What Asian Films Have You Been Watching Recently?

[killedbydreck]

I recently purchased a copy of Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. I did a bootleg of this at I Luv Video back in 2010 and it was interesting, but all I could recall about it was the story being influenced by Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 novel. It has a visually striking, unique style usually not seen in anime that was made with a modern, punk/avant-garde twist. A one-year-old kitten named Tamala lives in Meguro City, Tokyo, on Planet Cat Earth in the year 2010. She dreams of traveling to her birthplace on Planet Orion. Tamala leaves her current life and travels in her spaceship, but she crash-lands on Planet Q. She meets another cat, Michelangelo, who becomes her friend, companion, and maybe antagonist. A mysterious giant cat figure, Tatla, watches over the city. The story has themes of consumerism, religion, and darker undertones regarding a corporation called Catty & Co. and there's a hint of Tamala herself might be more complex than she appears, possibly a clone or tied to the corporation. The plot can be surreal and episodic, and it abruptly ends or on a cliffhanger, possibly setting itself up for sequels that never materialized. 3/5

[Takuma]

White Cliffs (白い崖) (Japan, 1960) [35mm] – 3.5/5
A near-excellent Toei noir starring Isao Kimura as an immoral young man fooling around with women and climbing corporate ladders in old man Eitaro Shindo’s company. He already gets his foot in the door by seducing the company president’s daughter (Yoshiko Sakuma), but when the old grump falls ill he sees his opportunity. There’s a fantastic scene where the newly married Sakuma tells a doctor how his dear father had reportedly given a blessing to their marriage and promoted her fiancé with his last dying words, and the doctor replies “how odd, people dying from a stroke like that usually don’t have last words”. The next few scenes, following the increasingly paranoid Sakuma on the city streets trying to find out if anything her husband has told her could be trusted, feature some God-level cinematography. The web of lies, seduction, and murder only gets more delirious from here on. The film is a bit on the long side (122m), but never less than captivating and ripe for re-discovery were Toei ever to make it more accessible. As of current, I don’t think there’s any other way to see the film than a 35mm print which thankfully screens in Tokyo every few years.



Himalayan Wanderer (ヒマラヤ無宿 心臓破りの野郎ども) (Japan, 1961) [35mm] – 3.5/5
A loose sequel to The Big Gamblers of the Amazon aka Amazon Wanderer (1961). While not quite as good, beautiful, or demented, this is still tons of old school Toei fun. There is no story connection to the previous film, but the cast and crew are mostly the same. Chiezo Kataoka plays a scientist who captures a yeti in the Himalayan Mountains and brings him back to Japan like a small King Kong. Soon competitors, gangsters, and the press (including lovely little sister Yoshiko Sakuma) are after the snowman, who spends most of his time sleeping in Kataoka's bathtub. Like The Big Gamblers of the Amazon, the film is gorgeously filmed in color and packs a hell of a cast of old school Toei tough guys and comedians at the top of their game. I had seen this movie before on TV and it didn’t make a particular impression back then, but viewing it now from a drop dead gorgeous 35mm film print the entire movie was a blast. The digital HD master simply couldn’t re-produce the film’s lush visuals and cinema magic, which is often the case when compared to the best film prints.

P.S. the audience was about 30 dudes, me probably the youngest one, and zero women. It figures, I guess.

G-Men in the Pacific (太平洋のＧメン) (Japan, 1962) [35mm] – 3/5
The early 60s saw Toei's lower budgeted sub-branch New Toei put out some of the breeziest, most energetic programmers that rivalled the parent studio in quality. This film may not be one of their best efforts, but it’s still a fun time waster. The plot features Shinjiro Ebara as a crooked fisherman who picks up gangster property from the sea and finds himself between ruthless yakuza boss Tetsuro Tamba and determined lawman Chiezo Kataoka (why is this legendary tough guy actor who starred in over 300 films not better known outside of Japan?). Good pacing, catchy music and stylish cinematography make this a solid programmer picture. It’s also one of the few gangster films Teruo Ishii did that focus on the law enforcement rather than on the outlaws.

King of the Night Life (夜遊びの帝王) (1970) [TV] – 2/5
The first film in the King series featuring Toei's prominent playboy actor Tatsuo Umemiva. He had already played similar pimp / playboy / hustler roles in the Youth of the Night and Song of the Night series. Unlike those earlier 60s films, however, these 70s outings were largely void of their psychological and nourish qualities. Oddly enough, they also remained surprisingly tame in terms of content. One can only conclude from their success that there was a Toei audience that craved for cinematic lady killers but did not seek the graphic excess of some of the wilder film. Or perhaps these were just vanity projects for Umemiya, who famously called the Ginza night life districts his home, and whose brother was a famous hostess scout. In any case, this film features Umemiya as a country bumpkin blessed with massive manhood. He leaves behind his poor mother and brothers to make it big in Tokyo with the help of yakuza brother Shingo Yamashiro. Before soon they are scouting women for Ginza bars (including famous real life hostess Mami Yamamoto who reportedly regretted appearing in this film). There isn't much to remember this film for, aside some colourful neon visuals, an amusing scene with a foreign woman whose sex drive more than matches Umemiya's, and Umemiya's naughty theme song "Symbol of a Man". Those expecting nudity will be disappointed as there's barely a quick flash of a breast on display. Not exactly a strong Toei debut for former Nikkatsu Action director Buichi Saito, but it was followed by no less than four sequels, all brought to screens as the lower-most titles on double bills. Indeed, there probably lies the most compelling justification for this film’s existence. To keep its double feature model alive and running, Toei needed a pair of new releases every two weeks, and under those circumstances even lesser fillers like this served a purpose. This specific film came out as the supporting feature for Ken Takakura's yakuza picture Biography of a Chivalrous Man.

