Path of the Beast/Comments

• It’s strange, I’ve generally been a bit disappointed with many of Tatsumi Kumashiro’s most celebrated classics, but found some real treasures among his less appreciated films. Slightly misleadingly titled Path of the Beast is one of them. It’s a terrific drama that uses one of my favourite character zooms; long takes. While the whole film is filled with long takes, there’s at least half dozen instances where Kumashiro allows the camera roll for more than four minutes continously. This is challenging for the actors, but they succeed surprisingly well. Especially the leading lady, Ayako Yoshimura, is terrific and her acting is good by any standards. The cinematography is stylish and captures some incredibly beautiful images. The theme song leaves no room for complaints. Only a handful of gratuitious and ’not so vital for the story’ sex scenes reveal that this film, too, originates from Nikkatsu's exploitation factory. --HungFist