Robert Mitchum may have been at his best in this movie, doing the world-weary noir protagonist with more depth and feeling than I think I've ever seen. He returns to Japan in the mid-1970s, where he had been a hood during the occupation, to get a friend out of trouble. The supporting cast is impeccable, and this may be Sydney Pollack's best drama.
The film is a lost masterpiece of neo noir, too. The plot and characters are incredibly complex, and well-executed. The twist is breathtaking. Everyone drifts in poorly defined roles (Mitchum has been a soldier, cop, private detective, and gangster), lacking forward momentum, constrained by circumstances and obligations, and there's tragedy on every square inch of film. Culminating in what may be one of my top ten fight scenes of all time.
And it is beautiful. This came out in the 1970s, so they lay on the cultural tourism real thick, but somehow it manages to avoid being tacky. The combination of modern and classic elements in the set design is marvelous, and the location scouts really took advantage of what Japan has to offer.
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