A Flower in a Neon Jungle (ネオンくらげ) (Japan, 1973) [TV] – 4/5
There was an entire sub-genre of melancholic nocturnal dramas made mostly by Toei and Nikkatsu from mid 60s through early 70s. These films typically followed hustlers, hostesses, hookers and other young people chasing their dreams in the neon lit night of vice, with story premises often taken from popular songs. Here is a superior late entry into the loosely defined genre: a stylish Tokyo red light district drama set to singer Kan Mikami's rock ballads. Newcomer Emiko Yamauchi shines as an impulsive youth lost in the city of opportunities and seduction. She dumps her boyfriend and becomes a bar hostess after being tricked by sleazy/handsome photographer Ichiro Araki. This is a surprisingly good film that not only dials up the sex and nudity compared to the similar 60s films, but also comes with more nuanced than average characterization and a star making performance by Yamauchi, who personifies the passionate but ultimately clueless youth (sadly her active film career didn't last even a year). The film's biggest accomplishment, however, is how atmospherically it captures the time and location on film. This is an early 70s Tokyo time capsule of the highest order. One of director Makoto Naito's best pictures alongside 13 Steps of Maki (1975). P.S. fan favourite Yumiko Katayama makes a one scene appearance as a nasty bitch at the beginning of the film.



Villain Field (無頼平野) (Japan, 1995) [35mm] – 2.5/5
Teruo Ishii's first theatrically released gangster movie in almost 20 years, and only his 2nd theatrical production in since his heyday at Toei in the 60s and 70s. This was an independent production shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm for distribution. It’s easy to tell there was ambition behind the film as it crafts a rather rich story with plenty of character development, while Ishii still remaining his usual devilish self, as evidenced by numerous grotesque details. Mainly it's a drama about a man working in the most disgusting of professions (extracting blood from placentas and dead babies for a blood bank) and harassed by gangsters who don't know who they're dealing with. Quite a few other characters, from a jazz club dancer to an elderly lone wolf gangster, have their stories intertwine. It's a somewhat good film with gritty low key drama, romance, friendship, as well as graphic sex and bits of Yakuza Law level violence sprinkled into a relatively heavy handed narrative. Ishii’s old collaborator Teruo Yoshida shows up, as does Toru Yuri (surely everyone assumed he was dead already). As I was watching the film I thought it was just alright, but the more I think about it the more I feel this was a worthwhile watch. Recommended with reservations.

[Takuma]

Monk’s Paradise (極楽坊主) (Japan, 1971) [Streaming] – 3/5
Kazunari Takeda helmed a number of exceptionally sleazy pictures for Nikkatsu in their last few years before Roman Porno. Here he got Joe Shishido to star in this amusing modern day sex / yakuza comedy that for some reason is frequently mislabelled as jidai geki. Shishido plays a horny monk with a huge rod, sort of like a kinder predecessor (or should that be successor) to Hanzo the Razor. He gambles, he fights, he lays nuns, and he farts in the opponent’s face. There’s quite a bit of nudity too, though nothing quite comparable to the extended lesbian and orgy scenes in Takeda’s earlier film We Sell It Because It Sells (1969). Despite all that, the film is surprisingly breezy and reasonably stylish, only really let down by the lack of plot that keeps the film from becoming particularly engaging. Thankfully Shishido carries the film on his shoulders, with support from Jiro Okazaki and Toei regulars Toru Abe and Toru Yuri who show up in small supporting roles.

P.S. I see Tomisaburo Wakayama’s Wicked Priest series mentioned as a possible influence for this, which is entirely possible, especially seeing the Japanese title is almost the same, however this still feels quite distinct from the Toei pictures, not least because it’s a modern day picture as opposed to the Wakayama jidai geki series.



Powerful Sex Biography: I Give You Death (性豪列伝　死んで貰います) (Japan, 1972) [Streaming] –1.5/5
A Roman Porno comedy mismarked with a title that sounds like a sexier version of a Ken Takakura film (this is particularly evident in the Japanese title, which only adds the word “sex” to an otherwise stereotypical yakuza film title). As it turns out, however, this childish slapstick affair has rather little to do with gangster pictures, other than an odd reference here and there. Roman Porno’s early super star Kazuko Shirakawa plays a woman whose sexual energy has worn down every man she ever met, including the brand new husband. This man however is different from the rest: rather than admitting defeat he retreats to train his sexual strength for a rematch. Low-brow comedy complete with constant Looney Tunes sound effects and even self-referential Nikkatsu jokes follow. A comparison could probably be made to Norifumi Suzuki's most childish sex comedies at Toei, though even those films appear sophisticated in comparison. Might work to some, just don’t expect what the title promises.

Affair at Twilight (たそがれの情事) (Japan, 1972) [Streaming] – 3/5
A melancholic early Roman Porno picture with a yakuza film undercurrent. Kazuko Shirakawa plays a sexually frustrated housewife with recurring erotic dreams of being assaulted by someone more masculine (and deformed!) than her weakling husband. Her fantasies come knocking on the door when a young, violent gang member (Nobutaka Masatomi) invades her home one afternoon. The two become engaged in a love relationship that blurs the line between consensual and forced, and must be kept secret at any cost. This is a very good looking production carrying over the fantastic art direction from Nikkatsu's 60s mainstream cinema. It also manages to craft characters that feel more human and have at least a bit more psychological depth than most films of its kind. One of the characters being a volatile, tormented gangster also helps keeping things more interesting than for example the Apartment Wife series, which this movie admittedly borrows from. Interestingly enough, while the plot is a dead-serious melodrama affair, there’s also a more (darkly) humoristic layer ridiculing masculine incompetence. This type of quality was typical to director Shogoro Nishimura's 60s youth and gangster pictures, whose influence is clearly evident here, but would be lost over the years as he turned himself into a Roman Porno vending machine. This was only his 2nd Roman Porno picture, following Nov. 1971’s Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon that had kicked off the production line seven weeks earlier.

