The Cinematheque

“That rare find—a trilogy that not only brings characters and narrative arcs to a satisfying conclusion, but also introduces new tones and aesthetics with each offering while cohering as a connected work.”

Curtis Tsui, Metrograph Journal

Launched to stardom by Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train (1989), enigmatic actor Nagase Masatoshi thrives as the hardboiled detective wannabe Maiku Hama in Hayashi Kaizo’s newly restored trilogy of the same name [a sidebar to Film Noir 2026]. Stomping through the bustling-and-hustling port city of Yokohama, Hama operates out of a run-down movie theatre and his office sees every kind of customer: from rich ladies looking for runaway pups to serial murderers who look suspiciously like himself. Equal part American hardboiled detective pastiche, Seijun Suzuki-style Nikkatsu akushon send-up, and Nagase’s own new-school comedic charmer, the Maiku Hama trilogy is a cult phenomena of ​’90s Japanese cinema. —Kani Releasing