Ridley Scott
Black Rain

A motorcycle ride by Michael Douglas opens the film to the notes of “I’ll Be Holding On” by Gregg Allman, simultaneously introducing the main protagonist of the story: Nick Conklin, a tough and seasoned New York cop with a conscience that's not too clean. Teaming up with him is the young yuppie Charlie Vincent, played by Andy Garcia, always ready to temper Conklin’s irascibility.

The two will find themselves inadvertently embroiled in a botched deal between the local mafia and the Japanese mafia, and they will be catapulted into the Land of the Rising Sun, a world foreign and much more hostile than expected.

Ridley Scott’s choice of setting does not fall on Tokyo but rather on the more futuristic Osaka, with its huge industrial areas, ever-present neon lights, and a heavy underlying gloom that often recalls the dystopian Los Angeles of “Blade Runner.” The contrast with New York is initially disorienting, aided by the decision to shoot all the early scenes in Osaka at night, or at least in dark environments, in contrast with the daytime scenes on American soil. Even from a human perspective, the scenario is hostile for the two policemen who must navigate the distrust of their Japanese colleagues and the cruelty of the yakuza, with biker gangs always ready to ambush. Being foreigners is an obstacle that the protagonists will overcome with difficulty. The only ally is Detective Masahiro Matsumoto (an excellent Ken Takakura), always calm and extremely dutiful, with whom an initial cultural clash will evolve into mutual enrichment in terms of experiences and knowledge.

On the other side of the barricade, among the unscrupulous villains, we find the terrible Sato, played by a magnificent Yusaku Matsuda, an icon of Japanese cinema, a formidable and fierce enemy with a perpetual sneer of defiance on his face whose sole purpose is the pursuit of power. A child of Japan tainted by American capitalist greed yet still steeped in a sense of pride and dignity, a child of a Japan still hurt by the “black rain” (to which the title refers) of the post-Hiroshima disaster. Matsuda's performance is almost nihilistic; it may be that his battle with bladder cancer characterizes Sato as someone with nothing to lose. Yusaku Matsuda would indeed pass away shortly after the U.S. premiere, and Ridley Scott would dedicate the film to him.

The Conklin-Sato duel embodies the USA-Japan challenge, exposing the weaknesses of both cultures, and only the wisdom gained after setting aside the initial hostility towards the otherness will allow the protagonists to prevail and, in Conklin’s case, also find redemption.

A great crime film and a good action movie from Ridley Scott, which unfortunately is often overshadowed in the director’s filmography.