Remember how you felt on your first day at a high school or just sitting down at your desk for a new job? Okay, maybe jumping in with the Morlocks isn’t quite like that, but I still feel like I should stand up and introduce myself to the class. My name is Nathaniel Thompson, and you might recognize me from the TCM programming articles I’ve been writing for the past decade or so. I’ve also written and overseen the DVD Delirium book series at FAB Press and have maintain the site Mondo Digital since 1998. So hey, I should write about movies even more! I take great pleasure in everything cinematic from the highest of art to the lowest of brows, so we’ll have fun seeing how it all intersects going forward.
On that note, I’d like to shine a little spotlight on two films that perfectly personify this intersection airing under the TCM Underground banner this weekend, THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) and RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER (1975), both starring the mighty Sonny Chiba. Last year the brilliant and much-missed Richard Harland Smith gave you the lowdown on the first film in what turned out to be a Chiba trilogy; if you haven’t already, head over there and read up on one of Japan’s most essential action stars, who was popularized in the U.S. by Quentin Tarantino via Christian Slater’s idol worship in TRUE ROMANCE (1992) and his role as Hattori Hanzo in KILL BILL VOL. 1 (2003). Whether beating his opponents to a pulp or donning silver skin paint and a horned helmet as a planetary prince in Kinji Fukasaku’s MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1979), he’s always a fearless and compelling presence on screen.
What’s special about this Saturday pairing is that, unlike last October’s airing of the first film, you can now watch Chiba’s first two Street Fighter films in succession and better savor his imposing but charismatic screen presence. Yes, he’s totally convincing when he’s knocking out someone’s teeth, but he’s also charming and wildly unpredictable… and no one else eats a banana like him in front of the camera.
You may have noticed that one of the big themes this month is America in the ‘70s (the focus every Thursday in July), but I’d like to think that these two Chiba films offer a nice snapshot of Japan in the ‘70s, too. As in the United States, crime films had entered a new phase with yakuza films proving to be stronger than ever. The Hong Kong influence of Shaw Brothers and Bruce Lee could be felt at times to be sure, but Japanese films were tougher, darker, and grittier. While the U.S. was grappling with major economic issues and a nasty recession, Japan was heading the other direction thanks to its skyrocketing auto industry and other technological advances that turned it into a major global force. Japanese cinema was becoming more confident and extreme, mashing up genres and pushing the boundaries of acceptable content further than before. Nikkatsu was at the forefront of making erotic pink films a fixture of screens nationwide, but everyone was taking violence to whole new levels with the adventures of Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood, and Female Prisoner Scorpion spraying the screen with arterial geysers unlike anything since the days of the Grand Guignol.
That brings us back to Sonny Chiba, a martial arts black belt who brings a hulking physicality to the screen far removed from the balletic, whiplash grace of Bruce Lee. Imagine Oliver Reed as a ticked-off killing machine with martial arts training, and that should give you some idea of Chiba’s appeal. It’s no wonder these two productions from Toei (who gave us everything from JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT to the BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY series) were snapped up for American distribution by New Line, who had to make concessions to American culture by diluting the first film to get an R rating and imposing English-dubbed tracks on all three Street Fighter films (as well as its unofficial four entry, 1974’s SISTER STREET FIGHTER). At the time American distributors still treated Japanese films with less respect than they deserved, a holdover from the attitude that the country was mostly good for making “juvenile” Godzilla and Gamera films. Fortunately the tide has turned in a major way, and just as Godzilla and his brethren are now regarded as cultural and artistic milestones, Japanese crime films have entered the world cinema pantheon with a vengeance.
This is hardly a unique development as even Americans have gone back to reassess its own violent crime films and found them to be rich, deeply valuable chapters in our artistic progression. Just look at how the attitudes have changed so drastically when it comes to formerly overlooked films like THE SEVEN-UPS (1973), REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER (1975), or HICKEY & BOGGS (1972). Now you have companies creating massive, prestige boxed sets devoted to ’70s crime films from both the East and West, and Sonny Chiba has become a recurring fixture on TCM. That’s progress, ladies and gentlemen.
