The Most Terrible Time in My Life

To Sleep, So As to Dream and Circus Boys marked Kaizo Hayashi as an expert pasticheur of old movie styles, but this loving tribute to 'Scope thrillers of the Seijun Suzuki kind (complete with a Joe Shishido guest appearance) is something else again. Masatoshi Nagase stars as Yokohama private eye Mike Hama tangling with a gang of Chinese/Korean immigrants who call themselves 'The New Japs' and uncovering a plot to rearrange crime in East Asia. Cutting hard from laughs to gut-wrenching violence, featuring a cast of exceptionally beautiful hitmen and revelling in wicked subtexts, this is a rapturous entertainment. It comes with a recommendation from the Japan Detective Agency Association, so you know it makes sense.