Kinji Fukasaku must be considered elite among directors of gangster films. His five films for Battles Without Honor and Humanity, three installments of New Battles Without Honor and Humanity and numerous other movies get deep into the Yakuza culture. He charted the history of how organized crime rose up in post-World War II Japan from the inside. Fukasaku did make movies where every character wasn’t a mobster. The Threat came early in his career at Toei during Febuary of 1966. This film gives us harden criminals, but we also get an innocent family forced into their evil scheme. The Threat is a tight thriller with all the suspense a family can endure.
Misawa (City of Beasts‘ Rentarô Mikuni) is a bit conflicted after attending the wedding of an underling. Turns out the guy’s new bride is really the boss’ mistress? What does that mean to his future at the company? Is his title as Sales Manager in jeopardy? He acts happy as he drives his wife and son home to their little house on the outskirts of the city. While he’s giving his son a bath and his wife is preparing dinner, two strangers open up the unlocked front door. They aren’t just any strangers Kawanishi (Yojimbo‘s Kô Nishimura) is a killer who just escaped from prison and Sakata (Red Beard‘s Ken Mitsuda) has been helping him avoid the cops for the last week. Why did these two fugitives pick Misawa’s house? Because that’s where their car just broke down. What sets this apart from the usual family getting surprised by armed escape convicts is that they aren’t the real hostages. The real hostage is a baby they had kidnapped from a rich family. Kawanishi finds Misawa useful as part of the ransom plot. The father finds himself at the will of the fugitives for fear of not just his family being hurt, but the kidnapped baby.
The Threat gives us a sense of the films that Kinji Fukasaku would be creating in the future. The camera angles and editing style hint at his documentary style he’d bring to crime dramas. We get headlines flashing across the screen. He gives us gangsters that aren’t merely impersonating Bogart on the run. They are both scary. Kawanishi looks like he’s all for wasting everybody after they get their ransom. Sakata is eager to get Misawa’s wife alone. While Sakata has done so much for Kawanishi, the jailbreaker’s not quite obligated to return the favors. The family is at risk as much as the two fugitives. Is anyone going to survive the final reel? While the adults in the cast are exemplary, the baby in this film deserves a lot of praise. The expressions the baby achieves on camera makes him contribute to the scenes and not merely serve as a prop. The Threat is a tightly wound hostage story that allows Kinji Fukasaku to make his kind of family film.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfers of the black and white film is crisp. You’ll think they fugitives have taken over your living room. The Audio is LPCM 1.0 mono in Japanese. It sounds clear enough that you hear the doorknob turn. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio commentary by Japanese film expert Tom Mes. He explains the title in Japanese. He gives a rundown of the cast. We get a bit of history about how actors were treated by the studios during this era. There’s talk about what happened when the actors decided to unionize. We also learn which actor’s father invented the first robot in Japan.
Warning Warning Danger Danger (18:42) has critic and Japanese film specialist Mark Schilling get deep into The Threat. He compares it to Akira Kurasawa’s High and Low.
Original theatrical trailer (2:31) reminds us to have a deadbolt on the front door.
Illustrated collector’s booklet features an essay by Hayley Scanlon
Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella is suitable for framing.
Arrow Videos presents The Threat: Limited Edition. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku. Screenplay by Kinji Fukasaku & Ichirô Miyagawa. Starring Rentarô Mikuni, Kô Nishimura, Masumi Harukawa, Sanae Nakahara, Hideo Murota, Ken Mitsuda, Ryôhei Uchida & Pepe Hozumi. Running Time: 84 minutes. Release Date: September 24, 2024.
