The moment he’s released from prison, the honorable gangster Miyamoto recovers the stolen diamonds he had stashed before getting pinched. When he returns to his haunt to make good by friend who took a bullet for him, he is diverted by the greedy boss Oyane and his insatiable taste for Miyamoto’s precious stones. Replete with film noir style, “Underworld Beauty” is one of Suzuki’s best nods to the American gangster genre.
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Crime
Seijo densetsu / No More God, No More Love (1985) Tôru Murakawa, Hiromi Gô, Shima Iwashita, Miyuki Ono, Crime, Drama, Romance
Released after seven years in prison, an inveterate thug goes from strength to ruthless strength as he makes his way through a succession of dubious jobs, illegal schemes, and brutal romances.
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Elephant (2003) Gus Van Sant, Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, Crime, Drama, Thriller
A day in the lives of a group of average teenage high school students. The film follows every character and shows their daily routines. However two of the students plan to do something that the student body won’t forget.
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Married to the Mob (1988) Jonathan Demme, Michelle Pfeiffer, Alec Baldwin, Paul Lazar, Comedy, Crime, Romance
Angela deMarco is unhappily married to high Mafia member Frank deMarco. When Frank is killed, Angela takes the opportunity to break free of the Mafia world entirely and start a new life. But Frank’s boss, Tony Russo, begins to court the unresponsive Angela. The FBI begins surveillance on her, thinking her to be his new mistress. FBI agent Mike Downey goes undercover as Angela’s neighbor, but soon finds himself attracted to Angela himself.
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10 Rillington Place (1971) Richard Fleischer, Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Biography, Crime, Drama
A seemingly model citizen living in mid-century London, John Christie (Richard Attenborough) is actually a killer. Masquerading as a doctor, he convinces guileless women that he can cure whatever might ail them, and when they follow him to his home, he chokes them to death and buries them in a makeshift graveyard. Based on a series of real-life killings, the story follows John as he cons a pregnant bride (Judy Geeson) and wonders if he might have found a scapegoat in her husband (John Hurt).
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Policewomen (1974) Lee Frost, Sondra Currie, Tony Young, Phil Hoover, Action, Crime
A lady cop infiltrates an all-female criminal gang.
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Nihon jokyo-den: makka na dokyo-bana / Brave Red Flower of the North (1970) Yasuo Furuhata, Sumiko Fuji, Ken Takakura, Shingo Yamashiro, Action, Crime
An exciting tale of action on the distant northern island of Hokkaido around the beginning of the 20th Century starring two of the biggest names in Yakuza film history, Fuji Junko and Takakura Ken. Since the death of death of her father, Yuki who has traveled from her home in the southernmost part of Japan must fight corrupt local officials seeking to fill her late father’s post. As her life is in danger a mysterious rifleman, played by Takakura Ken watches from the shadows. Can she finish the work her dear departed father started in an untamed land?
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The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) Richard Thorpe, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Nick and Nora head to Nick’s hometown of Sycamore Springs to spend some time with his parents. His father, a prominent local physician, was always a bit disappointed with Nick’s choice of profession in particular and his lifestyle in general. With Nick’s arrival however the towns folk, including several of the local criminal element, are convinced that he must be there on a case despite his protestations that he’s just there for rest and relaxation. When someone is shot dead on his doorstep however, Nick finds himself working on a case whether he wants to or not.
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Joshû sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bô / Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) Shun’ya Itô, Meiko Kaji, Fumio Watanabe, Yukie Kagawa, Crime, Drama, Thriller
After spending a year in solitary confinement, Matsu escapes from prison with six more convicts, followed by the guards led by the vengeful warden who wants her dead at all costs.
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Fuck me! / Baise-moi (2000) Virginie Despentes, Coralie, Raffaëla Anderson, Karen Lancaume, Céline Beugnot, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Manu and Nadine lose their last tenuous relationship with main-stream society when Manu gets raped and Nadine sees her only friend being shot. After a chance encounter, they embark on an explosive journey of sex and murder. Perhaps as a revenge against men, perhaps as a revolt against bourgeois society, but certainly in a negation – almost joyful in its senseless violence – of all the codes of a society which has excluded, raped and humiliated them. Controversial for its violence and real sex scenes: a vividly nihilist road movie set in France.
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