Director: Eiichi Kudo
Screenplay: Shoichi Maruyama
Starring: Yūsaku Matsuda, Mari Henmi, Keizo Kanie, Toby Kadoguchi, Haruko Mabuchi, Koji Tanaka, Tatsuo Yamada, Eri Kanuma
Country: Japan
Running Time: 112 min
Year: 1981
BBFC Certificate: TBC
Yūsaku Matsuda became a star in the 70s through a number of TV and action movie roles. His popularity was so strong by the turn of the 80s that Toei (acting through their subsidiary, Toei Central Film) reportedly said they would be happy to make anything Yūsaku wanted, so long as he starred in it.
Yūsaku reportedly watched a preview of William Friedkin’s Cruising and was very impressed, particularly by its soundtrack. So he approached screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama, who’d written a couple of his films and TV shows, and put some ideas forward. He had starred in a popular detective show around that time called Detective Story, so thought about making a Philip Marlowe-like mystery but with a lot of music (he was a famous recording artist as well as an actor). He was also inspired by Robert Altman’s take on The Long Goodbye, which turned the detective story template on its head.
Yūsaku and Shoichi thought about where they could set this proposed story, as they liked how The Long Goodbye sent its protagonist all around L.A, making the city a character in the film. Shoichi immediately suggested Yokohama, due to the port city having a fair amount of crime and a strong multicultural identity following the influx of immigrants after Japan opened its borders in the 19th Century.
Once the script was approved, it was moved quickly into production, with director Eiichi Kudo brought on board. And thus, Yokohama BJ Blues was born.
The film wasn’t highly regarded in Japan at the time of its release but it must have had its fans, as Radiance Films have picked the title up for release in the UK and US/Canada.
Curious, I got my hands on a copy and my thoughts follow.
Yokohama BJ Blues revolves around BJ (Yūsaku), a down-on-his-luck private detective and part-time blues singer. When his close friend, a police detective named Muku, is mysteriously murdered, BJ becomes the prime suspect.
As he delves deeper into the investigation to try to clear his name, BJ finds himself entangled in a dangerous web of corruption, drug trafficking and organised crime, delving into the city’s underground gay and biker scenes, as well as his own past. As he navigates the city’s seedy underworld, he encounters a diverse cast of characters, including a mysterious young man named Akira (Kôji Tanaka), Muku’s wife Tamiko (Mari Henmi), a ruthless yakuza boss and Beniya, Muku’s unhinged partner.
Once again, Yokohama BJ Blues is a case of Radiance introducing me to a gem that deserves to be much better known. It helps that I’m a fan of both film and Japanese cinema, but I fell in love with the atmosphere and unusual tone of the film.
There’s a wonderful balance between melancholy and comedy, much like Altman’s The Long Goodbye. It’s not a film full of belly laughs but there are plenty of quirks that make the otherwise downbeat tale easy to watch. Early on in the film, for example, there’s a fun gag where BJ vents his frustration with a gang boss by stealing his toilet paper before he leaves.
The film can also get quite tough though. There are bursts of violence throughout and Akira, in particular, is a tragic character being used by the boss of ‘The Family’ for sexual gratification.
Homosexuality plays a big part in the film, in fact, with a number of gang members being portrayed as gay. This isn’t shown as a negative though, it’s just part of the city’s underground scene.
There’s a strange, semi-queer sequence that I didn’t feel settled well within the film though where BJ befriends Akira. Screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama says that neither he, Yūsaku or Eiichi intended to imply there was a homosexual bond between Akira and BJ. He said he meant it more as a friendship, brotherhood or father-son type of relationship. Regardless of the intentions, I felt the scene was out of place and a bit cheesy.
As mentioned, I loved the thick atmosphere evoked by the film though. This comes partly from the blues music performed by Yūsaku and a band called Creation, who are shown to play with him on screen. The film makes great use of locations around Yokohama too, giving a rich sense of the city through its lights, shapes and textures.
The cinematography by Seizô Sengen is striking too. He helps the film look very stylish, with great use of low-key lighting and unusual framing, whilst maintaining a sense of gritty naturalism.
Yūsaku is also key to the film’s success, crafting a character who’s cool and calm whilst quietly soulful and not without the odd burst of passion.
The film is deliberately paced, but in a good way. Not everyone will appreciate this laid-back feel perhaps, aided by many passages being near-dialogue-free, but there’s always quite a lot going on in the story, so it never gets dull.
Overall, Yokohama BJ Blues is a wonderfully quirky and atmospheric neo-noir. I enjoyed it a great deal and I’m glad I was able to discover it when it may easily have been lost to time.
Film: 
Yokohama BJ Blues is out on 16th December on region A&B Blu-Ray, released by Radiance Films. The transfer is strong. It looks a touch soft but I think that’s just how it was originally shot. The colours and textures look natural, so it’s a pleasing image, regardless. The audio is robust too.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
– High-Definition digital transfer, world premiere on Blu-ray
– Uncompressed mono PCM audio
– Interview with star Mari Hemmi
– Interview with screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
– Interview with writer and Yokohama expert Toru Sano on the film and a look at the locations
– Trailer
– Newly translated English subtitles
– Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
– Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Dimitri Ianni on Toei Central Film, a subsidiary of Toei studios famed for releasing Pink Films and independent productions such as Yokohama BJ Blues and an archival review of the film
– Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama provides a 22-minute interview. He wrote several films for Yūsaku, leading to a friendship between the pair. Shoichi talks about their relationship briefly before delving into the development and production of Yokohama BJ Blues, which he believes is the best film they made together. He also talks about what Eiichi altered from his script and brought to the film. It’s a highly illuminating interview.
Mari Hemmi is also interviewed. She talks for 14 minutes about her experiences making the film. It was the first film she starred in after retiring for a decade (like a lot of East Asian actresses of the era, she left work after getting married) and she’d previously largely worked on stage as a singer and dancer. As such, it was quite an important role for her and I enjoyed hearing her thoughts.
As mentioned, the locations play a key role in the film and Tory Sano takes us through a tour of them in his 18-minute piece. I’m not a huge fan of location featurettes, it must be said, but this is a decent example if you are into them.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, unfortunately.
So, Radiance have put together a solid collection of extras for this excellent film. I give it a strong recommendation.
Disc/package:
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