The Wicked Reporter (1993) [N/A]

Release Date:
July 19, 1993

Original Title:
極道記者

Alternate Titles:
Gokudo kisha
The Wicked Reporter
極道記者

Genres:
Crime

Production Companies:
Daiei Film

Production Countries:
Japan

Ratings / Certifications:
 N/A

Runtime: 100

More than his indie debut Skinless Night, this was the film that launched Mochizuki on his distinctive trajectory through the crime and yakuza genres. Matsuzaki (Eiji Okuda) is a racing tipster for a sports paper, a lowlife who spends half his time drunk, hangs out with yakuza and other riff-raff and complicates his sex life by succumbing to advances from his girlfriend's sister. As played by Okuda, he's also a figure of considerable hangdog charm. Less a plot-based movie than a guide to the several forms of high stakes gambling in Japan, this centres on his attempt to help a friend swindled in a bent mahjong game. Hakuryu appears (memorably) as an inscrutable yakuza in a black leather jacket. The film's success led to two sequels.

Additional information:

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Director:
Rokurō Mochizuki

Director of Photography:
Hideyuki Kawai

Original Concept:
Toshio Shiozaki

Producer:
Masao Satô

Production Design:
Hirohide Shibata

Screenplay:
Rokurō Mochizuki
Yoichi Maekawa

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