P.S. the film's ending is more fun than what is described in official (pre-production, I believe) synopsis, suggesting this may be another Roman Porno picture that was partially re-written as they filmed, seemingly for the better.



Office Lady Journal: Wet Bundle (ＯＬ日記　濡れた札束) (Japan, 1974) [35mm] – 3/5
I’ve never held director Akira Kato in a particularly high regard, but this melancholic Roman Porno drama suggests his work might deserve a re-evaluation. This film, loosely based on the Shiga Bank 900 Million Yen Embezzlement Case which saw a female bank clerk (Aoi Nakajima) steal 900 000 yen from her employer over a seven year period for her gambling addict boyfriend, is actually rather complex, following its protagonist in several different phases of her life and moving back and forth in time throughout the film. It’s a slow-burner and I don’t quite agree with some of the highest praise it’s getting, but there’s certainly something about it, and the closing shot is absolutely great. Kato also works great with Nakajima, who gives a convincing portrayal of an ordinary woman who is no eros queen, but nevertheless beautiful in her own ordinary way. Toei filmed the same story later the same year as a Toei New Porno production called The Fancy Man, focusing in the boyfriend instead and starring Takuzo Kawatani in his debut lead role.

Being Assaulted (襲られる) (Japan, 1977) [Streaming] – 2/5
A newly wed couple honeymooning in a small coastal town witness the rape of a young woman, which brings back memories of the wife’s own tragic past. By coincidence, her own assailant from the past also happens to reside in the same town, only he no longer remembers her. There are some points of interest in this film, including a near masterful ending and Nikkatsu’s rising female writer Machiko Nasu in charge of the script, but the production can’t overcome Akira Kato's haphazard direction. Were it helmed by someone with a better eye for human psychology and less emphasis on sleazy porn sequences (such as Toshiya Fujita, who brought Nasu’s previous script, A Girl’s Pleasure: Man Hunting, to screen), this could’ve been a fine, provocative film. As it stands, it’s mainly worth sitting through for the ending which is surprisingly similar to Angel Heart (1987), only a decade earlier.

Attack! (襲え) (Japan, 1978) [35mm] – 3/5
This rare picture is a bit of a Holy Grail for 70s Nikkatsu aficionados as it remains action rebel Yukihiro Sawada's only Roman Porno film that is almost impossible to see. Not plain impossible, however, as the National Film Archive has a 35mm print. The film itself is quite alright, but not as good as Sawada's previous two Roman Porno films, the Sam Peckinpah pastiche Assault! (1976) and the mistitled alienated youth drama Rape Frenzy: 5 Minutes Before Graduation (1977). Attack! feels much like a mixture of those two movies - a youth film combined with a revenge thriller - but isn't quite as effective. Erina Miyai gets a nice bad girl lead role as a mysterious woman who blackmails three no-good youngsters into kidnapping a businessman’s daughter on her behalf. Some rough stuff follows, but this shouldn’t be really compared to the violent pink wave of the mid/late 70s too much despite Nikkatsu’s best marketing efforts (it’s worth noting the poster depicts a scene that isn’t in the film!), as Sawada was more a youth action director. It’s a solid film with a nice rock soundtrack and occasional humoristic touches, even if it lacks the vigour of 5 Minutes Before Graduation and the incredible bullet ballet ending of Assault!

Nozoki (のぞき) (Japan, 1983) [35mm] – 3/5
Director Kazunari Takeda was one of Nikkatsu’s old timers, having entered the studio in the 1950s and eventually following his employer to Roman Porno. He stayed on board till the mid 80s, helming both complete drivel as well as thoughtful films, such as the lyrical gem Woman's Trail: Wet Path (1980). This one is a surprisingly breezy youth / family film combo about a busty daughter (Momoe Yamaguchi lookalike Mai Inoue) who moves back in with her parents and has lots of sex with various people. Of course her father is also a pervert, as are the guests staying at the family premises. It’s not difficult to see the obvious influence behind the film: Yoshimitsu Morita’s The Family Game, which came out three months earlier. Absolutely nothing profound, but for silly jokes, pretty girls, and general breeziness, you could do much worse than this.

[Takuma]

Tale of Scarlet Love (真赤な恋の物語) (Japan, 1963) [TV] – 4/5
Umetsugu Inoue directs this excellent Shochiku noir about undercover cop Teruo Yoshida infiltrating a criminal syndicate as a night club pianist, only to fall in love with the club’s singer and boss’s lady Mariko Okada. He soon finds himself completely under her spell, willing to endanger his career and the lives of his colleagues for her sake. Director Inoue helmed both musicals and gangster films on his career, and this movie combines elements of both into a visually intoxicating tale of mad love. The art direction is absolutely top notch. Yoshida makes an excellent doomed everyman, but Okada is the real show stealer as the femme fatale who leaves broken hearts and dead bodies in her wake. Also worth pointing out is that the film features regular yakuza movie heavy Toru Abe in a rare good guy role (he had more of those early on on his career, but most yakuza film fans have probably never seen him portray an honourable character) as the detective running the infiltration operation.



Farewell to the Land (さらば愛しき大地) (Japan, 1982) [TV] – 2.5/5
Mitsuo Yanagimachi's gritty exploration of shitty life strips Japanese countryside of its romanticism. Jinpachi Nezu is the film's hero, a wife-beating, drug addicted truck driver who loses his two sons in an accident. He proceeds to blame it on his wife (Miyako Yamaguchi), whom he dumps and then hooks up with a new girl (Kumiko Akiyoshi) who will likewise get to taste his fist. The film is uniformly well acted (including Sonny Chiba's brother Jiro as the main character's brother) and quite powerful in the few scenes that show its characters' more human side. But can be quite wearing with its focus on misery and awful people, though somehow it doesn't outstay its welcome even at 2h 14m.

