The Black Gambler – Devil's Left Hand

• Saturday, May 31, 8:30 p.m. Cinema in the German Film Museum
  (Tickets only available at the German Film Museum)
• Introduction by Julian Ross
• Kuroi tobakushi – akuma no hidarite
  黒い賭博師 悪魔の左手
• Japan 1966, 35mm, 94 min, Japanese with English subtitles
  
• Director: Ko NAKAHIRA
• Script: Ei OGAWA, Tadaaki YAMAZAKI
• Camera: Yoshihiro YAMAZAKI
• Music: Harumi IBE
• World Sales: Nikkatsu Corporation
• Actors: Akira KOBAYASHI, Hideaki NITANI, Misa HIROSE, Akira OIZUMI, Michiyo YOKOYAMA

An exemplary of the popular subgenre of gambling in the crime films of 1960s Japan, BLACK GAMBLER offers a playful counterpoint to Masahiro SHINODA's PALE FLOWER (1964). Ko NAKAHIRA's versatility is demonstrated in a film that swirls its characters into a tale of obsession and deceit with action on and off the gambling table. With confident charm Suzuki SEIJUN-regular Akira KOBAYASHI plays Koji for the sixth time in this 'gambler series'. Captured in color and widescreen, the film also riffs on the relationship between Japan and other countries that became a trademark theme for Nikkatsu studios.

Kindly supported by the Japan Foundation.