In Tokyo’s criminal underworld, Muraki is released from prison after murdering a rival faction member, only to discover a new alliance has formed against a rising gang from Osaka. He meets the alluring Saeko at an illegal gambling event, developing a dangerous obsession with the enigmatic stranger.

Masahiro Shinoda’s impeccably stylish yakuza noir brings the cool modernism of the Japanese New Wave to the hard-bitten anomie of the gangster film. Mariko Kaga’s mantis-like femme fatale embodies the cold, cryptic beauty of a film that pries disquieting enigmas from genre archetypes.