Cash Calls Hell

Directed by Hideo Gosha
Film Movement Classics
1966
92 Minutes
Japan
Japanese
Action, Crime, Asian, Classics
Not Rated

Facing the final days of his prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter, Oida (Tatsuya Nakadai) dreads reentering society as a ruined man with no future prospects. Sensing his street smarts, Oida's cellmate promises him a pile of loot if he tracks down and kills three men whose names are on a list. Reluctantly accepting the task, he finds himself embroiled in a web of stolen money, betrayal and other sordid vices. Torn between compassion and desperation, Oida discovers danger lurking around every corner as he navigates a treacherous path of cold-blooded fate. Legendary director Hideo Gosha (Samurai Wolf, Violent Streets, Onimasa) blends classic, gritty film noir tropes into a New Wave inflected cinematic fever dream of intrigue and paranoia in this “absolutely gripping and suspenseful movie, a masterpiece of genre filmmaking” (Japan on Film).

Director & Cast

  • Director: Hideo Gosha
  • Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai
  • Starring: Ichirô Nakatani
  • Starring: Hisashi Igawa
  • Starring: Kunie Tanaka

Where to Watch

Photos

Reviews

  • "One of the great film noirs from any country. It is an absolutely gripping and suspenseful movie, a masterpiece of genre film-making...."
    Japan On Film
  • "Gosha was a true auteur with a vision, a style, a set of concerns, a preference for certain actors and certain kinds of stories, but at the same time he worked in the real world of Japanese samurai filmmaking and played by its conventions."
    Washington Post
  • "After years of watching the films of Japanese masters Yasujiro Ozu, Masaki Kobayashi, and Akira Kurosawa, Gosha’s movies are both jarring and enlightening. You are safe within the hands of the master Samurai."
    Perisphere