Storyline
Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.
Cast & Crew
Shigeru Amachi
Koji Machida
Lead
Utako Mitsuya
Misako
Yōko Mihara
Maya
TH
Toshio Hosokawa
Goro Torii
RS
Reiko Seto
Reiko Onuma
KY
Kyôko Yashiro
Chiaki
Junko Uozumi
Kaneko Sano
HA
Hiroshi Ayukawa
Hotel manager
What People Are Saying
3.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Teruo Ishii's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. Black Line is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
