Blackmail Is My Life

Shun (Hiroki Matsukata) is a seemingly successful up-and-comer who has made his way thus far by blackmailing everyone in sight. Thinking he's untouchable, Shun continues his pattern, but is quickly put in his place when he unwittingly tries to blackmail his next victim -- who happens to be a brutal thug.

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Blackmail is My Life is yet another skillful anti-hero film from Kinji Fukasaku. In post-war Japan, four people unable to survive on legitimate work stumble upon a way to earn a living through blackmail. Like most of Fukasaku's work, this film is a compelling take on shades of morality. The protagonists are neither good nor bad but are merely exploiting people who are more corrupt than they are themselves. Beautifully composed with a nod to Seijun Suzuki (the characters repeatedly whistle the theme from Tokyo Drifter), Blackmail is My Life is not the best of Fukasaku's early films but it is still well worth watching if you are a fan of 60's Japanese crime dramas.
- pterosaur