Glass Johnny: Looks Like a Beast at YBCA April 12, 2008

No Borders, No Limits: 1960s Nikkatsu Action Cinema
Presented for the first time in the US, this series of super-stylized action films celebrates the golden age of Japan’s oldest and boldest film studio, Nikkatsu. Influenced by both Hollywood and the French New Wave, these films reflect the Westernization that swept away old values, while teaching an entire generation a new Japanese meaning of cool. All films are presented on 35mm film with new digital subtitles. Series organized by Outcast Cinema with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. For a full list of films, visit ybca.org.

Films include:
GLASS JOHNNY: LOOKS LIKE A BEAST
BY KOREYOSHI KURAHARA
Inspired by Federico Fellini’s La Strada and a sharp departure from the Nikkatsu action norm, Glass Johnny stars Joe Shishido as a bicycle track tipster whose mission in life is to make a winner out of a struggling rider and become rich as a result. Before he can achieve this, he becomes the unwilling savior of a pure-hearted, simple-minded prostitute (Izumi Ashikawa) on the run from her pimp.
(1962, 108 min.)

Public Info:
415-978-2787 or ybca.org
Single tickets: $8 regular; $6 students, seniors, teachers and YBCA members
Six-film series pass: $40 regular; $30 students, seniors, teachers and YBCA members

Official Website: http://www.ybca.org