House of Bamboo
Picture: B+
Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B-
Samuel Fuller’s House
of Bamboo is a bizarre film that seems more like a melodrama dressed up
like a film noir and is now issued as part of Fox’s Film Noir editions, to
follow some other classics like Laura (reviewed on this site) along with Panic in the Streets, Call Northside 777, all of which are
reviewed here and we certainly look forward to covering more. Having seen a full range of Fuller films
this one is also unique and helps expand his palette of ability, which was
quickly becoming strong during the 1950’s and also worked on a bunch of
CinemaScope Fox films during that period in time, this film included. This was the first time that CinemaScope
cameras were taken to the locales of Japan and the camerawork beautifully
captures the landscape that has since become commonplace.
Robert Stack, who rivals his performance in Douglas Sirk’s
Written on the Wind here, is a man
on a mission. That mission is slightly
made unclear to us from the beginning, but as we put the pieces together we
find out that he is infiltrating the crime bosses (this time they are white)
inside Tokyo, after a friend of his is murdered or so it seems. Just think of what it would be like if
Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon
was in reverse…now we have the white American’s organizing crime inside Tokyo,
who would have thought of that? Stack
plays Eddie Spanier, who with the help of an estranged mistress becomes a
trusted member of the gang, but soon loyalties become questionable and the head
man (Robert Ryan) begins to have suspicions.
The odd thing about House
of Bamboo is the series of events and the way in which details that seem
important at the beginning of the film turn out to be unimportant by the middle
and then have some significance at the end.
Through a few twists and turns, betrayal and deceit the film has a good
bit of endurance throughout with only a few patches of obscurity and
uncertainty. Relatively speaking though
it’s a fine film with good performances, good direction, and a wonderfully
photographed film that truly helps the narrative out.
Shot in scope at 2.35 X 1 the CinemaScope image here has
been anamorphically enhanced and looks superb!
Although the trailer for the movie crops the image down to 1.85 X 1 for
some odd reason, and this same trailer appears on Samuel Fuller’s Pickup on South Street released through
Criterion, but that trailer is in the film’s true 2.35 X 1 ratio and is also
restored, unlike the trailer on this disc. The only real problem with the print is that there is some
instances of color being inconsistent and the blacks could be a shade deeper
and darker, but that said, it looks great!
The sound is available here in 4.0 Dolby Surround from the original
magnetic multi-channel stereo, which places discrete sound in the front three
speakers (center, left, and right) and a rear channel that in a typical 5.1
setup will give both surround left and surround right the same audio
information. This is a common configuration
for a film like this because the normal stereo tracks can be separated with
some audio imaging that happens between left and right to be placed dead center
and then ambient noise is taken to the rear, along with some music. This enables a much clearer idea of what the
film should sound like, as if you saw it in theaters back in 1955.
The only real extra here that is a gem is the audio
commentary track by film historians James Ursini and Alain Silver, who seem to
be doing these Fox Film Noir discs. The
trailer is cropped and looks terrible and the Fox MovieTone News gets old after
one look, even if it is behind the scenes material. Yes, it’s worth a look, but I doubt anyone will really be that
intrigued to scan it over more than once.
The commentary on the other hand is insightful and very articulate and
is a must for Fuller fans. Also
recommended is the book A Third Face
on Sam Fuller.
- Nate Goss
