MAIKU HAMA PRIVATE EYE TRILOGY:
THE MOST TERRIBLE TIME IN MY LIFE (1994)
Directed by: Kaizo Hayashi.
Produced by: Shunsuke Koga, Kaizo Hayashi & Yu Wei Wen.
Written by: Kaizo Hayashi & Daisuke Tengan.
Director of Photography: Yuichi Nagata.
Released by: Kino.
Language: Japanese with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Japan. 92 min. Not Rated. With: Masatoshi Nagase, Kaho Minami, Shinya Tsukamoto & Jo Shisido.
DVD Features: Stills gallery. Trailers.

THE STAIRWAY TO THE DISTANT PAST (1995)
Directed by: Kaizo Hayashi.
Produced by: Shunsuke Koga, Kaizo Hayashi & Kazutoshi Wadakura.
Written by: Kaizo Hayashi & Daisuke Tengan.
Director of Photography: Yuichi Nagata.
Edited by: Nobuko Tomita.
Music by: Yôko Kumagai & Hidehiko Urayama.
Released by: Kino.
Language: Japanese with English subtitles.
Country of origin: Japan. 100 min. Not Rated.
With: Masatoshi Nagase, Kiyotaka Nanbara, Haruko Wanibuchi, Shirô Sano, Eiji Okada, Tetta Sugimoto, Mika Ohmine, Shinya Tsukamoto, Jo Shishido & Keiji Matsuda.
DVD Features: Cast & crew profiles. Stills gallery. Trailers.

THE TRAP (1996)
Directed by: Kaizo Hayashi.
Produced by: Shunsuke Koga, Kaizo Hayashi & Tsutomu Sakurai.
Written by: Kaizo Hayashi & Daisuke Tengan.
Director of Photography: Yuichi Nagata.
Edited by: Nobuko Tomita.
Music by: Yôko Kumagai & Hidehiko Urayama.
Released by: Kino.
Language: Japanese with English subtitles.
Country of origin: Japan. 100 min. Not Rated.
With: Masatoshi Nagase, Yui Natsukawa, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kiyotaka Nanbara, Jo Shishido & Akaji Maro.
DVD Features: Cast & crew profiles. Stills gallery. Trailers.

Upstairs in the old Cinemascope movie theater is the office of Maiku "Mike" Hama (Masatoshi Nagase), a cool-cat private eye who maneuvers through the city of Yokohama in his beloved vintage Nash convertible. Though decked out in snazzy retro shirts or shades, Maiku isn't all about being slick - at the end of the day he's just trying to save enough money so that his kid sister can go to college. But with clients bizarre and twisted, Maiku always ends up in a surrealistic web of underground crime armed with nothing but his quick-tempered fists and a big heart that palpitates for justice.

The Most Terrible Time in My Life captures a multi-ethnic gang war, with plenty of severed fingers and backstabbing in stylish black-and-white, long takes and low-key lighting - a vigorous homage to American film noir and French New Wave. The second and best installment, The Stairway to the Distant Past, takes place right where the first one left off, bringing in an iconic Japanese cast including Hiroshima Mon Amour's Eiji Okada. He stars as the mysterious Man in White, whose shady presence is enough to bring locals, the police force and even rival gangs to their knees. The Trap takes on a darker edge as Maiku is set up as a killer by an eerie pair of psychopaths, until his mentor organizes his detective ring to save Maiku.

Because of director Hayashi's focus on the stylistic elements of the detective genre, the Maiku Hama trilogy struggles to rise above parody, and the detective yarns are at times flimsy (all the clues Maiku needs are provided by his trusty cab driver-cum-informant). Nevertheless, Maiku Hama was popular enough to resurface as a recent TV series in Japan, in which a Harajuku-hipster feel was added to the former retro vibe and jazzy score. But until that version comes out in the States, this trilogy stands alone as a refined pulp combination of quirky characters, edgy aesthetics and cheeky capers. Marie Iida
July 26, 2005