A Colt is my Passports an

A Colt is my Passport is the most recent movie in the Criterion Collection's Eclipse Series 17, Nikkatsu Noir. It is in black and white and was filmed in 1967.

Kamimura is a hit man and the movie starts with him being hired. He easily completes the job, but there are complications when he tries to disappear with his young associate Shiozaki.  The two soon end up caught between rival yakuza gangs. The double crossing involved is reminiscent of A Fistful of Dollars, and the final showdown on a dust blown plain was reminded me a bit of the ending of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  

This is a gangster movie that really wants to be a spaghetti western. Enio Morricone's haunting melodies from the Man Without a Name series are evoked throughout the movie. I'll say right up front I loved it. I love westerns, I love Morricone's music, and I loved how Takashi Nomura incorporated them into his movie.

Nomura is credited with directing just over 30 films. He first IMDB credit as an actor was in 1954, and latest is 2016, so he has been quite prolific in Japanese television and film.