TIFF’s Spotlight Japan series gets gritty with ‘Rusty Knife’

Screening Feb 9 2013 as part of TIFF’s Spotlight Japan celebration and part of the 100 Years of Nikkatsu series is the 1958 noir classic “Rusty Knife”. The setting of Udaka, a post-war city in the heart of the rebuilding phase and corporate development after the war, is a place that corruption has already taken hold. This setting provides a unique look into Japan during the rebuilding phase after the war while providing the necessary background for director Masuda to deliver a noir piece to rival the French and North American noir pieces dominating the box office at the time.

TIFF Spotlight Japan: Rusty Knife

Starring: Yûjirô Ishihara, Mie Kitahara, Akira Kobayashi, Naoki Sugiura, Shôji Yasui and Masao Shimizu

Written by Shintarô Ishihara

Directed by Toshio Masuda

A persistent district attorney desperately attempts to arrest and convict Katsumata

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