Like a Shooting Star (Kurenai no nagareboshi)

1967, 97 min., 35mm, color. Directed by Toshio Masuda. With Tetsuya Watari, Jo Shishido, Kayo Matsuo, Ruriko Asaoka, Tatsuya Fuji.

Tokyo hitman Goro hightails it for Kobe to hide out, where he meets a wealthy jeweler’s daughter who is in Kobe to investigate the disappearance of her fiancé. While Goro tries to seduce her, a hitman hired to whack Goro lurks in the shadows.

Among Tetsuya Watari’s and director Masuda’s favorite Nikkatsu films, Like a Shooting Star (aka The Velvet Hustler) is Masuda’s remake of his own Red Quay (1958) and differs dramatically from its predecessor. More self-consciously stylish and parodistic than the usual Nikkatsu Action product, this film resembles Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966), which also stars Watari, and shares the same art director, the brilliant Takeo Kimura.

Tickets: $10/$7 Japan Society members & seniors/ $4.50 students (first 20 tickets per screening). Purchase tickets online above or call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258.

This event is part of the NO BORDERS, NO LIMITS 1960s Nikkatsu Action Cinema series.