In 1947 Japan, three thieves commit a robbery and are forced to make a daring escape by sea during a typhoon. Only one man, Tachiko Inukai (Mikuni), survives. Still holding the stolen money, he takes refuge with prostitute Yae Sugito (Hidari), whose kindness Inukai impulsively rewards by giving her enough cash to move to Tokyo. Meanwhile, police detective Yumisaka investigates the crime, looking for the third missing fugitive after the bodies of his two accomplices wash up on shore. Years later, after Inukai has created a new, respectable identity for himself, he will cross paths with Yae again, with tragic results.

Don’t let the length of Uchida’s lost masterpiece deter you; this is a riveting, thoroughly watchable police procedural told in three parts. The first covers the immediate aftermath of the robbery and the initial meeting between Yae and Inukai; the second details Yae’s move to Tokyo, and the third relates what happens when Yae unwisely re-establishes contact with her benefactor. Shooting in 16 millimeter, Uchida’s grainy, black-and-white opus subtly accentuates the poverty and privation of post-war Japan. All the players excel, in particular Mikuni as the fugitive who can’t fully escape his past. A young Ken Takakura (“The Yakuza”) also scores as a Tokyo cop. Don’t let this “Fugitive” get away.