A Fugitive from the Past

1965 3h 3m JA

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 50

CrimeDramaMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Rentaro Mikuni
Takichi Inukai
Sachiko Hidari
Yae Sugito
Kōji Mitsui
Motojima
Yoshi Katō
Yae's Father
Sadako Sawamura
Motojima's Wife
Susumu Fujita
Police Chief
Akiko Kazami
Toshiko
Seiichirō Kameishi
Priest

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tomu Uchida
Writers: Tsutomu Mizukami, Naoyuki Suzuki
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 183 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tomu Uchida, shot by Hanjirō Nakazawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Isao Tomita. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yoshiki Nagasawa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rentaro Mikuni and Sachiko Hidari and Kōji Mitsui carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0279901 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tomu Uchida directs. Hanjirō Nakazawa behind the camera. Isao Tomita scores. Yoshiki Nagasawa cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 183 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
261 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Tomu Uchida, shot by Hanjirō Nakazawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Isao Tomita. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Yoshiki Nagasawa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rentaro Mikuni and Sachiko Hidari and Kōji Mitsui carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0279901 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 50 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hanjirō Nakazawa
Original score: Isao Tomita
Editing: Yoshiki Nagasawa
Runtime: 183 min · 3h 3m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
IMDB: A Fugitive from the Past (1965)

Also by

Tomu Uchida

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-09-05
★ 7/10
Sachiko Hidari ("Yae") is great in this film as the young geisha who shelters "Inukai" (Rentarô Mikuni) from a storm one night. Next morning he leaves her quite a sum of money - one that enables her to change her life, pay her debts - all whilst he disappears. That storm was actually a tornado that sank a local ferry boat. During that investigation, two unknown bodies are identified - and they are soon tied in with a fire that largely destroyed a local village where a robbery had taken place. Where had the money gone? Who killed the men? Many years later, "Yae" spots a photograph in a newspaper that she thinks might be her long lost benefactor and sets out to say thanks - with tragic consequences. It is a long film this, over 3 hours, but the clever - almost internecine - fashion in which the old and new stories are married together; the police investigations and the characterisations are carefully and fully crafted leaves us with quite a complex crime thriller. Now, sadly, what makes the thriller work so well is also what ruined the ending for me. It is flawed in so many ways as to make me want to shout at the screen. It's not that the ending itself is wrong, it is that the police procedures (remembering that there was little science involved in the process) are all just to convenient - far fetched, even. Still, this is a strongly paced, beautifully photographed piece of story-telling cinema that runs parallel narratives well and cohesively.

Production companies