Jidaigeki Special: Lone Wolf and Cub (時代劇スペシャル 子連れ狼) (Japan, 1984) [TV] – 2/5
A rarely seen television movie adapting roughly the same story passage as Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972). The 91 min movie starts with Ogami Itto (Kinnosuke Nakamura) on the road, and then covers the conflict with Lord Retsudo (Rentaro Mikuni) in flashbacks before heading to the same hot springs village as the theatrical film. This being an 80s television production the graphic violence of the source material has been greatly toned down, however, nudity is still plentiful with Mieko Harada topless in several scenes. Sadly the big name cast doesn't get to shine much here. Touted as a comeback film for Nakamura, whose career had been put on a pause in 1982 due to Myasthenia gravis, the movie sees him returning to Ogami Itto’s boots six years after his stint in the TV show version in 1973-1976. Unfortunately he sleepwalks through the film. TV veteran Hitoshi Ozu’s helming of the film is similarly uninspired. It lacks the cutting edge visual execution, the visceral action, and the attention to natural detail of Misumi’s films, and somehow also comes off much less touching in its depiction of the father-son relationship. Essentially, this is Sword of Vengeance toned down for television audiences, both graphically and artistically.

Note: this movie is frequently mistaken for The Fugitive Samurai (1984), a re-edited compilation movie of three episodes of the television show. Many film databases list them as the one and same movie, which they are not, and have their credits all mixed up. The Letterboxd page for instance uses the English title The Fugitive Samurai, but lists the cast of the Jidaigeki Special, and the directors of both!



Bootleg Film (海賊版 Bootleg Film) (Japan, 1999) [DVD] – 1.5/5
Screenwriter Masahiro Kobayashi's puzzlingly bad sophomore directorial effort. The film starts out alright as a monochrome slacker road movie with two badly behaving men (Akira Emoto and Kippei Shiina) heading to the funeral of a woman they both loved. But it soon starts to fall apart when a dead body is found in the trunk. Kobayashi then turn the movie into a self-conscious film reference festival and junior high level Tarantino spoof, where characters are constantly referencing other movies and filmmakers. It's neither clever nor funny, but embarrassingly amateurish and most unexpected from a writer of Kobayashi's calibre. The ending is even worse, an extended sequence of a naked woman's body being carried around, which somehow comes out much more sexist than probably anything in the numerous pink films Kobayashi wrote for his usual collaborator Toshiki Sato. There are narrative issues as well, with the opening scenes organized so confusingly that it's hard to grasp who was whose lover, who divorced who, and which one of the women in the flashbacks is now dead. It's a shame, as one feels the wintery Hokkaido setting, the compact 74 minute running time, and the slacker vibes that should appeal to Nobuhiro Yamashita fans, should have come together in a much better film. At least movie is true to its title, but you’d have expected a higher quality bootleg at least.

Dancing in Her Dreams (女は夢で踊る) (Japan, 2020) [Streaming] – 3.5/5
A surprisingly touching and (sadly) timely love letter to Japan’s few surviving strip theatres, down to less than 20 since the peak years in the 70s when more than 250 were in operation nationwide. And the current count is further down by one since two weeks ago when the Osaka police raided Toyo Show, a theatre loved by customers and dancers alike, and arrested both the owners and the dancers, accused of indecency (allowing a woman’s nude body to be seen in an art performance). This film blends fiction and reality, setting its story in Hiroshima’s famed strip theatre Hiroshima Daiichi and modelling its main character after its owner. The film does passable job introducing newcomers to the often misunderstood art which has in recent years become increasingly popular among female audiences too, many being moved to tears by the beauty of the performances and blown away by the choreography, costumes, lighting, storylines, and the queenly presence of the dancers, but one can’t help but to wish the film had focused on the dancers rather than the venue owner. It’s a love story between the owner and a dancer in the past, and a bittersweet tribute to the art in the present, out of its two timelines, occasionally a bit clumsy but ultimately quite moving. A larger cast and more performance scenes would’ve been welcome though, as the film only features up and coming actress Izumi Okamura and real life dancer legend Yoko Yazawa on stage. Fittingly, when the real Hiroshima Daiichi closed down a year after this film’s release, Yazawa was the final performer just like in the film *.

* The Japanese LE BD release comes with an invaluable 50 minute feature documenting the last couple of weeks of the real Hiroshima Daiichi. The theatre is also featured in the documentary film Odoriko (2020).

P.S. this movie was well received by current and retired dancers, some like Serina Komiyama saying they had never cried so hard while watching a movie, and many commenting they’ve lived through every moment and emotion seen in the film.


Subbed trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca6iVhE2zKo

Matched (マッチング) (Japan, 2023) [In-flight] – 1/5
What happened to Eiji Uchida? He was a rising indie hope ten years ago with movies like Grateful Dead and Lowlife Love. Now he has directed the plain most idiotic thriller of the last year, based on his own book about the dangers of online dating. The cautionary tale follows a wedding planner whose first try with an online dating app pairs her with a psycho stalker. And then someone starts murdering her newlywed clients. And then old family secrets begin to surface. Is it all connected? Of course it is. Increasingly moronic and utterly predictable plot twists follow each other for two hours, including a fake ending that comes when there's still half of the movie left, hence not fooling anyone. The entire movie feels like an inept TV production by a conservative religious channel trying that act modern and t

[mjeon]

Blade of Fury (1993)

Directed by Sammo Hung and starring Ti Lung and Cynthia Khan, I’m not sure what else one could ask for. The film takes place in 1898 and concerns an idealistic martial arts master (Lung) trying to deliver a book he has written on Kindness to the emperor, believing that thatcher will will lead to the reform – not revolution, he points out -- that will allow China to return to its place among great nations. The era of the Empress Dowager was a particularly fraught period, a point that the movie successfully conveys to the viewer by its depiction of the representatives of a bewildering number of groups. The film opens with an extremely bloody attack on the Japanese army, but after that it is mostly Chinese-on-Chinese violence. The bloodshed is spectacular and almost non-stop. At one point a man is bisected by a powerful kick. Cynthia Khan is the loyal student of Lung. (She may be disguised as a man. As we all know from other movies, a ravishing woman only needs to put on men’s clothes to hoodwink everyone; and that may be the case here.) The movie carries a Cat 3 rating, apparently solely on the merit of its unblinking portrayal of extreme violence. There is no nudity whatsoever; and all of the characters are far too embroiled in politics even to think about sex.

