Teruo Ishii – Abashiri Bangaichi AKA Abashiri Prison (1965)

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Today, Teruo Ishii is best known for his exploitation films of the late 1960s and 1970s, which straddled the line between arthouse and trashy entertainment. However, his greatest commercial success came with the 10 films he directed for the Abashiri Prison series.

In 1965, Ishii directed the first film, until 1972, seventeen more films would follow, each of them a big box office success, most of them even appearing among the 10 highest-grossing feature films of their respective year.

Thanks to the success of the series, Ken Takakura, the lead actor of all 18 films, became a star. Even the title song “Abashiri bangaichi”, performed by Takakura himself with a sonorous voice, became a popular tune and is today considered a well-known classic of enka, the Japanese pop ballad.

Abashiri Prison is thus not only the most serialized yakuza eiga series, but also by far the most successful film series of the 1960s. However, its influence on the yakuza subgenre of ninkyo eiga seems somewhat overstated. By 1965, the genre of honorable yakuza fighting against the modern, money-hungry gangsters of the present was already well established and had even found its most iconic star, Koji Tsuruta.

On the other hand, Ishii’s films are primarily prison escape films with some ninkyo elements, a remake of the American classic The Defiant Ones (1965), set in the inhospitable, snow-infested realms surrounding Japan’s notorious Abashiri Prison.

Despite this, Ken Takakura was elevated to national icon status after this first film and became a role model for millions of Japanese people. Ironically, it was all thanks to this entertaining little B-movie, whose style pays homage to classic Hollywood cinema.

After attacking the leader of an enemy clan, yakuza Shinichi Tachibana (Ken Takakura) is sent to the infamous Abashiri Prison. His exemplary behavior within the prison walls soon attracts the attention of lawyer Tsumaki (Tetsuro Tanba), who promises to support Tachibana in his wish to visit his terminally ill mother. But all goes wrong: the evil prison tyrant Yoda (Toru Abe) attempts to escape with his henchmen Gonda (Koji Nanbara). Tachibana, who is chained to Gonda by an ankle bracelet against his will, must join his enemies on their dangerous journey across the snowy plains of Hokkaido…

First and foremost, Abashiri Prison is a classic prison movie incorporating all the clichés of its American counterparts like the obligatory prison bullies (led by prolific villain impersonator Toru Abe) and even the famous prison workshop brawl which, of course, ends in mutilation.

But in all fairness, Abashiri’s prison often feels less sophisticated than the best American prison films like Brute Force (1947) or Escape From Alcatraz (1979). Teruo Ishii is less interested in incorporating social critique than in delivering rock-solid action entertainment.

Unlike the relatively tame The Defiant Ones (1957), Ishii’s film offers plenty of thrilling action scenes and a few moments of Hitchcockian suspense. Chained together, the two reluctant allies must face the vast snowy regions of Hokkaido, tormented by freezing temperatures, rather than the southern sun as in Stanley Kramer’s original film.

Cinematographically, Ishii’s directing style has always been influenced by that of the nonconformists of 1940s American cinema. Unlike the classical masters of Japanese cinema, Ishii’s direction is rather free, inspired not by picturesque images but by the dynamics of movement, resulting in a visually rather superficial, though highly entertaining, film.

The elements of ninkyo eiga are simply incorporated to characterize our protagonist. Ken Takakura’s Tachibana is an honest man, not a ruthless criminal like his fellow inmates. An honorable yakuza who simply fulfilled his duty to his clan by attacking an opposing oyabun (“yakuza leader”), but who is simply trying to live a decent life.

At least the cast includes many well-known character actors like Tetsuro Tanba or Kunie Tanaka, best known for their countless portrayals of honorable yakuza or petty criminals. Most impressive is the appearance of legendary silent film star Kanjuro Arashi who, at 62, proves he is still capable of giving an intimidating and powerful performance as the imprisoned oyabun Onitora.

In the end, Abashiri Prison is an action-packed entertainment film in the best sense of the word, featuring, among other scenarios, a car chase scene at breakneck speed. Without any safety precautions, the scene was extremely dangerous to film and act out. Yet, it was the actors themselves who put their lives on the line to provide the audience with a breathtaking moment of escape.

Considering its B-movie format, Abashiri Prison may not quite live up to its gargantuan influence, but it is certainly a work of passion. The narrative may be hampered by clichés, the characters little more than cardboard cutouts, but Abashiri Prison is filled with enthusiasm that undoubtedly appeals to an audience that demands nothing more than about 90 minutes of pure entertainment.

Abashiri Prison.1965.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv
General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 31 min
Size: 	2.15 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x434 
Aspect ratio:  	2.35:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.282
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AAC LC @ 166 kb/s
#2:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (Commentary by Tom Mes)

https://nitro.download/view/E605B8976455106/Abashiri_Prison.1965.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

Language(s): Japanese, English (commentary)
Subtitles: English