Crossroad
                                                
Director:  Umetsugu Inoue
Year: 1956
Rating: 7.0
Aka - Shi no Jujiro

Aka - Crossroads of Death

Sometimes you should just call the police and tell the truth. See where the chips land. Black or red. This suspenseful tale has webs of fatalism stretched around it like a rubber band ready to snap. Bad things happen to good people and there is no escape. This is directed by Umetsugu Inoue, who Hong Kong film fans probably know from his films for the Shaw Brothers. Those tended to be bright colorful blasts of youthful energy. But this is shot in black and white and noir creeps in with small steady steps in foggy streets, shadows and a sense of inevitability. By the end it has gone full noir both in plot and expressions. The film builds on itself adding plot twists and characters as it goes along though by the end only two really matter.  It is based on a book from Rampo Edogawa, the famous Japanese mystery writer who was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and there are bits in here where it verges between mystery and horror.



Shogo (Rentarô Mikuni) is a wealthy and respected businessman - but he is also in love with his mistress Harumi (Michiyo Aratama). His wife has joined up with a nutty religious cult that believes in Nichiren, the Child of the Sun. This Child of the Sun has told her to kill the mistress for her sins. Harumi is very traditional in most ways - takes care of her man, draws a warm bath for him, comforts him. They are in love. Then the wife shows up with a long blade and busts in to kill Harumi - in trying to stop her, Shogo accidentally kills her. This was the time to call the cops. You have the blade, you have letters from her threatening to kill Harumi, you have the testimony of the mistress, it is in her apartment. But the scandal. The damage to your reputation. What to do. Think fast.



Bundle her up and get rid of the body. Oh, this can't go well. On the way, he has a fender bender and has to stop. A man from a minor thread of the film who has just been in a fight, crawls into the back seat and dies. Now Shogo has two bodies to dispose of.  Oh hell. You can see the desperation, but two bodies are the same as one, right? Except now you have the police looking into two disappearances. And a dogged detective. The gates of hell are closing in. What makes this so good is that Shogo is basically a decent person - an accidental death and one you had nothing to do with. But you fucked up and the sweet Harumi can only watch it all fall apart.