Review of Intimidation

Nobuo Kaneko is leaving the bank branch in the small town. He has done everything right. He did well at college, beat out childhood friend Kô Nishimura for the boss's daughter, and now he's headed for Tokyo. In three months he'll be on the board of directors, and when his father in law retires, he'll be in charge of the entire bank. He's even shaken off his mistress, whose pimp had shaken him down for three million yen. Then, after he gets good and drunk at his going-away party, in steps a hood who has proof of how he stole that money. He tells him that he's going to rob the bank. It's a perfect cover. Why would the manager rob his own bank? The only flaw is that Nishimura is the night man on the evening he has to do the job.

This is counted a Japanese noir, but honestly, I don't see it, despite the corruption. There's little of the dramatic Impressionism of film noir, even if the light level is kept low. That aside, it's a nifty little crime drama with a couple of excellent twists to the plot that kept me wondering through the end,