Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler

2009 2h 10m JA

👍

6.8

SOLID

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 81★6.4IMDB · 2,146

ThrillerDramaMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Kaiji Ito moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life is no better. A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money owed. The debt collector offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt & possibly make a boat load of money. Could the debt collector Endo actually be setting up Kaiji? One way or another, for Kaiji it's going to be the night of his life.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara
Kaiji Ito
Yuki Amami
Rinko Endo
Teruyuki Kagawa
Yukio Tonegawa
Taro Yamamoto
Joji Funai
Ken Mitsuishi
Koji Ishida
Yuriko Yoshitaka
Hiromi Ishida
Suzuki Matsuo
Taro Otsuki
Kei Satō
Kazutaka Hyodo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tōya Satō
Writers: Mika Ohmori, Nobuyuki Fukumoto
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

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Kaiji Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tōya Satō, shot by Katsumi Yanagijima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tatsuya Fujiwara and Yuki Amami and Teruyuki Kagawa carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1309449 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 81 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tōya Satō directs. Katsumi Yanagijima behind the camera. Yugo Kanno scores. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 17 years ago.
2Part of the "Kaiji Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Tōya Satō, shot by Katsumi Yanagijima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Yugo Kanno. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Tatsuya Fujiwara and Yuki Amami and Teruyuki Kagawa carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt1309449 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 81 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "japan", "based on manga", "game", "mind game".