Pale Flower

1964 Japanese noir

Rating: 14/20

Plot: After a yakuza is released from a prison sentence received following a night of stabbing, he decides to catch up with the old gang. He finds out that things have changed. Oh, snap! He struts into an illegal gambling house and becomes intrigued with a risky gambling woman. He forms an ambiguous relationship with her and watches as things get all mysterious.

Very solid noir but a little boring. There are lots of extended scenes of gambling here, and since I have no idea what game they're even playing, that failed to interest me. The characters all seemed a little flat, too. There's a stylish lack of style to this that gives the movie a little something extra though, and I really liked the avant-garde music used.