Ichirô Zaitsu

The autobiographical story of a family struggling to come to grips with their memmories and affection of a lost mother. Filmed entirely in black and white. (CDJapan)

Hoping to repay his family for the trouble he has caused them in the past, Torasan gambles and wins at the horse races. He plans to give his uncle and aunt a vacation in Hawaii, but the travel agent turns out to be a con-artist, and makes off with his money. Torasan falls in love with Haruko, a young kindergarten teacher who is renting a room in his uncle's home.

Tarao's services are called upon to solve the mysterious death of bride-to-be, Mariko, who was found dead with an eerie mask of a devil.

Seven raccoons with supernatural powers sneak into a freight train, disguise themselves as humans, and head to Tokyo with the intention of creating a band. They become superstars "Checkers" but their true identity will be revealed very soon.

Etsuko, a female college student, tries to beat the con artists at their own game after she gets scammed one after another.

Tarao Bannai is a dialogue loaded detective film that gets increasingly weird as the case becomes more complicated. Although the tempo is rather slow in the beginning, it changes later. Humour is plenty, and Suzuki has a couple of big surprises in his back pocket, including some Italian genre cinema borrowals.