Spaghetti Giapponese

Here's a stylish Spaghetti Western with, oddly enough, a Japanese twist or two...


Oggi a me... domani a te! (Today it's me... tomorrow it's you!) was directed by the little-known Tonino Cervi in 1968 (co-writing credits include Dario Argento). Cervi hasn't directed much of note, but seems to have been all over the Italian film industry like a rash for decades: he produced Antonioni's Il Deserto Rosso, no less.

The film stars the taciturn Franco Nero, of Django fame, Bud Spencer (who surely needs no introduction), and none other than Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the sword-wielding(!) baddie-in-chief. The acting is good, and it's particularly fun seeing Nakadai hamming it up. There's some nice cinematography, and the soundtrack music, which at times mines a sub-Morricone vein (naturally), is effective. I enjoyed the film and definitely recommend it to Western fans, all the more so if they have an interest in Japanese cinema.

Availability for home viewing by English speakers is not great: it seems only the Japanese have put out a suitable edition (which has an English audio track). The quality of this is superb, but it is quite costly.

UPDATE: English-language availability is better than I had thought: low-priced Dutch and German editions are available, both with English audio.

Avant-Garde Cinema Deserving Attention

Seijun Suzuki's Pistol Opera is a post-modern reprise of his 1960's work in the Yakuza (gangster) genre, which itself was audacious enough to get him fired from a commercial studio, Nikkatsu.

Expect shot after shot of stunning, minimalist compositions, bursting with vibrant color. Expect a seriously cool soundtrack. Expect symbolic gestures that replace normal dialogue. Expect a certain amount of head-scratching - I'm still decoding the film, and enjoying doing so.


There are no top-quality DVD options for English-speakers. The US print is more than watchable, but flawed. The UK print is the result of a standards-conversion, a process which practically guarantees artefacts. The Japanese edition likely offers the highest visual quality, but doesn't seem to come with English subtitles. I'd suggest just getting hold of a cheap US or UK DVD and tolerating the occasional glitch.

For some grounding I highly recommend "Branded to Kill", the 1967 film on which "Pistol Opera" is based. And for an accessible introduction to Suzuki's wonderful world, go straight to "Tokyo Drifter".

Note that "Pistol Opera" was filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, which means you may need to adjust a widescreen television (by selecting size 4:3) in order to view it correctly at home.