Abashiri Prison (1965)

Original title

網走番外地

Directed by

Teruo Ishii

Genre

yakuza film

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 32m

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 9 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two prisoners escape from a remote prison in Hokkaido. They are chained together and must cooperate to survive the harsh wilderness while being pursued by police.

bleaktenseaction-packedgrittyslow-burnmelancholicvisceralclaustrophobic

What happens

Abashiri Prison (Japanese: 網走番外地, Hepburn: Abashiri Bangaichi; lit. 'Off-the-Grid in Abashiri'), also known as A Man from Abashiri Prison, is a 1965 Japanese film written and directed by Teruo Ishii. Based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Hajime Itō, Ishii wrote the script as a remake of the 1958 American film The Defiant Ones. The film is the first entry in Toei Company's Abashiri Prison series, which stars Ken Takakura. Highly successful, it was the first hit in the yakuza film genre. Abashiri Prison made Takakura a star and was followed by 17 sequels. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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