Movielogr
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi (1979)
Directed by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
Obayashi’s take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
Length 113 minutes
Actors
Ikkô Furuya | Kunie Tanaka | Miyuki Matsuda | Hideko Yoshida | Chiyonosuke Azuma | Rinichi Yamamoto | Jiro Sakagami | Noboru Nakaya | Miyoko Akaza | Daigo Kusano | Fumi Dan | Shin Kishida | Masayo Miyako | Toshirō Mifune | Tatsuya Mihashi | Tôru Minegishi | Isao Natsuyagi | Etsuko Shihomi | Mariko Okada | Nobuhiko Ōbayashi | Seishi Yokomizo | Haruki Kadokawa | Yoichi Takabayashi | Kirin Kiki | Tomoko Saitô | Jun Harada | Toshio Egi | Shinsaku Himeda | Akimitsu Takagi | Saho Sasazawa | Shôichi Hirose | Daisaku Kimura | Kazuo Satsuya | Megumi Ishii | Izumi Asuka | Urara Sen | Sakae Umezu | Jirô Daruma | Yasushi Ono | Hajime Izu
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/10/2021 | Computer | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
Woke up early to catch this one on DKUTV as I’m p sure they haven’t broadcast this Nobuhiko Obayashi film previously, best of my recollection anyways. definitely wanted to check it out as there’s no legal means to view this as far as I know. The DKU version was a fansub. It’s really sad that most of Obayashi’s works are unavailable esp. given that he’s got one film in the Criterion Collection. You’d think other labels would be jumping to license his work from Kadokawa.
this is a very silly yet fun adaptation of the Kosuke Kindaichi character. Definitely has Obayashi’s stylings and lots of pop culture clashing w/a lean towards western. For example, Detective Kindaichi has a “Enjoy Cocaine” sign in his office in the “Enjoy Coca-Cola” logo design. The movie is very 1970s including the rollerskating gang often in Baseball Fury makeup. One big reason why I wanted to see this, besides being an Obayashi flick, was the co-star Kunie Tanaka, who recently passed away. Tanaka was a major face in so many early crime movies and most of Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honor series. He has such a memorable face. Here he’s a delight and comic relief.
The story is very nonsensical involving a stolen head of a statue. I tried but really couldn’t follow the what or why of this mystery. Apparently I wasn’t the only as most of the commenters on the Twitch stream were just as confused. I don’t think it really matters by the end as this is mostly a whimsical journey of two different types of detectives stumbling through an investigation.
Definitely want to view this again with less tired eyes.
RIP Kunie Tanaka Nov 23 1932 — March 24 2021
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