Loading Page
Black Line(1960)
Status: Released
Date: 1960-01-13
50%
6 Votes
Time: 1h 20m
Overview:
Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.
Languages: Japanese.
Countries:
Japan
ProductionCompanies: 
Movie: Black Line
Top 10 Billed Cast
天知茂
Koji Machida
三ツ矢歌子
Misako
三原葉子
Maya
魚住純子
Kaneko Sano
大友純
Yukichi Tachibana
HomePage
Overview
Freelance reporter “Scoop” Machida is hot on the trail of a prostitution ring called the Black Line, when he is framed for the murder of a young woman. Forced to clear his own name, the handsome journalist sinks deeper into the Black Line’s rotten swamp of drugs, prostitution, and murder and finds unexpected help in Maya, a steamy female gambler familiar with the neon-lit streets, shadowy alleyways, and seedy nightclubs he must navigate. The closest film in the Line series to classic American film noir, Ishii’s Black Line is a pulpy assortment of crime film conventions including the starkly expressionistic black and white cinematography by Jûgyô Yoshida, a jazzy music score by Michiaki Watanabe, and a sleazy screenplay by Ishii and Ichirô Miyagawa.
Release Date
1960-01-13
Average
5
Rating:
2.5 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
日本語Keywords
Recommendations Movies
61%
Female Yakuza Tale(ja)
1973-06-06
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
69%
Imprint(ja)
2006-02-25
An American journalist travels through 19th-century Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
70%
Ichi the Killer(ja)
2001-12-22
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
65%
Sakuran(ja)
2006-12-07
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
60%
Tokyo Decadence(ja)
1992-01-06
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
66%
Yakuza: Like a Dragon(ja)
2007-03-03
Former yakuza underling Kazuma Kiryū has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his yakuza past. Unfortunately, Kiryū's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball-bat-wielding psycho Gorō Majima, who has a grudge to settle with Kiryū.
61%
Sex and Fury(ja)
1973-02-17
Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shunosuke, a radical set on murdering prominent politician Kurokawa, and Christina, an American spy posing as a gambler.
66%
Graveyard of Honor(ja)
1975-02-15
A self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the yakuza but quickly loses his self-control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.
71%
Tokyo Drifter(ja)
1966-04-10
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
72%
The Yakuza(en)
1974-12-21
When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer, to Japan to investigate.
61%
Reincarnation(ja)
2005-10-27
A Japanese actress begins having strange visions and experiences after landing a role in a horror film about a real-life murder spree that took place over forty years ago.
71%
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41(ja)
1972-12-30
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
77%
Street of Shame(ja)
1956-03-18
Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
68%
Street Mobster(ja)
1972-05-06
After serving time, a defiant street thug is incensed to find his town overrun by two yakuza factions. He gathers his crew and takes them on.
64%
Angel Guts: Red Classroom(ja)
1979-01-06
When Muraki, a porn magazine editor, watches a blue film depicting a gang rape in a school, he becomes obsessed with the lead actress. Quite by chance, whilst looking to reserve a location for a shoot, he happens to encounter her at a love hotel where she works as a receptionist. Her name is Nami and she reluctantly agrees to speak with him, and confesses that it was her in the film. Then, Muraki tells Nami that he wants her to model for him.
60%
Flower & Snake: Zero(ja)
2014-05-17
Misaki Amemiya is an assistant inspector for the Metropolitan Police Department's Community Safety Bureau who becomes ensnared in a trap while investigating a mysterious illegal video website called "Babylon". Soon, she's bound and tortured along with Shizuko and an oversexed housewife named Ruri.
70%
A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era(ja)
1957-07-14
Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.
63%
Crimes of Passion(en)
1984-10-19
Fashion designer Joanna Crane leads a double life. By night she is China Blue, a prostitute who's attracted the attention of a sexually frustrated private detective, and a psychopathic priest in possession of a murderous sex toy.
76%
Under the Open Sky(ja)
2021-02-11
Mikami, an ex-yakuza of middle age with most of his life in prison, gets released after serving 13 years of sentence for murder. Hoping to find his long lost mother, from whom he was separated as a child, he applies for a TV show and meets a young TV director Tsunoda. Meanwhile, he struggles to get a proper job and fit into society. His impulsive, adamant nature and ingrained beliefs cause friction in his relationship with Tsunoda and those who want to help him.
Similar Movies
0%
Greatest Boss of Japan(ja)
1970-04-18
A man who became the third boss faces off against delinquent foreigners and villains vying to rule the underworld in order to develop the port city.
80%
The Viper Brothers: Up on 30 Charges(ja)
1974-03-01
Part 7 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves. Katsuji finds his long lost mother, who is a rich lady of a respectable family. Comedy and melodrama ensue. A thrilling spectacle with an overly violent ending, and a remarkable, Japan's only post-prison rape comedy, Masa is determined to have sex with the female guard, despite the fact that there is a bar between them. Michi Azuma (topless swordswoman from Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril) plays a tomboy who wants to join her brothers.
