Not as racist as expected

Not as racist as expected

first thoughts: sugar’s extensions were crazy bad!!!

mac best character in da movie!!!

the pool hall fight scene is so funny. the most ridiculous karate chops and kicks. (earlier in the movie, the same guy getting beat up picks up a cop over his head and tosses him into a pile of boxes. this movie rules.)

i also loved the cat scare, where someone just clearly tossed an orange tabby into frame. he seems confused af.

i wish this movie had subtitles beyond [speaking in japanese] for all the japanese parts but oh well i guess!! at the same time, very cool to see a 50s movie with themes of antiracism, with actual asian actors instead of white people in yellow face. 

bittersweet ending dawg

first thoughts: sugar’s extensions were crazy bad!!!

mac best character in da movie!!!

the pool hall fight scene is so funny. the most ridiculous karate chops and kicks. (earlier in the movie, the same guy getting beat up picks up a cop over his head and tosses him into a pile of boxes. this movie rules.)

i also loved the cat scare, where someone just clearly tossed an orange tabby into frame. he seems confused af.

i wish this movie had subtitles beyond [speaking in japanese] for all the japanese parts but oh well i guess!! at the same time, very cool to see a 50s movie with themes of antiracism, with actual asian actors instead of white people in yellow face. 

bittersweet ending dawg

A lovely sensitive romantic drama that also happens to have a hard-boiled noir side plot. Hard to imagine the respectful depiction of Japanese culture here to be anything but groundbreaking. While the racial tensions and fetishization play a small role, it’s primarily the threat of love and jealousy that generates most of the conflict. Gorgeously choreographed and stylishly edited, but what else could you expect from Sam Fuller.

A lovely sensitive romantic drama that also happens to have a hard-boiled noir side plot. Hard to imagine the respectful depiction of Japanese culture here to be anything but groundbreaking. While the racial tensions and fetishization play a small role, it’s primarily the threat of love and jealousy that generates most of the conflict. Gorgeously choreographed and stylishly edited, but what else could you expect from Sam Fuller.

at some point joe wears this really lovely sweater vest and i need it

at some point joe wears this really lovely sweater vest and i need it

My first Noirvember watch of the year! It never even occurred to me that noir could be so romantic and full of yearning. Leave it to Samuel Fuller to pull out something so idiosyncratic yet still so full of typical noir trappings. Joe might be my favourite character I have been introduced to in ages. On paper a scrappy slang spouting noir detective, but with so much depth and passion, plagued with insecurity. 3 hour epics struggle for this kind of character development and this was only 80 minutes. Sure this isn’t perfect, the murder mystery is completely abandoned for the sake of dramatic melodrama midway through, only to wrap the mystery up rather quickly in the final minutes, but who cares! I was swept away!

My first Noirvember watch of the year! It never even occurred to me that noir could be so romantic and full of yearning. Leave it to Samuel Fuller to pull out something so idiosyncratic yet still so full of typical noir trappings. Joe might be my favourite character I have been introduced to in ages. On paper a scrappy slang spouting noir detective, but with so much depth and passion, plagued with insecurity. 3 hour epics struggle for this kind of character development and this was only 80 minutes. Sure this isn’t perfect, the murder mystery is completely abandoned for the sake of dramatic melodrama midway through, only to wrap the mystery up rather quickly in the final minutes, but who cares! I was swept away!