I Am Waiting (俺は待ってるぜ, Ore wa matteru ze) is a 1957 Japanese crime film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara.[2][3] "I Am Waiting" was part of the Nikkatsu film studio's wave of Japanese noir films, in order to compete with popular American and French films in Japanese box offices.[4][5] This film was made available in North America when Janus Films released a special set of Nikkatsu Noir films as part of the Criterion Collection.[6] These films include Rusty Knife, Take Aim at the Police Van, Cruel Gun Story and A Colt Is My Passport.
| I Am Waiting | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Koreyoshi Kurahara |
| Written by | Shintarō Ishihara |
| Produced by | Takiko Mizunoe |
| Starring | Yujiro Ishihara Mie Kitahara |
| Cinematography | Kurataro Takamura |
| Edited by | Akira Suzuki |
| Music by | Masaru Sato |
| Color process | Black and white |
| Distributed by | Nikkatsu |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
"I Am Waiting" was one of Nikkatsu's earlier successes.[7]
Plot
editOn a dark night, former boxer Jōji Shimaki (Yujiro Ishihara) meets Saeko (Mie Kitahara), a club singer on the verge of suicide. They live and work together at a restaurant where they begin to fall in love, struggling to escape from their dark pasts. Jōji deals with his failure as a boxer, shamed of having been barred from the ring. Saeko hopes to hide from gangsters who have forced her to work at their cabaret. She seeks his help as she is trying to run away from her gangster boss, who is forcing her to continue working even though she no longer has a talented voice due to illnesses.[7][8]
They both find their source of support in their sole dreams: he wishes to go to Brazil to join his brother on a ranch, and she dreams of finding love. During the quest for his brother, Jōji discovers the horrible truth of the situation. His brother never made it to Brazil. Instead, a group of gangsters killed him for his money. Continuously pushed away by gangsters, they learn that dreams are easily crushed.[7][8]
Cast
edit- Yujiro Ishihara -Jôji Shimaki
- Mie Kitahara - Saeko
- Hideaki Nitani -Shibata (older)
- Isamu Kosugi -Uchiyama
- Ken Hatano - Shibata (younger)
- Kôjirô Kusanagi - Takeda
- Naoki Sugiura - Shibata's brother
- Kenjiro Uemura - Police detective
References
edit- ^ "俺は待ってるぜ". Jmdb.ne.jp. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ^ "俺は待ってるぜ". kotobank. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ "俺は待ってるぜ". Kinema Junposha. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ 日活アクションの華麗な世界：1954-1971 第二章 ヒーロー像の定着-興隆期の様相 p.32-50 5復讐の後に広がる孤独感-「俺は待ってるぜ」「錆びたナイフ」 ISBN 4624710878
- ^ "A Journey Through The Eclipse Series: Toshio Masuda's Rusty Knife". Criterioncast.com. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ^ "Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir - The Criterion Collection". Criterion.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ^ a b c "I Am Waiting (1957) - The Criterion Collection". Criterion.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ^ a b "Synopsis for I Am Waiting (1957)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
External links
edit- I Am Waiting at IMDb
- Ore wa matteru ze = I am waiting (DVD video, 2009). OCLC 429535042. Retrieved 2016-12-20 – via WorldCat.org.