The Thakral/China Star DVD is non-anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is excellent even when blown up to fill a large widescreen television. There are burnt-in English (not SDH) and Chinese subtitles. The packaging is a CD case, which is a little different for a DVD.

[mjeon]

Takuma: "* There is no proof that this ever happened in the real life case."

You have to go and ruin everything.

[mjeon]

The Invincible Sword (1971)

For some reason this Taiwanese film, starring Hsu Feng and Jimmy Wang Yu, has received no reviews on HKMDB or IMDB. The movie deals with an attempt to rescue the Chinese culture hero General Yueh Fei, who became caught up in the shifting alliances between the warring Song and Jin and was willingly executed. The movie starts with a screen of text in Chinese and English explaining just that, namely everything that would happen in the movie. Interestingly, the English narrator reads only the first half of the text, presumably so as not to spoil the ending for the illiterate. The story of General Yueh Fei was no doubt already well known to every Chinese viewer.

The film is quite well done in the refreshing early 1970s Taiwanese aesthetic. Wang Yu plays a libidoless, single-minded warrior who is part of a rebel group intent on rescuing General Yueh Fei. After being severely injured, Wang Yu is himself rescued by a troupe of acrobats, who naturally join the heroic effort. After an immense amount of fighting and bloodshed, Yueh Fei is finally rescued. At this point Yueh Fei dramatically opens his robe to show the characters his mother had “carved” on his back when he was a child, Loyalty to your Country. The general then calmly returns to his former captors, much to the surprise of his rescuers and the Western viewer. The movie ends with the initial text screen and the English narrator finally finishes reading the text.

The picture on the Bonzai Media DVD from Taiwan is sharp and colorful; and there's English dubbing.

[Takuma]

STATION and A COLLEGE GIRL'S AFFAIRS... both sound amazing. Thanks, Takuma, for your amazing work.

I had ignored Station for ages, because somehow I thought it would be some kind of sappy drama film. Turned out to be a cop / serial killer film

Would be great to get to see some more Toei New Porno. I think there were at least 20 films made in total, but I'm not even sure. I think only two have ever been released on video / been possible to view at home in any format (the two Virgin Breaker Yuki films).

[AngelGuts]

STATION and A COLLEGE GIRL'S AFFAIRS... both sound amazing. Thanks, Takuma, for your amazing work.

[Takuma]

Toho x 2

Bonds of Love (愛のきずな) (Japan, 1969) [35mm] – 3/5
A jerk travel agency employee (Makoto Fujita) falls in love with a pretty girl (Mari Sono), only to learn too late that she’s secretly married to a violent criminal (Makoto Sato) who’s about to be released from prison! This is a pretty good and stylish passion noir with an evident Hitchcock vibe, based on a Seicho Matsumoto story. Also nice to see Mari Sono tackle a real film role – some of her other movies were superficial idol vehicles designed to support her pop star career. Some of the film’s plot turns do feel a bit forced, however. Viewed from a phenomenally beautiful 35mm print that did full justice to the film’s cinematography and art direction. Why can’t modern movies look half as good?

Station (駅) (Japan, 1981) [TV] – 4/5
Yasuo Furuhata delivers probably his best film with this beautifully crafted, melancholic tale of a Sapporo detective (Ken Takakura) haunted by guilt. Starting in 1968 when the protagonist separates with his wife and child due to his commitment to work, the storyline spans over three decades in three chapters, each one of which sees him leaving death and misery in his wake as he tries to track down killers but is repeatedly forced to use their loved ones to get to them. Takakura delivers one of the best performances of his career as a man who believes he’s doing the right thing, but at the same time but cannot escape the memories of the people he witnessed die, or sent to death row while their families were left behind crying. The episodic structure works extremely well, with the first two thirds being more action packed and contributing the weight of the last one as he falls in love with a lonely bar owner who is another person whose trust he’s bound to betray. Almost the entire film is set in beautiful but stormy, frequently brutally cold and snow covered Hokkaido coastal towns, a perfect match for the film’s storyline. Those who saw Furuhata, Takakura and writer So Kuramoto’s earlier film Winter’s Flower (1978) know roughly what to expect, but this could be considered an even better, more refined follow-up.



+ Toei New Porno

A Diary of A Woman Doctor (女医の愛欲日記) (Japan, 1973) [35mm] - 3.5/5
There is something beautiful about theatre full of spectators leaving the cinema in bewilderment: what the hell did we just see? Death by Hanging screenwriter Doten Fukao's directorial debut was conceived as a "Toei New Porno", an obscure production line putting out roughly 50 minute sex romps budgeted at mere 5 million yen (less than Roman Porno, which were already less than the standard Toei feature). The line was established in 1973 to compensate for film print shortage in lower tier Toei theatres caused by the extended runs of the Battles without Honor and Humanity films in urban areas, and some of the films were only screened in rural areas and went largely unrecorded in film history. Fukao's film is a progressively bizarre tale of a female doctor who leaves her home and husband (Fumio Watanabe in 30 second role) behind to attend a medical seminar in Kyoto, but in fact has reserved the weekend to indulge in sexual pleasures. First comes the casual stuff like stabbing a gigolo with syringe during sex for kicks, then the goat… oh boy, I’m not going to spoil what happens to the goat, but I will say after the scene there’s an existential dialogue about the goat’s existence. And then she eats a bouquet of roses! Supposedly inspired by real events (what the hell?), Fukao makes the most of his limited resources with tight framing, intoxicating use of the yellow color, an intriguing story that probably no one fully gets on first viewing, and a bizarrely big name cast featuring genre and art-house actors in one scene cameos, such as Etsuko Ichihara discussing the goat’s existence. And holy shit the ending shot left the entire theatre gasping, trying to figure out what the hell had they just witnessed. To quote Cinema Vera’s old introduction text for this film, it’s up to you to decide if this is a masterpiece among cult films, or a failure pretending to be avant-garde?

