Neil Brand on Piano

(Keisatsukan). A standout of the 2001 Pordenone silent film festival, Policeman has the energy and grit of a Warner Bros. crime saga (the dogged hero even looks a little like Paul Muni), but its bold stylistic flourishes and ethical perspective are distinctly Japanese. The film is based on a stage play about a cop battling Communist gangsters; the primary theme is not so much political as emotional and moral: the irresolvable conflict between personal and professional loyalty. While the intertitles emphasize an official message of duty and noble self-sacrifice, the images demonstrate a vivid awareness of the painful price that duty can exact. Tracking through mazes of narrow alleys, following nocturnal gun battles and rooftop chases under flashing spotlights, the camera, like the characters, is moody and mobile, shifting without comment between breezy street realism and Expressionist montage.