A Killer Without a Grave

Kurenai no Kenju (紅の拳銃) (English: A Killer Without a Grave) is a 1961 stylistic crime suspense Japanese film directed by Ushihara Yoichi.[1][2][3]

Kurenai no Kenju
Movie Poster
Directed byUshihara Yoichi
Written byMatsuura Kenro
StarringAkagi Keiichiro
CinematographyShinsaku Himeda
Edited byTsujii Masanori
Music byKosugi Taiichiro
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
  • 1961 (1961)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Sitting in the corner of the nightclub "Gin no Shiro," Ishioka is spying on a nihilistic young man, Nakata. Ishioka, who has lost his arm in the war, hires Nakata as a hitman. After first rescuing a fleeing gangster moll (Chikako) in the club, Nakata slowly hones his technique.[4][5]

Ishioka has a blind sister named Kikuyo. It is said that going to a certain university hospital in Kobe may cure her of her blindness.

One day, yakuza leader Kokuta puts out a hit on a woman - it's the fleeing moll of the Kobe boss, Chikako. The Kobe boss of the Chinese Triads is Chen Mansho. Chen wants her dead after she learned the route of his lucrative drug trade. But Nakata, having grown protective of Chicako, doesn't want to kill her. They run away together. But Nakata is captured by Chen, and Chikako is taken away.

Kokuta learns that Nakata is protecting Chikako, and orders Ishioka to kill him. Ishioka goes after Nakata, and goes to Kobe, not knowing that he has been captured. It is there that he, too is caught by Chen. Kikuyo is also kidnapped by Chen.

Chen's younger brother Dalong flees to Kobe after the drug kingpin in Hong Kong is killed. He and Chen conspire to get rid of all of Kokudera's crew in Tokyo. They take the captured Ishioka, Kikuyo and Nakata to the dunes to kill them, but just then, three men appear and gun down the brother.

The three men are in fact hitmen hired by another Chinese man, Liu. Liu introduces himself to Nakata. It turns out that his wife was once Nakata's girlfriend, and has fond memories of him. Liu was in fact the one who attacked Chen's Hong Kong gang. There is a battle. Chikako, Chen, and Liu are all killed. Just then, the police arrive.

Nakata was, in fact, an undercover detective all along. In the end, Kikuyo is able to have her surgery, and her eyes are cured.[6]

Cast

References
  1. "紅の拳銃". nikkatsu.com. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  2. 日活アクションの華麗な世界：1954-1971 第六章"第三の男"・その閃光（せんこう）の人生-全盛期における赤木圭一郎 p.176-205 虚構性の一頂点-「紅の拳銃」ISBN 4-624-71087-8
  3. "紅の拳銃". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. "紅の拳銃". wowow.com. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  5. "赤木圭一郎とは". コトバンク. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  6. "A Killer Without a Grave". Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
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