Review: "Der Sommer des Samurai"/The Samurai Summer 1986 the forgotten last EW-Style Krimi Movie

Hannelore Hoger died last week. Clearly part of the new cinema of German auteurs, she later became a household name for her long-lasting Krimi TV series, "Bella Block," which ran for 38 years with one TV movie per year. I do admit having a crush on her daughter Nina back in the 1980s when she started out in TV and became a well-known actress herself. But that aside, when the news was announced of her death, the usual stuff came up. Like how she had worked with Fassbinder (who did not pay a lot of money, filling his movies with rookies and worn-out starlets) asf. 

As always, I checked if she had not appeared in any Wallace-Style Krimi in the 60ies or 70s, but no. She stayed straight in her bohemian-left-wing bracket, where such things were considered fascist. But in 1986 she starred in the eclectic, unsuccessful, forgotten, neglected, phenomenal Franju-Style Krimi homage to the silent cinema called "Der Sommer des Samurai." I watched it back in 1986 when it was shown in one or two Hamburg cinemas (I was living there at that time—and yes, I had just moved there from Munich) and later rented it as a VHS copy. 

Hannelore Hoger 

I totally forgot about it until 5 years ago when I went through my VHS collection to dispose of it but checked if there was anything worthy on the tapes. And there it was, a 240-min cassette, and together with a Hamburg-made amateur Ninja-Krimi where the title is missing. I g...amn cannot find out what it was called (maybe someone can help?)

Well, what I saw totally blew me away. This is a thinking man's homage to the good old silent movie serials with sensationalist thieves, evil villains, and intelligent plots, well-funded, well-directed, and well-made. That this movie is not as known as it should be can only be assigned to bad marketing. There is not a single flaw in it, if you consider what it wants to achieve.

Therefore, as the Edgar Wallace-style Krimis were, in fact, an update on the Fantomas/Zigomar/Mr. Wu serials, this one is the last to grab this magic and should therefore be considered the last EW-style Krimi (that premiered in the cinemas). 

So what it's all about (the plot is longer here, as this movie is unknown outside of Hamburg, basically):

A mysterious burglar dressed in black is causing trouble in Hamburg. The "Japan Phantom" steals incriminating documents from dignitaries suspected of corruption, burns large amounts of cash, and leaves Japanese Kanji at the crime scene. Soon after, these mysterious characters are found all over the Hanseatic city. The victims often get into financial difficulties as a result of these crimes, and the police are at a loss and initially in the dark.

 Nina Hoger (l, uncredited) and
Nadja Tiller "The Girl Rosemarie"

Journalist Christiane Land investigates the strange series of break-ins and discovers connections with the shady speculator Krall. Krall is considered the head of a conspiracy of influential Hanseatic personalities. The businessman, who lives a secluded life in a well-guarded, moated castle, once stole a valuable samurai sword with his friends on a trip to Japan, thus provoking the wrath of a samurai. In order to stand up to this deadly avenger, an expert advises him to hire a ninja to hunt down the unknown man.

Froeboes in a role more risqué than I was used 
too from her movies with Peter Kraus.

Meanwhile, Land makes a breakthrough. She discovers the secret of the Japanese characters that represent a group of 47 legendary ronin of the early 18th century under the leadership of Oishi Kuranosuke. The newspaper reporter manages to identify the financial broker Wilcke, the adopted son of a descendant of Kuranosuke, as the phantom. Wilcke explicitly states that his motive is to reclaim his family sword, which Krall had stolen; at the same time, he is also cleaning up the corrupt "city morass," which also includes his victims. Since she personally supports this goal and the story of the 47 ronin has captivated her, Land keeps quiet about the police and her editor, who is constantly pressuring her for a breakthrough in the case.

At the end of the film, Wilcke attacks Krall's refuge one night. The always superior and battle-hardened financier kills various security guards of the barricaded businessman as well as the waiting ninja but spares the life of the whimpering Krall as a more effective form of punishment. Ultimately, he also finds the sword he was looking for and disappears without a trace. Land is left alone and comments on his departure ironically and dryly with "Good night, Oishi Kuranosuke."

Castles, Creeps, Video Surveillance,
It's all in there. The complete Krimi package.

----

Orientalism and crime always mixed, starting with Feuillarde's (one character in this movie here is actually called "Dr. Feuillarde"!!). "Tin Minh," the lost German silent serial "Mr. Wu," and of course Fu Manchu. And former movie critic-turned-director (where have I heard this before?) Hans-Christoph Blumenberg surely knows his movies. When I watched it back in the day with all its toned-down violence and dreamlike atmosphere, I thought it could be much harder, much more vicious (the ninja wave was rolling big-time back then). I had expected something like "Pray for Death," but this is far more in the romantic Georges Franju homage dream-movie style like "Judex." This is so eclectic that it hurts and far too eclectic for the usual VHS video store crowd. And it is easily PG-12.

Those who knew, however, applauded. This movie got (when it got reviewed) very favorable reviews. And watching it again, this movie grows and grows on me each time (with more knowledge that I have). 

This movie is a treasure, and it is so much fun. Need I mention that, of course, the actors are well chosen too? Sadly, the scenes with Wolfgang Preiss (Dr. Mabuse) were deleted (as were those with fashion guru Wolfgang Joop), but we get to see Connie Froboess & Peter Krauss (THE German musical dream pair of the early 1960s), Nadja Tiller ("Das Mädchen Rosemarie"—the" true-crime Krimi that basically started it all), Matthias Fuchs ("Liebling, ich muss Dich erschießen"), Anton Diffring (from the British Edgar Wallace movie series), and Hannelore Hoger, of course. 

On the KRIMIMETER, it easily scores the highest rating ever, as "unnecessary violence" is not a marker here. Officially very hard to come by, as it was only released on VHS back in the day, this movie is absolutely ripe for rediscovery. There is a version out there on Youtube from the VHS cassette, though.

If you are not sure if this is something for you, check out the first film by the director called "Tausend Augen" (Thousand Eyes), which is easily available on a Pidax DVD. And, being informed, reading the title, you already know where that is going.... (or not!). Director Blumenberg stayed true to Krimis in various forms and produced multiple TV-Krimis up until 2015. His last movie was "Planet der Kannibalen" in 2001 about how in a futuristic Germany two TV stations are competing by hiring cannibalistic aliens for their TV-shows. 

Yes.