Review of House of Bamboo: Sam Fuller Collection

Introduction

Reportedly the first American film shot in Japan after the Second World War, `House of Bamboo` starts with a daylight attack on a train guarded by American troops and Japanese security personell. The thieves make off with machine guns, ammunition and smoke bombs and when the army investigate, they come across a thief who has been shot with one of the stolen bullets. He divulges that he has a Japanese wife called Mariko and a letter in his wallet mentions Eddie Spanier who was to join him in Japan. Eddie travels to Japan, meets with Mariko and eventually joins the gang, run by Sandy Dawson who was impressed by his criminal record. The scene is set for a noir thriller, with an anti-hero, femme fatale and criminal mastermind.

Video

Presented in the anamorphic CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, the picture is clear, with good colours and Samuel Fuller makes good use of the urban landscapes.

Audio

The quality of the DD 2.0 stereo soundtrack is variable, with dialogue predominantly (and correctly) from the centre speaker, but then some exchanges come unnecessarily from the centre and front-right speakers.

Features

Only a trailer, which is disappointing as this DVD is released as one of the "Sam Fuller Collection" - one might reasonably expect extras such as a commentary and a retrospective.

Conclusion

Having seen Samuel Fuller`s work in the war and adventure genres, I was interested to see his take on `film noir`. Harry Kleiner, who wrote it and Fuller who provided additional dialogue, were clearly influenced by the noir films of the 1930s and `40s and are true to the conventions and dialogue of the genre. Robert Stack is no Humphrey Bogart, but the location of post-war Japan demands that the gumshoe character would be out of place and therefore cannot be used.

`House of Bamboo` therefore becomes a gangster movie, rather than a `film noir`, with Robert Stack as an undercover cop inside a criminal organisation, trying to avoid detection. The characters are interesting and well drawn, the three main actors acquit themselves very well and Fuller`s direction is excellent. The highlight of the film is the Hitchcockian shootout on a fairground high above the city. It`s no classic, but is an enjoyable watch nonetheless.