Overview: Trying to survive in the ruins of post-war Japan, Kawada (Noboru Ando, By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him) and Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy for the Underdog) run afoul of the military police after stealing valuable copper wire. Kawada is arrested and sent to prison, but Tsukada uses their gains to start a yakuza gang.

Facing violent inmates and a cruel warden (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss), Kawada vows to escape and stop his former partner. Tai Kato directs this epic prison story with characteristic visual flair, while gangster-turned-actor Ando delivers a stunning performance charged with real-life gravitas.

As an examination of the deep scars of wartime, this genre classic is also a clear precursor to Kinji Fukasaku’s epoch-making Battles Without Honour and Humanity series.

Blu-ray Verdict: Starting in 1947, Tai Kato’s superb Eighteen Years follows Kawada (Noboru Ando) an ex leader of a Kamikaze squadron (art so often imitated life in Ando’s films) now trying to look after the bereaved families of fallen serviceman in the ruins of post war Osaka. Together with his partner Tsukada (Asao Koike) they steal sugar and protect women from American GI’s running rampant, with the ultimate goal of their black market antics being the formation of an association that takes care of those who lost everything in the war.

After hearing of a large amount of copper wire being hoarded in a warehouse, the pair steal it with the idea of using the money to purchase land and build an office, instead though Kawada ends up in a gunfight with the military police in order for his friend to escape, resulting in him being sent to prison and Tsukuda using the money instead for his own personal gains and the forming of a Yakuza family with him as the head.

Another masterpiece from master director Tai Kato and once again he pulls the very best out of the remarkable, one of a kind presence that was Noboru Ando. Here, Kato delivers a stunning tale of life in post war Japan that encompasses both a crime film, prison drama and a tragically doomed love story.

Shot in his trademark style, featuring low angles, beautiful lighting and incredible close ups with one of the most detailed and fascinating eyes for detail ever committed to film, I always get the sense with Kato that every single frame has a purpose, with every shot planned down to the most minute detail in order to fully realize his vision.

Indeed, what’s even more impressive though with such a visual director is that his narrative always matches his visuals, with characters that are believable, complex and never undeveloped, it’s a rare and unique talent of providing the full package that makes his films so very special, for me at least.

The cast is all round fantastic in this, but it’s also one of Noboru Ando’s absolute finest hours as a performer, in my opinion (alongside his other incredible Kato collaboration By a Mans Face you Shall Know Him). He’s often pigeonholed somewhat as an actor with his Yakuza roles of course being his best known, his unique onscreen presence and persona giving him a genuine air of authenticity, but here he gets to stretch his legs a little too.

His character, Kawada, is a man haunted by the war and the deep rooted guilt of sending men to die, further compounded by seeing the families of servicemen living in poverty afterwards. He’s a tough, noble man with lofty goals and despite using crime as his method of helping out, he has a strong moral compass that is constantly tested throughout the film, his concern and care for those around him is palpable and he earns respect through not just his strength, but also his chivalry.

He even gets to show some warmth, whether it be laughing at a fellow inmates embellished tales or flashing a genuine loving smile at the woman he loves through the wire mesh of a prison visiting room, everything about Kawada feels believable through the power of Ando’s performance.

The rest of the cast is almost as impressive, even in smaller roles. Asao Koike, Toei legend, stars alongside Ando’s Kawada as Tsukada, war comrades and black marketeers together whose friendship comes under fire after Kawada is sent to prison, it’s a fascinating role for Koike that despite being the villain character, it’s also shown why he became that way with greed not being the sole reason that compels him to betray his friend and form a Yakuza family.

He also gets to deliver one of the films most poignant and haunting lines as the two eventually face off, You’re just a ghost living in the shadow of the war. It’s powerful, impacting, and leaves one hell of a mark that’s for sure. The ever lovely Hiroko Sakuramachi is the love interest, a woman who has lost her brother in a Kamikaze attack with another missing in the aerial bombardment of Osaka leaving them estranged, it’s a small role and one that is not necessarily a traditional love story, but her brilliant and vulnerable, yet strong performance is excellent.

Then there’s the mighty Tomisaburo Wakayama as a corrupt prison guard with a penchant for torturing inmates who gets in way over his head and last, but by no means least an early role for Masaomi Kondo as the headstrong, deeply lost, estranged brother of Sakuramachi’s character, a young man who is flawed and thinks he something to prove and the best way to do it is by causing as much trouble as he possibly can. Whether that be by attacking other prisoners, guards or by throwing excrement filled chamber pots over everyone, it’s a spirited and almost overbearing performance, but somehow he really sells it perfectly.

In summary, Eighteen Years in Prison is an absolute masterpiece, a powerful and thought provoking film from a master director with an absolutely stacked cast giving it their all that I cannot recommend highly enough. [N.S.]

Limited Edition Special Features:
High-Definition digital transfer
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)
A visual essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024)
Original trailer
Newly translated English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling

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