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In director Yasuharu Hasebe’s hyper-stylized debut feature Black Tight Killers, Daisuke Honda (Akira Kobayashi) is a young war photographer that haphazardly gets involved with a stewardess named Yoriko. Soon Yoriko gets kidnapped by a group of leather-clad, go-go-dancing female assassins. When Daisuke attempts to rescue her, he finds himself battling female ninjas armed with unexpected weapons like chewing gum bullets, exploding bras, and vinyl records used like deadly throwing stars. Daisuke’s rescue efforts quickly reveal a larger plot that involves a foreign group of treasure hunters looking for a lost World War II relic hidden on a secret island by Yuriko’s father. Black Tight Killers is a pop-art-infused ’60s spy thriller drenched in neon lights and vibrant sets. The film was almost completely overlooked outside of Japan during its original release in 1966, but has been rediscovered and embraced as Japan’s unique response to the James Bond franchise. The film is now an unforgettable time capsule documenting post-war Japan’s full embrace of swinging ’60s youth culture with a stylistic sheen of the Japanese New Wave.
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Event venue
Arkadin Cinema & Bar, 5228 Gravois Ave, St Louis, MO 63116-2310, United States, Southhampton
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.