Viewed from a 35mm print in Laputa Asagaya’s Toei New Porno retrospective. The screening was nothing short of a big deal. 11 years Laputa attempted to screen this film from their own self-produced print as part of their previous Toei New Porno retrospective, but Toei placed this and several other films under complete screening and distribution ban at the request of Doten Fukao (whose name really is Doten. All English language databases have it wrong as Michinori) who didn’t want any of his erotic films to be seen ever again. The ban wasn’t lifted until Fukao died late last year. Before the 9 p.m. screening started I had became increasingly glad I had bought my ticket already in the morning. There were only five unsold seats as the film started. It was the film’s 8th and last screening (for now). Who knows when it will be seen again? Needless to say it’s never been available to watch at home, and might never be.



The High Cost of Virginity (処女かまきり) (Japan, 1973) [35mm] – 2.5/5
There are works of exceptional ambition in the forgotten "Toei New Porno" aka "5 Million Yen Porno" phantom genre. This film is merely exceptionally horny. Teruo Ishii and Norifumi Suzuki's former assistant director Tomoomi Yoda's debut is an anarchic sex comedy about a pair of sisters (Mitsuko Aoi and Mami Sakura) selling sex and virginity (restored at gynaecologist Hiroshi Nawa’s clinic, where patients even take their bra off for some reason!). There isn't much besides shagging and gags in the film, and the movie could have done without the opening credits still montage of horses having sex, but for what it is, it's a rather amusing affair. Yoda directs with mad energy and visual inventiveness, playing with colours and framing, even choreographing one sex scene with umbrellas as the only moving/visible elements. The cast is composed of Toei eros regulars, but the real standouts are found in the supporting roles, including Toei's live action Donald Duck Takuzo Kawatani as horny young chap, and award winning author and occasional Toei guest star Tanaka Komimasa as a horny monk. Ichiro Araki contributes the surprisingly unremarkable musical score that seems to be based on a couple of earlier Norifumi Suzuki films. If you still haven’t quite pictured what the film is like, imagine a lower tier Roman Porno comedy director like Isao Hayashi an on exceptionally inspired day, or a bored Norifumi Suzuki doing a 52 minute series of goofy sex scenes. Or – if the official press sheet is anything to go by – West German pornography, which apparently enjoyed great popularity in Japan and was this film’s inspiration.



A College Girl's Affairs (女子大生失踪事件 熟れた匂い) (1974) [35mm] – 4/5
Born from the success of jitsuroku yakuza films (whose extended runs forced Toei to produce more films for waiting lower tier theatres), it is perhaps only logical that Toei New Porno also soon delved into the true account crime territory. This film is based on the 1973 disappearance / murder of a Rikkyo University female student. The suspect was her professor at the university, who committed suicide with his wife and two daughters a month later. The girl’s body wasn’t found until six months later buried in the outskirts of Tokyo. Adding to the notoriety, the university were aware of the tragedy after the suspect’s somewhat cryptic confessions, but refrained from informing the police in fear of scandal and how the suspect’s suicidal wife would react. A College Girl's Affairs provides a near ingenious interpretation of what MIGHT have happened. The film positions itself somewhere between reality and fiction, being either a fictionalized take on a true account, or a fictional tale that constantly references a true crime (being familiar with the true story is essential for appreciating the film, as it takes known facts, twists them around, and comes a full circle in unexpectedly clever ways). Doten Fukao’s script mixes human existentialism with a non-linear who-did-it plot (here all of her lovers are suspects, and they’re all university professors gathering together to discuss her disappearance!), brought to screen in wicked fashion by Teruo Ishii’s AD Misao Arai, who said he wanted to make a film where everyone was crazy. The film does have its porno trappings and less inspired patches, not to mention being a questionable production from the start, but it’s a fascinating piece of filmmaking with strong acting performances and an unforgettable ending. And holy fucking shit what a soundtrack courtesy of the psychedelic rock band Datetenryu!

Viewed from a brand new 35mm print at Laputa Asagaya’s Toei New Porno retrospective. This is likely the first time anyone has seen the film in decades, perhaps since the 70s. 11 years ago Laputa tried to produce a new print for it – as none were available – but the movie became the first of four Toei New Porno productions placed under complete distribution ban at the request of screenwriter Doten Fukao, who insisted no one be allowed to see the erotic films he wrote or directed in the 70s (the other three were A Diary of a Woman Doctor, The Fancy Man, and Amorous Tales of Genpei). The ban lasted until his death late last year.



