Black Line (1960) [N/A]

Release Date:
January 13, 1960

Original Title:
黒線地帯

Alternate Titles:
Black Line Zone
The Dark Region
黑線地帶

Genres:
Crime

Production Companies:
Shintoho Company

Production Countries:
Japan

Ratings / Certifications:
 N/A

Runtime: 80

Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.

Additional information:

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Art Direction:
Keiji Miyazawa

Assistant Director:
Kichitarô Shibata

Director:
Teruo Ishii

Director of Photography:
Jugyo Yoshida

Editor:
Hideo Kashima

Executive Producer:
Mitsugi Okura

Lighting Technician:
Akira Yaguchi

Original Music Composer:
Chumei Watanabe

Screenplay:
Ichirō Miyagawa
Teruo Ishii

Sound Recordist:
Hisao Negishi

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