

Two Lives, Two Yakuza
1964 Directed by Tsuneo KobayashiAn early ninkyo film from before the genre had truly established its form. Koji Tsuruta plays an honourable outlaw who saves an older man from an ambush. It turns out the man is the head of a hard working clan appointed to a railway construction project. A ruthless yakuza gang is also trying to get their share of the project and attempts to sabotage the work. After the old man dies, his son (Sonny Chiba) and daughter (Junko Fuji) try to complete the project. Tsuruta joins them while also falling in love with a local woman working in a bar (after all, Tsuruta always was more of a lover than his stoic colleague Takakura).

Koji Tsuruta
....................................................Shinjiro Kusakari

Sumiko Fuji
....................................................Yukiko Matsuhashi

Shigeru Amachi
....................................................Seiji Nawate

Takeshi Katō
....................................................Makoto Misugi

Eijirō Yanagi
....................................................Genichiro Matsuhashi

Sonny Chiba
....................................................Shinichi Matsuhashi

Yoshiko Sakuma
....................................................Kumi Kitajima
Director
...........................................................Tsuneo Kobayashi
Screenplay
...........................................................Akira Murao
Cinematography
...........................................................Shichirō Hayashi
Music
...........................................................Chūji Kinoshita
Original Story
...........................................................Shunsaku Iwashita
Production Design
...........................................................Suguru Tanabe
Production Companies
...................................................Toei Company
Production Countries
........................................................Japan
Spoken Languages
....................................................日本語
Genres
....................................................Crime
Drama
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