The Fancy Man (史上最大のヒモ 濡れた砂丘) (1974) [35mm] – 3/5
Takuzo Kawatani landed his first lead role in this entertaining Toei New Porno. The film is yet another jitsuroku crime affair, based on the Shiga Bank 900 Million Yen Embezzlement Case (1966-1973), which saw a middle aged female clerk steal loads of money over a 7 year period for her sweet-talking, gambling addicted lover. Nikkatsu released their own, more feminine and lyrical version (Office Lady Journal: Wet Bundle) earlier the same year, whereas this Toei version – somewhat fittingly for the studio – puts Kawatani’s playboy thug in the spotlight. It's a fun, ugly film that depicts the polar opposite of the beautiful high culture Kyoto so often seen in films. The bank clerk lead is played by capable Keiko Kojima in her first (co) lead role, which also proved her final acting appearance prior to retirement (though she’d later work as a dialogue coach in another Toei New Porno: Virgin Breaker Yuki 2!). The obvious highlight however is of course madman Kawatani, who does well in his "Tatsuo Umemiya role". He slightly tones down his crazy antics and shows his acting chops in a couple of tender moments that humanize the main character a bit. The same can be said about director Tomoomi Yoda, who avoids the excess silliness of his earlier The High Cost of Virginity (1973). That being said, the film isn’t particularly memorable, and even troublesome genius Doten Fukao’s script doesn't stand out much, though the theme is unmistakably his field (all four Toei New Porno films he write on were true account crime tales).

Like the rest of the Toei New Porno films Fukao wrote, this movie has been under Toei’s self-imposed screening ban for ages, only lifted late last year after Fukao’s death.



Victimized (女高生飼育) (Japan, 1975) [35mm] – 3/5
Another true account crime tale conceived as a “Toei New Porno” production. The film is loosely based on the same schoolgirl kidnapping case as The Perfect Education (1999), with Eimei Esumi as a middle aged English teacher who kidnaps 17 year old schoolgirl Yoko Asakura. Initially reluctant to be his sex slave, she soon develops a Stockholm syndrome and romance follows (*)... Yes, it’s a little difficult to defend this film as entertainment of any sort, and it could even be interpreted as call for sympathy for criminal incels. Yet, typical to mid-70s Toei exploitation, it comes off strangely watchable and certainly has its jitsuroku vibes with time stamps and all. There’s even a bizarre, out of the blue “underground gore party” club scene, not to mention a slight S&M vibe. The latter is probably the influence of Naomi Tani films at Nikkatsu, and most likely creditable to screenwriter Ikuo Sekimoto, who would later helm a pair of actual S&M fares for Nikkatsu (Rope Torture, 1984, and Double Rope Torture, 1985). Director Tatsuo Honda helms the picture with professionalism – at least if we ignore a couple of unintentionally comical drama bits –, the tech credits are fine, and the film looks better than the minimal budget might have you expect. It was the end of the directorial run for Honda, though: he was re-assigned to producer’s duties for the rest of his career after this movie. Not bad, but Honda’s earlier “Toei New Porno” effort A Married Woman’s Sex Hell (1974) was more exiting with its Masahiro Kakefuda script and hard boiled revenge film climax.

* There is no proof that this ever happened in the real life case.

[mjeon]

The Ghost Hill (1971)

If your attention span is so brief and your senses so jaded that you can only be tickled by an offering from the one-damned-thing-after-another school of film making, The Ghost Hill might be a good selection for you. The beginning is extremely majestic with a duel on the beach between two warriors. At stake is possession of the Purple Light Sword. After consultation with that bane of modern sports, the referee’s video replay booth, the sword is awarded to Tien Peng. It hardly matters, since the famous blade is almost immediately stolen by the colorful henchmen of King Gold, who in addition to being gold colored is within days of becoming invulnerable to all weapons.

King Gold is one of those intolerable villains who laughs at everything. As part of his training routine he bathes in boiling oil. This led to what for me was the most amazing scene. Before this blubbery monstrosity slips off his armor to plunge into his boiling bath, a piece of sheer fabric is held up to show only his outline as if it’s naked Amy Yip slipping into the tub. At any rate, King Gold plans to marry the daughter of one of his dead rivals, whom for the past sixteen years he has been raising as his own daughter. (Say what you will, he’s certainly patient. I would have just found someone else.) The lovely Han Hsiang-Chin has a wonderful time playing the evil daughter until an old blabber-mouth informs her, “Your surname is not Gold.”

All of this and much, much more leads to an assault on the ten traps of Hell’s Castle on Hundred Thousand Gold Mountain (I think the English “Ghost Hill” is a mistake), the poison room, the hot room, the cold room, etc. Strategy is in short supply here; the good guys make it through simply by brute force. It’s an immense slaughter of the bad as well as the good, but thankfully two masters are avenged.

The widescreen Hoker Records DVD is quite nice with removable English and Chinese subtitles. Eureka, which recently released Swordsman of all Swordsmen on blu-ray, claims that The Ghost Hill is part of “Joseph Kuo’s Tsai Ying-jie trilogy,” but Ting Shan-Hsi directed The Ghost Hill.

[Takuma]

Daiei x 2

The Dream Girl (裸でだっこ) (Japan, 1970) [TV] – 2.5/5
Forgettable, but entirely watchable sexy comedy with Mari Atsumi in various levels of undress. Atsumi stars as a female member of a youth group pulling out various conman stunts to make money. Gamera director Noriaki Yuasa packs more punch, laughs and nudity into this movie than his earlier Atsumi film, the thoroughly dull Your Favourite (1969).

Hurry on a Sail to Dream (太陽は見た) (Japan, 1970) [TV] – 3.5/5
A delightfully twisted, Sun Tribe influenced psycho drama with Daiei's electric jellyfish Mari Atsumi. The opening scene sees caretaker Atsumi having sex with her bed-ridden father. Young bloke Toru Minegishi, who witnesses the act, then deems it fair game to rape the spoiled goods. He only learns later that there’s more to the family relationship than meets the eye, and that her affection is more of the economic than romantic kind. Atsumi and Minegishi start working together to make the old geezer expire sooner, and fall in love while at it. This is where audiences with modern sensibilities probably start checking out, if they had not done so already. However, the power balance here isn't quite what one might expect as Atsumi constantly has the psychological upper hand over the rough but boyishly naïve Minegishi. Somewhat similar in tone to Masumura's equally enjoyable Atsumi film The Hot Little Girl (1970), this is a solid sociopaths in love tale with a touch of Sun Tribe influence to themes and scenery. Also perhaps worth noting, Atsumi who had a tendency to tease but not show much, goes topless quite a few times here, though briefly each time.



