The Cinematheque

Inoue Umetsugu’s follow-up to The Winner has heartthrob Ishihara Yujiro as a seaman who joins the crew of a rusty cargo ship to avenge himself on his father’s enemy. His cocky attitude gets him into trouble with the crew, but also attracts the attention of the two women on board, a sultry stowaway (Tsukioka Yumeji) and the captain’s high-spirited daughter (Asaoka Ruriko). Rentaro Mikuni and Nagato Hiroyuki play Ishihara’s rivals. Inoue’s script does not play out in obvious ways, just as Ishihara’s character is hard to classify. Neither heartless tough nor pure-minded exemplar, he’s something new to Japanese films: a dirty hero with his own sense of justice and a way with a song! Inoue shot the film aboard a real WWII cargo ship in Tokyo Bay; the authentic pitching, rolling, and spraying seawater add to the danger and excitement.