Once again Shinya Tsukamoto steps out from behind the camera and stars as Tsuda, the archetypal Japanese salary man, a cog in the machine seemingly cut off from his own being by hours and hours of work. He's married to polite and compliant Hizuru (Kahori Fujii), the dictionary definition of an ideal Japanese wife. Their life is happy, at least on the surface, until Tsuda's brother; Kojima (played by Tsukamoto's own real life brother, Kohji) shows up on the scene. As a pro boxer Kohji's business is violence and even before the proverbial sand is kicked in Tsuda's face we can already sense the wonder and jealousy with which he views his brother's transformed body; but once Kojima seduces Hizuru, revealing that he doesn't just excel at physical violence, but mental and emotional brutality as well, Tsuda starts training at the gym so he can wreak his revenge with his fists.
After shooting cult favourites Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula in Europe, Joe Dallesandro spent much of the seventies making movies on the continent. In France he worked with auteurs like Louis Malle and Walerian Borowczyk, and in Italy he starred in all manner of genre fare from pol...