psychological love/hate story about a rather typical British gangster-type upended and then redeemed by coming to terms with his situation and feelings.

Mr. Venville and his writers flash back and forth -- not only between then and now but between reality and fantasy.  The consistency is maintained via the actors, all of whom nail their characters and maintain their through-line, thus holding the film together quite well and allowing its audience to know where we are at any time.  This also enables us to forgive what could be some difficult-to-believe moments, such as a kidnapping in a restaurant (the beginning of which is shown above, with Misters Hurt and McShane) that proves as funny as it is scary.

Just how much of the film is fantasy and how much reality is never quite clear, nor does it need to be.  The whole thing -- once the event that sets the plot in motion is established -- could be going on only in the mind of our protagonist.  Still, fantasy or reality, the movie needs to be brought to life, and here Venville and his cast deliver in spades.  As the wife, Joanne Whalley (above), an actress we see far too seldom anymore, is as alluring as ever.  Even with an added decade and little more weight, she's still a knockout: sexy, gorgeous and able to command the screen whenever she appears.  (When will they transfer to DVD one of this woman's great early films, the British TV piece Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?  What a wonderful work that is!)

And as her new paramour, French actor Melvil Poupaud (shown above, left, with Mr Winstone), without (unless I'm mistaken) one word of dialog, is still impressive.  You root for him against all hope.  The rest of that cast is splendid.  Hurt, as a homophobic but sexless senior has some of the saltiest dialog heard in ages ("cunt" is tossed about more often here than I can remember, and each rendition outdoes the last); Wilkinson, who takes good care of his aging mum, adds yet another wonderful character to his gallery of them; Dillane, the youngest and best-looking of the bunch, makes prime use of this, leaving us always a tad off-balance; and McShane -- as an unapologetic gay who's always on the make -- is a delight.

Yet it's Winstone, with the help of the writers and director, who holds it all together, and he gives perhaps his most memorable performance.  Even if this is all some kind of fantasy, if one can fantasize redemption -- if one can imagine it -- then it must be possible, no? I think the placing of a bloody, wounded hand upon the head of our "hero," in an act of love or grace, somehow guarantees this.  See what you make of it; in fact, see what you make of this whole chilling, funny, sad thing.

Don't miss the DVD extra in which the director talks about the film. Mr. Venville is one of the least full-of-himself filmmakers I have witnessed, and everything he has to say here rings true and is extremely interesting.  Out this week on DVD, 44 Inch Chest has proven my biggest and most pleasurable surprise of the year so far.  As you can probably tell, I heartily recommend it.