Kôji Wada

‘Carmen from Kawachi brings the nihilist Suzuki universe to a woman’s life in the decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, Tsuyuko, whose rape by two fellow villagers starts her on the road to sexual awareness and finally, independence. It is a long, picaresque road indeed, meandering from Osaka’s Club Dada, through liaisons with a millionaire, a dominatrix, and an action painter–all the while cohabiting with a degenerate if loving roué. The determining encounter is with a corrupt monk, whose sordid affair with her mother had been for Tsuyuko a primal introduction to sexual hypocrisy and male brutality.’Read More »

Nikkatsu finally responds to Suzuki’s growing discontentment by giving him a bigger budget and a better script. This episodic collection of “real coast guard action stories” was the perfect vehicle for Koji Wada. Whatever negative press he had received for Tokyo Knights was quickly forgotten.

He became the new “teen star.” And Suzuki: “the director to watch.”Read More »

A boxing melodrama. Two friends become boxers and begin training for the championship. The two boys eventually face each other in the ring.Read More »

An unofficial sequel to Million Dollar Match (1961) which also starred Koji Wada as a young energetic boxer. This story deals more with betting action surrounding a boxing match, concentrating mostly on the high-powered Yakuza gambling dens.

Once again, Suzuki was reprimanded by his Nikkatsu boss, Kyusaku Hori, for refusing to deliver a simple, straightforward story. The scolding centers on Suzuki’s “extensive use of symbolism in a traditional action picture.”Read More »

Synopsis:
‘Carmen from Kawachi brings the nihilist Suzuki universe to a woman’s life in the decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, Tsuyuko, whose rape by two fellow villagers starts her on the road to sexual awareness and finally, independence. It is a long, picaresque road indeed, meandering from Osaka’s Club Dada, through liaisons with a millionaire, a dominatrix, and an action painter–all the while cohabiting with a degenerate if loving roué. The determining encounter is with a corrupt monk, whose sordid affair with her mother had been for Tsuyuko a primal introduction to sexual hypocrisy and male brutality.’
– James QuandtRead More »