Nijiotoko (1949)

• Year: 1949
• Released: 18 Jul 1949
• Country: Japan
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• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041691/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nijiotoko
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Japanese
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror
• Runtime: 81 min
• Writer: Hajime Takaiwa, Kikuo Tsunoda
• Director: Kiyohiko Ushihara
• Cast: Keiju Kobayashi, Teruko Akatsuki, Katsuko Wakasugi
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5.8/10

Nijiotoko Storyline

When a young woman is named as the prime suspect in a murder, her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s boyfriend set out to prove her innocence. Their investigation leads them to an isolated, creepy house in the middle of nowhere, where sinister goings-on abound.

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Nijiotoko Movie Reviews

Interesting But Odd Enough To Be Obscure

A newspaperwoman tries to prove her friend didn’t kill her uncle at his home and cover it up by setting the place on fire. As the police investigate, they discover a family obsessed by rainbows, and the threat of a ‘rainbow man’ who makes weird things happen.

It’s director Kiyohiko Ushihara’s first movie after a 12-year layoff during the Second World War, and his last fiction film – he directed a documentary that was released in 1958. This one combines Old Dark House tropes, as well as the sort of scientific bafflegab that would become a standard of science fiction movies, as well as drug use. I found this film to be interesting in its handling and inventive in its camerawork, but there’s something off about its pacing that I can’t be sure is intended to complement its themes.

Rainbow Terror in B&W

Since I am big scifi fan and love seeking out the old B&W, the obscure, foreign, and the campy to the classic films, I certainly had to see this film. After all, “Nijioitoko” (Rainbow Man) has been touted as Japan’s first scifi film!

Essentially, “Nijioitoko” is a 40’s film noir/old dark house film that concerns a brutal murder of a member for the allegedly cursed Maya family. Subsequent victims associated with the Mayas see a rainbow before they die, and cry out that the “Rainbow Man” is going to kill them.

As the investigation into the murder proceeds, two star reporters from competing newspapers, cover the story and fall in love with each other. In their course of discovery, they uncover a legend that the ancestral Maya family conducted religious practices that included making pacts with spirits of the rainbows. At some point, a Maya ancestor broke this pact and that unleashed a Rainbow Man of vengeance on the family.

In the course of this B&W film, a multi colored patterned grid or ‘rainbow” does in fact manifest itself. The minor scifi element here is what causes the “rainbow”.

Most of action takes place in the shadowy Maya mansion. In the basement laboratory, the father of the Maya family is shown to be an eccentric scientist who is obsessed with unlocking the cosmic secrets of rainbows. His wife (Shimako) futilely tries to maintain a calm demeanor. Katsuto is the semi-mad oldest son and artist who unnerves everyone with his Picasso-like paintings. Toyohiko is the estranged youngest son who skulks around in a beard and sunglasses. Meanwhile, Yurie Obata is the young woman, who happens to be prime suspect in the case, and has had a complete emotional meltdown.

Aside from scifi novelty of this film, “Nijioitoko” is solid effort and well worth seeing. Unusual for the period, the star female reporter (Mimi) is highly successful and self-sufficient. Through out this film, Mimi maintains her poise, professionalism, as well as her empathy for friend Yurie. The character of Mimi is certainly a refreshing role model for women.