Directed by Sadao Nakajima, Aesthetics of a Bullet (1973) is a Japanese crime film blending yakuza storytelling with stylized violence characteristic of 1970s Toei genre cinema. Starring Tsunehiko Watase and Miki Sugimoto, the film reflects the era’s shift toward darker and more confrontational portrayals of organized crime. The production stands within the tradition of Japanese exploitation-influenced crime cinema and contributes to Nakajima’s body of yakuza-oriented work.

A yakuza gang selects a good-for-nothing street vendor to stir up trouble in enemy territory. With a flashy suit, a gun and a pocketful of money, he feels like a king but when trouble comes knocking, he realises that waving a gun and pulling the trigger are two very different things. After the major studios refused to finance it, director Sadao Nakajima (The Japanese Godfather Trilogy) took this project to New Wave bastion the Art Theatre Guild. With a deeply impressive performance by Tsunehiko Watase (Sympathy for the Underdog) that predates Robert DeNiro’s indelible turn as Travis Bickle in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver by three years, Aesthetics of a Bullet is a lost gem of 1970s Japanese cinema ripe for rediscovery.

Från IMDB:
A low-life crook gets a job as a yakuza hit-man and proceeds to pretend to be a big shot. There are, however, things that cannot be faked.