The name of Tai Kato is not exactly a household world in the United States, but he had a long and successful career as a screenwriter and director in Japan and also has some interesting connections to other Japanese directors: he was the nephew of director Sadao Yamanaka, best known for his jidaigeki (period drama) films, and served as chief assistant director on Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950). Kato directed a number of documentaries and period films before finding his true métier in writing and directing yakuza films for the Toei Company. As did the best American directors of B-pictures, he fulfilled the conventions of the genre while developing a distinctive visual style and exploring taboo topics like homosexuality and the treatment of ethnic minorities in modern Japan.
By A Man’s Face You Shall Know Him (1966), set in Tokyo an indeterminate time after the conclusion of World War II, opens with a series of screen cards, that last of which informs you that it was made “in the hope that some day mankind can live in harmony.” Certainly violence begets violence in this film, whose main conflict is provided by the efforts of the Nine Heavens Gang, made up of Korean Nationals, to terrorize the Japanese population as part of a turf war leading up to a real estate grab. A little background might be in order, however: Japan violently colonized Korea from 1905 to 1945, and ethnic Koreans living in Japan suffered from all sorts of discrimination, including ineligibility for many government benefits only ethnic Japanese could access.
The story construction is a bit complex, jumps around in time, and is made more confusing because most of the Korean characters are played by Japanese actors.* However, the central conflict is clear enough. The main character, Amamiya (real-life yakuza Noboru Ando, sporting an impressive facial scar), is a physician who wants to stay out of the violence, having seen enough death and suffering during World War II. He’s also aware that the conflicts between the ethnic groups aren’t always as clear as others seem to want to make them: for instance, one of his patients is ethnically Korean but served with Amamiya in the Japanese military during World War II and is married to a Japanese woman; their adorable daughter shows up to serve as evidence that the two ethnic groups may have more in common than they think.
There’s a lot of violence in By A Man’s Face Shall You Know Him, and it makes particular impact in the early scenes because guns are not a factor: in this world, you need to touch someone in order to hurt them. When guns do make an appearance later in the film, the mayhem feels more abstract and makes less of an impression. There’s also a lot of violence against women, including implied rape and murder, that is particularly hard to watch but makes the point that you don’t have to be a perpetrator of violence to be a victim of it.
By A Man’s Face You Shall Know Him offers an excellent introduction to Kato’s directing style, which is characterized by a low camera position such that you frequently seem to be looking up at the characters from ankle level, and the juxtaposition of static-camera long takes with sequences of quick cutting and extreme closeups. It’s not the Hollywood invisible style, that’s for sure, but very effective in its own right. And here’s a promise you can take to the bank: you won’t be bored watching By A Man’s Face You Shall Know Him, even if you’re not always sure what is going on.| Sarah Boslaugh
*Somewhat ironic given the film’s title, but it’s worth remembering that American pictures of the day often cast white actors in non-white roles.
By A Man’s Face You Shall Know Him is distributed on VOD by Film Movement Plus beginning Jan. 31.
