Two Japanese Yakuza Films: Go to Hell Bastards, and 3 Seconds Before Explosion

Reviewer: Jeffrey Anderson
Rating (out of 5): Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards (1963) ***
3 Seconds Before Explosion (1967) ***

The black sheep Japanese director Seijun Suzuki more or less established his reputation when he made the lowdown, fast-paced, second-gear crime movie Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards. Irreverent and reckless, it practically sneers at the cinema elite. It's a pretty typical "undercover" movie, in which a stylish private detective Tajima (Jo Shishido) pretends to befriend a crime lord in order to infiltrate the rest of the gang and find a cache of stolen weapons.

The gangsters spend a good deal of time checking on Tajima's cover stories -- reluctantly set up by the cops -- and when they're not doing that, they spend a lot of time at clubs watching dancing girls. Then, for a conclusion, we get a showdown and a ticking timer death trap. Suzuki sets up lots of flashy visuals and moments of humor, but they flit by very quickly; he never shows off for its own sake. Star Shishido is the epitome of cocky, taking more care of his appearance and perfectly coifed hair than in exercising caution. But he pulls it off; he's a prime source of the movie's subtle humor. Detective Bureau is still fun today, but it definitely has lost some of its original bite.

Like its companion piece, Motomu Ida's 3 Seconds Before Explosion movie also comes from a novel by Haruhiko Oyabu. It contains some similar elements, such as our secret agent hero trying to infiltrate a nest of criminals; the criminals continually put him to any number of tests to prove his loyalty. (We also get more nightclub scenes with singing and dancing!)

The plot here involves a huge cache of stolen jewels and gold bars, which were confiscated at the end of World War II. Apparently, claims to the treasure expire in a matter of days and whoever winds up the last man standing, in the possession of the jewels, gets to keep them. Superspy Yabuki (Akira Kobayashi, The Yakuza Papers) goes undercover with the bad guys, but discovers that an ex-colleague, Yamawaki (Hideki Takahashi), has been hired to hide and protect the jewels from all interested parties. They spend the first half of the film fighting, but -- as if in a John Woo film -- they eventually join forces. Director Ida was no Seijun Suzuki, and the action scenes here are very rough and fumbled, but I found this one more ludicrously entertaining than the previous, more polished effort.

Kino Video released both excellent DVDs, with nearly flawless color transfers, letterboxed (2.35:1) and anamoprhic, with new English subtitles. Extras include trailers and a still gallery.