The dark line of Japanese noir: generic appropriation, Matsumoto Seichō, and Nomura Yoshitarō’s Stakeout (1958)

The article closely reviews Nomura Yoshitarō’s 1958 film Harikomi (Stakeout), which despite its widespread acclaim remains relatively understudied, in light of a specifically Japanese generic appropriation of the American cinematic mode known as film noir. While genre and mode are typically regarded as distinct categories, I intentionally conflate them to argue that the film transcends and problematizes conventional categorizations of film noir as a subgenre, suggesting the formation of an alternative category. Instead of classifying the film within an established genre or cinematic movement, I position it within a line of Japanese films that intertwine social, cultural, and national media discourses. This line, I posit, offers a critical perspective on Japanese society and presents a dark vision, although not necessarily a subversive one. To limit the scope to more readily identifiable patterns, I frame the discussion around style to contend that Stakeout draws a line for a specifically Japanese kind of film noir. Thus, while the following analysis primarily centres on one film, the overarching objective of the article is to establish Stakeout as a pivotal point that is in line with both preceding and subsequent productions in terms of narrative and cinematic form.