Intimidation

Koreyoshi Kurahara's ingeniously plotted, pocket-size noir concerns the intertwined fates of a desperate bank manager, blackmailed for book-cooking, and his resentful but timid underling, passed over for a promotion. The marvelously moody Intimidation is an elegantly stripped-down and carefully paced crime drama.

• Director: Koreyoshi Kurahara
• Cast: Jun Hamamura, Kō Nishimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Yōko Kozono, Kōjirō Kusanagi, Mari Shiraki, Zenji Yamada, Tomio Aoki