Take Aim at the Police Van

Seijun Suzuki's 1960 Japanese film opens with a sniper attack on a van carrying prisoners. Two die; suspended from duty, the driver sets out to find the killer himself in order to clear his name, and the trail leads to a network trafficking women. The film is one of the assignments Suzuki made in his studio period and the formal wildness of his later work is not yet there; but the use of the frame and the night sequences already stand out. The telling is fast, short and faithful to genre. What makes it interesting is that behind the crime lies not individual evil but a system of exploitation. The characters are thin and the resolution a little easy. Who it's for: viewers interested in Japanese crime films and Seijun Suzuki's early work. Who it's not for: anyone expecting his late formalism, or avoiding content about trafficking of women.