The Triple Cross

Also known as Double Cross (equally validly), this exciting heist movie is an arresting example of cultural cross-pollination, pitting a punk rock nihilist (and his crazy kook of a girl) against old school gangsters who seem to have taken style tips from Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai (among them, the legendary Sonny Chiba). If Fukasaku's sympathies seem to lie with the older generation (this is the director who went on to make Battle Royale with such relish), well, there's nothing old or tired about his action scenes, which come on fast and furious. There are also a couple of surprisingly poignant quieter scenes when the young couple drop their defences. It's superior genre cinema, a hyperbolic action thriller with plenty of pulp punch.