55%
Shinjuku Swan(ja)
2015-05-30
Shiratori Tatsuhiko works as a scout for talent agency Burst in Kabukichō, Shinjuku's red light district, recruiting young girls for the adult entertainment industry. In a business where money means everything, Tatsuhiko finds himself in a constant struggle between rival scouts and the Yakuza.
67%
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer(en)
1986-09-24
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
69%
Mona Lisa(en)
1986-06-13
George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King's Cross days. That's when George's troubles just start.
70%
Ichi the Killer(ja)
2001-12-22
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
61%
Tattoo(de)
2002-04-04
Marc Schrader, a rookie cop caught red-handed with drugs in a police raid of an illegal rave, joins a homicide investigation conducted by Chief Inspector Minks. The victim is a naked young woman with the skin stripped off her back, killed as she staggered into traffic. As Schrader and Minks investigate the murder, the case is complicated by a finger found in the stomach of the victim. Forensic examination proves the finger belongs to Nobert Günzel, who was previously convicted of rape and assault. The police raid Günzel’s residence, and discover a blood-stained table with restraints and bits of human flesh in his basement. They also find video equipment and preserved, tattooed skin from the victim’s back. Soon, they found dead bodies buried in the garden. Günzel then goes missing.
63%
Very Bad Things(en)
1998-09-11
Kyle Fisher has one last night to celebrate life as a single man before marrying Laura, so he sets out to Vegas with four of his best buddies. But a drug and alcohol filled night on the town with a stripper who goes all the way, turns into a cold night in the desert with shovels when the stripper goes all the way into a body bag after dying in their bathroom. And that's just the first of the bodies to pile up before Kyle can walk down the aisle...
0%
On the Road(es)
2026-06-04
Veneno, a rebellious young drifter, frequents roadside diners where he sleeps with truck drivers. Urgently needing a ride, he meets Muñeco, a hard-edged driver who keeps to himself. He convinces Muñeco to take him deep into the hyper-masculine world of long-haul trucking across the north of Mexico. As they travel together and an unexpected intimacy builds between them, shadows from Veneno’s past resurface, putting both their lives at risk.
0%
Dochinpira 16: Delicious Prey(ja)
1996-02-01
Jin Kaito makes a living charming women with flair and finesse. But his game hits a snag when Reiko, a beautiful woman actively searching for a husband, falls for him at first sight. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted! Things get even more complicated when Jin crosses paths with Tatsuya, a Reiko’s childhood friend and an eager rookie hoping to team up. Reluctantly forming a duo, the two head out for fresh targets and immediately stumble into a dangerous brawl with a member of the fearsome Shiga crime syndicate. Now, Reiko is caught in the crossfire, and Jin must put more than just his charm to the test.
60%
Mulholland Falls(en)
1996-04-26
In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
90%
The Viper Brothers and the Young General(ja)
1975-03-01
The last in the series. Sugawara runs into two mahjong cheaters (Ichiro Araki and Mako Midori + sidekick Takuzo Kawatani) whom he takes for friends in need as his naivety prevents him from seeing their true nature.
70%
The Viper Brothers: Prison Gang 13(ja)
1972-02-03
Part 3 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves.
68%
Hard Eight(en)
1997-02-28
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
70%
CONFLICT: Outbreak(ja)
2016-05-28
The Hyodo-gumi boss—part of Tendokai, Japan’s largest yakuza syndicate—has been brutally murdered. Kazuma Washio (Hitoshi Ozawa), the head of the Washio-gumi and Tendokai’s wakagashira (underboss), is convinced that Yoshinari Myojin (Sho Aikawa), a former Tendokai wakagashira-hosa now running Tokyo’s underworld of thugs and mafia, is behind the killing. Around the same time, Tendokai's 5th-generation chairman Katsushige (Hakuryu) orders Washio to secure a woman named Nagi Toyama (Akane Hotta). Washio sets out with his men, Okita (Yasukaze Motomiya) and Date (Hideo Nakano), but they’re ambushed by a group of heavily armed youths. Barely escaping, they manage to bring Nagi to their hideout—only to discover she’s a key player in a power struggle over the Tokyo Casino Project. And so begins the greatest conflict yet, entangling yakuza, mafia, street gangs, the police, and even the state itself—
37%
Fury in the Tropics(es)
1986-03-31
Two prostitutes in a small corrupt South American town, falls in love with a freedom fighter, posing as a guard at the local prison. Run by the corrupt Governor and a sadistic wardress.
75%
Sonatine(ja)
1993-09-10
Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.
65%
Harsh Times(en)
2005-09-11
Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.
80%
Rocco and His Brothers(it)
1960-10-07
When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.
50%
Unification of Japan 27(ja)
2018-03-25
Tension continues at the Kyowakai headquarters. Kawatani, Himuro, and Tamura are unable to hide their anger and confusion at the events that occur one after another, such as Shibuya's death and a series of absentees from meetings. Meanwhile, in Kobe, a new anti-chivalry group is starting to move. However, Baba, who plays the role of chairman and does not know about Shibuya's death, postpones the official raising of the company.