By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him
| By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 男の顔は履歴書 | ||||
| |||||
| Directed by | Tai Kato | ||||
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by | Yoshitoshi Masumoto | ||||
| Starring | |||||
| Cinematography | Tetsuo Takaha[1] | ||||
| Edited by | Iwao Ishii[1] | ||||
| Music by | Hajime Kaburagi[1] | ||||
Production company | |||||
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes[3] | ||||
| Language | Japanese[1] | ||||
By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him (Japanese: 男の顔は履歴書, Hepburn: Otokonokao wa rirekisho; lit. 'A Man’s Face Is His Personal History')[4] is a Japanese film directed by Tai Kato in 1966. It is also known under the title History of a Man's Face.[5]
Plot
When a man is brought to the hospital where Dr. Amamiya is working, the latter recognises the patient and recalls previous times they met: firstly during World War II, and later when the man owned a market and South Korean gangsters were taking over the entire area.
Cast
- Noboru Ando as Dr. Amamiya
- Ichiro Nakatani as Choi[4]
- Sanae Nakahara
- Juzo Itami
- Akemi Mari as Li Keishun[6]
- Hiroshi Fujioka
- Yoshiko Kayama
- Bunta Sugawara
- Ryohei Uchida
- Kanjuro Arashi as Nakamura[7]
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray by Radiance films on 26 February, 2024.[8] It was later released by Vinegar Syndrome as part of a two film set alongside I, the Executioner.[9]
Critical reception
By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him was well-received in Japan by the country's various cinema clubs, placing well in their top films of the year lists.[10]
Reviewing the Blu-ray release of the film, Kat Ellinger praises the film as a "tense, poignant portrayal of post-war class strife and masculinity in crisis". She also praises Ando's performance and states his casting "adds a classic yakuza flavour to a film which otherwise betrays low-budget exploitation film conventions by untypically dealing in political themes."[11]
In his encyclopedia of Japanese gangster films Gun and Sword, Chris D. rates the film three and a half stars out of four, calling it "an intense, pared-to-the-bone melodrama".[12] It was also included by Jasper Sharp in a list of 10 great Japanese gangster films for the BFI.[13]
Alexander Jacoby was more critical of the film, seeing the violence of the film as taking away from a potentially interesting study of interracial relations in postwar Japan.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him (Blu-ray sleeve). Radiance Films. 26 February 2024.
- ^ Mes, Tom (29 January 2024). Tai Kato: By a Man's Style Shall You Know Him. Radiance Films. p. 59.
- ^ "By A Man's Face Shall You Know Him". BBFC. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
- ^ a b Adams, Wally (4 March 2024). "By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him". Eastern Kicks. Archived from the original on 12 April 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
- ^ Sharp, Jasper. Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. The Scarecrow Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8108-5795-7.
- ^ Sharp, Jasper (18 Jan 2008). "By a Man's Face You Shall Know Him". Midnight Eye. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
- ^ Mes, Tom (29 January 2024). Tai Kato: By a Man's Style Shall You Know Him. Radiance Films. p. 10.
- ^ "By a Man's Face You Shall Know Him (LE)". Radiance. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
- ^ "Two Faces of Tai Katô". Vinegar Syndrome. Archived from the original on 26 February 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
- ^ Carroll, William (2022). Suzuki Seijun and Postwar Japanese Cinema. New York City, United States: Columbia University Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0231204378.
- ^ Ellinger, Kat (May 2024). "By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him". Sight and Sound. Vol. 34, no. 4. London, United Kingdom: British Film Institute. p. 80.
- ^ D., Chris (2012). Gun and Sword: An Encyclopedia of Japanese Gangster Films 1955-1980. United States: Poison Fang (published 2013). pp. 646–648. ISBN 978-0615798806.
- ^ Sharp, Jasper (20 March 2013). "10 great Japanese gangster films". BFI. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
- ^ Jacoby, Alexander. A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. Entry for "KATŌ Tai". ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.