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Ishii Teruo: King of Cult

Flower, Storm and Gang

Ishii Teruo

Japan1961 84min 35mm B&W

Synopsis

In the 1960s, villains gather to rob a bank. Each, with a hidden agenda, reveals their real intention. Adding individualistic characters to a criminal drama, Teruo Ishii created a comic and light-hearted drama. Another attraction of this feature film should be the iconic presence of a young Ken Takakura, who played Smiley, an optimistic gang.

Diretor

Ishii Teruo

More vital than most men half his age, eighty-year-old Teruo Ishii continues to make films that witness their creator's colourful personality. Still best known for his series of Edo-era torture films from the late 60s, Ishii has worked in a vast range of genres in the course of his six-decade long career. From his early Super Giants films for Shin Toho, through his gang and biker films for Toei and his recent independently made ero-gro spectacles, his work has remained as youthful in spirit as the man who made them. Midnight Eye met up with Ishii at the Étrange Festival in Paris, which paid tribute to the man who is referred to at home as the King of Cult.