Coming to the end of ICM's 60's Challenge,I started trying to decide what my final viewing for the event would be. Finding the first two in the set to be great discoveries,I decided to check the third,and final Diamond Guy.
View on the film:
Ending their set on a high,Arrow give their final Nikkatsu pick a spotless transfer, with the picture quality allowing for the fast-pace action to be clearly seen,and the soundtrack to be pitch-perfect. Becoming the first film by him to come out in the West, (in any format!) the glimpse here makes the lack of anything from director Hiroshi Noguchi a tragedy.
Backed by a studio trying to bring people to the cinema after the recent Olympics had led to a rise in TV sets, Noguchi & cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka strike a winning combo of off the wall "Diamond Guys" Action with lightning-fast zany Slap-Stick Comedy. Brilliantly using wacky sound effects to give the off the wall antics extra zing, Noguchi gives each would-be assassin hilariously quirky appearances,from the mini-me Al Capone,to the Femme Fatale cocktail waitress.
Loading the Diamond Guys of Nikkatsu with comedic bullets,Noguchi introduces each hitman with very funny chances to show off their unique skills. Making it clear early on who Joe of Spades (played by a wonderfully dead-pan Jô Shishido) is, Noguchi keep the action thrills rolling with silk,ultra-stylised whip-pans/fade ins/outs and overlapping shots that keep track on how close each him man is to sniffing out Joe. Sending everyone off in search of Joe,the screenplay by Kobako Hanato and Akira Saiga spectacularly sends up the image of the genre by putting all of the tough guys in clueless buddy Comedy mode,who bounce along with the quick-draw punch-lines from one shoot-out to the next,in the hope of getting the Joe of Spades in their hands.