Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

stellan-sjolin SPOILER: This is really not a bad movie, if you enjoy the genre that is. Somewhat ordinary, but quite solid entertainment. Or would have been if not for a very disturbing rape preformed by the main actor, which leads to the rape wictim actually falls for him and they start a relationship. In which he keeps abuse her, among other things he tries to force her to do an abortion. If they portrayed this as him being an ashole abusing a woman who loves him, it would have been ok, but they dont. It is quite clearly angled as her being a weak woman who needs/deserve this.This ruins the movie. I could not enjoy this it at all. But at least the bastard gets shot in the end.

Uriah43 After serving in prison for two years and seven months, a Yakuza gangster named "Takeo Asahina" (Yukio Mishima) is within hours of finally being set free. However, an assassination attempt is made just hours before his release which unnerves him to the point that he requests to remain even longer. Unable the fully comply, the warden agrees to allow him to stay an additional twelve hours to temporarily keep other potential hit men in the dark concerning whether or not the assassination attempt was successful. What then follows are repeated attempts by Takeo to distance himself from a couple of personal relationships in order to confuse his rivals in the "Sagara gang" so that they cannot target those close to him. Unfortunately, this becomes more difficult for him when a new woman named "Yoshie Koizumi" (Ayako Wakao) enters his life. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I found this to be an enjoyable gangster film for the most part. One particular aspect that I found somewhat amusing was the manner in which Takeo's use of common sense to avoid being killed was interpreted as cowardice by his associates. Be that as it may, I often find that cultural differences like this make some films even more appealing. In any case, although I liked the acting of both Yukio Mishima and Ayako Wakao, I thought that the story dragged in certain places which tended to make the film seem solid but not necessarily spectacular. For that reason I rate this movie as slightly above average.

random_avenger Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) was one of the most celebrated Japanese writers, nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature three times. Besides his literary work, Mishima is best known for his attempted coup d'état in honour of the emperor and his subsequent ritual suicide, but he also had a relatively short acting career. His best known performance is probably the lead role in Yasuzo Masumura's 1960 yakuza tale Afraid to Die.At the beginning a yakuza named Takeo Asahina (Mishima) is released from prison after serving a few years for stabbing a member of a rivaling yakuza clan, the Sagara. Afraid of Sagara's revenge, Asahina tries to maintain a somewhat low profile while continuing his criminal businesses with his educated associate Aikawa (Eiji Funakoshi) and also begins an abusive relationship with a cashier girl Yoshie (Ayako Wakao) who doesn't approve of his dangerous lifestyle, a sentiment shared by the pharmacist girlfriend of Aikawa. The Asahina and Sagara clans then keep trying to one-up each other in their businesses, such as blackmailing a medicine company and kidnapping each others loved ones. Takeo has promised to leave his old life behind, but the dangerous circumstances are putting him under great pressure.A lot of the responsibility regarding the effectiveness of the film lies on the shoulders of Mishima as the protagonist Asahina. Luckily he handles the role pretty well and looks convincing as the skinny but tough gangster who has to maintain a hard surface despite his hidden fears. Actually, it is this eponymous fear of death that I wish would have been examined more in the film; I would have loved to see more of nightmarish noir atmosphere at the expense of straightforward crime movie plot. Even though the mood does not quite reach truly powerful levels until the final scenes, technical details are well created throughout, from the dark streets to the seedy nightclub where Asahina's ex-girlfriend Masako (Yaeko Mizutani) performs as a cabaret singer. I enjoyed the loud jazzy music too, even though it is used quite sparingly.The film does present some commentary about the nature of life of crime; for instance, Asahina's comments about how money should mean more than anything for a yakuza and his feelings of commitment to the family tradition (his father was also a yakuza). The cymbal-playing toy monkey and the impressive escalator scene at the end can also be understood as symbols for the inescapable criminal lifestyle. Even so, for the most part the plot focuses on the increasing tension between the two clans instead of artistic symbolism; this would be completely OK if said mental strain came across as even harder than it does now. Now I feel the tightening atmosphere leaves some room for improvement, as already mentioned above.In any case, as a traditional crime story Afraid to Die works decently and contains plenty of things to enjoy. Besides Mishima, the veteran actor Takashi Shimura and the sinister-looking Shigeru Kôyama deliver good performances as Asahina's tattooed yakuza uncle Gohei and an asthmatic hit-man Masa respectively. Visually the movie is fine too. I have yet to see more of Mishima's work as an actor, but based on this movie he would have had potential for a much longer career in film. Anyway, personally I liked Afraid to Die and would not hesitate to recommend it to crime movie fans.

zetes Afraid to Die, one of the four Yasuzo Masumura films that Fantoma has recently released on DVD, contains several examples of the directorial mastery of the same man who directed Giants and Toys and Bind Beast - in fact, the entire film is skillfully directed - but the script is terribly dull. Also working against the film is Yukio Mishima. He was the original draw for the film. He was a famous novelist at the time, probably the most famous in Japan, and his fans desperately wanted to see him in a film. Unfortunately, he's not a very good actor. I guess his poor performance is just as well blamed on the script, though. His character fluctuates a lot. We're supposed to like him, or at least sympathize with him, but that's not really possible. He's a pure scumbag. Afraid to Die is worth watching. It's not very long, and, like I said above, there are a couple of great scenes. One particular death scene is alone worth the price of a rental, if you're lucky enough to find it on your local video shelf. If you're thinking about buying any of Fantoma's Masumura DVDs, this one's not really worth it. Definitely buy Giants and Toys and Blind Beast. I haven't yet seen Manji. I did order it, though, so by the time you read this I could have already posted a review. Check it out. For Afraid to Die: 7/10.