Nikkatsu x 2

Umi no jôji ni kakero (海の情事に賭けろ) (Japan, 1960) [35mm] – 2.5/5
Japan's James Dean Keiichiro Akagi stars in this mediocre Nikkatsu action film made only 5 months before his untimely death at the age of 21. This actually seems more interesting at first than it turns out to be, opening much like a Sun Tribe picture with a bunch hedonistic youngsters at sea. They save an injured young man (Akagi) from the water, which is when the film takes a turn to standard mystery action. The man is a reporter who was almost killed after being mistaken for someone else. He decides to find out what's going on and why the yakuza have hired a hitman to get rid of someone who shares a face with him. It turns out – spoiler incoming – he's got an identical twin he never knew about. Melodrama ensues. The film’s old fashioned charm, pretty colour cinematography and of course Akagi keep the film entirely watchable, even though it’s hardly more than a standard programmer.

Night Butterflies (三人の女　夜の蝶) [Japan, 1971] [Streaming] – 3.5/5
Unknown to most overseas audiences, in the 60s and early 70s Japan there was an entire (untitled) genre of nocturnal dramas focusing on the lives of hostesses and hustlers. These films served as cinematic ballads, and indeed, were often based on one. Their sound and aesthetics were instantly recognizable from neon lights, colourful night club interiors and pop songs performed in front of camera by popular singers. This film is a superior late entry into the genre with Chieko Matsubara, Meiko Kaji and Yoko Yamamoto as three hostesses working in the Shinjuku night, which is infested with playboys, gangsters and people trying to forget their past. The film doesn't stray far from the usual formula; however, it is better made than most, with good characters and an all around solid execution. Matsubara is the lead, a countryside girl who relocates to Tokyo after being betrayed by a lover and immediately after brutalized by thug Tatsuya Fuji. They later meet in Tokyo, with Fuji now regretful of what he did to her. Speaking of which, it's not in every film that you see chaste 60s princess Matsubara raped in the opening scene. Indeed, the times were changing and it’s perhaps a bit surprising she was still on board with Nikkatsu as late as early 1971, even if the mentioned scene is quite tame by 70s standards. Oh and another scene that must be mentioned: chubby child comedian Attack Ichiro fooling around in bed with a beautiful naked hostess. I don't even dare to imagine how this scene would go down with hyper-sensitive modern (Western) audiences.



Toei x 2

Blackmail (恐喝) (Japan, 1963) [35mm] – 3/5
A pretty good, if somewhat forgettable, neo noir with Ken Takakura as a young yakuza punk who finds himself alone in the night after two yakuza gangs team up to hunt him down to recover a stolen document. There are some thrilling scenes and stylish cinematography, but the storyline and direction are a bit too basic to sustain momentum throughout the 91 minute running time. Seeing Takakura, best known for his later chivalrous roles, play a selfish blackmailer punk who’s too full of himself, is probably the film’s best selling point. Bad girl Yoko Mihara makes a brief appearance as the anti-hero’s sexy girlfriend. Director Yusuke Watanabe was no stranger to yakuza films, but his most memorable pictures came in the mid 60s when he directed Mako Midori in some of Toei’s best early erotic B-films, such as Two Bitches (1964).

Secret Information (密告) (Japan, 1968) [Streaming] – 4/5
Former real life gang boss turned actor Noboru Ando stars in this little known revenge noir, which is one of his best films. Ando plays a bitter gangster just out of prison, quietly searching for the traitor who sent him behind bars eight years earlier. Director Masaharu Segawa is best known for comedy and musical films. He only made three gangster action pictures in his career, all of them highly stylized, and this one coming out as the best. There’s an evident European new wave and Jean Pierre Melville vibe to the film, which is almost experimental in its editing, sound design and minimalism. That being said, it’s still a Toei gangster picture with the expected gunplay, car chases, and a shade of romance. Ando himself fares quite well in a role that doesn’t require big acting or lots of dialogue, but rather draws from his natural charisma and scarred face.

[Takuma]

3 x Nikkatsu

The Incorrigible (悪太郎) (Japan, 1963) [35mm] – 2.5/5
One of Seijun Suzuki's less recognizable and more studio friendly efforts, a standard biopic drama depicting the (not so) wild youth of celebrated author and monk Toko Kon, based on his autobiographical novel. The Taisho era set film is relatively well made, but not particularly interesting. The 35mm black and white print the film screened from on the other hand was drop dead gorgeous.

Loss of Innocence (処女喪失) (Japan, 1965) [TV] – 2.5/5
A stylishly filmed but awfully conservative Nikkatsu studio feature based on “sexual activity surveys” conducted with a 1000+ unmarried women. It’s essentially a condescending docu-drama about how pre-marital sex and particularly becoming a victim of sexual abuse is the end of all. The film follows investigative reporter Tamio Kawachi as he is contacted by a young man whose girlfriend had committed suicide after being forced to prostitution. The film then unfolds in episodic fashion as the reporter meets more victims or sexual abuse / violence (including several women who proposed to marry their rapist since that was supposedly the only option they had left). Some of the film’s extremely outdated views on sexuality can be quite jarring and the message is to make sure to keep your virginity until marriage if you want any happiness to ever come your way. The film should therefore be taken as a zeitgeist curiosity that was already out of date when it came out. Perhaps it was just an excuse for the filmmakers to dwell in sensationalism under the guise of condescending everything that’s on screen. As such, it is of some interest. The cast is pretty good as well, the tech credits are top notch, and surprisingly enough there’s a bit of nudity at the end by a very cute one-time actress whose name is probably Hitomi Mayama.



Lost Virgin (ＢＧ・ある１９才の日記　あげてよかった！) (Japan, 1968) [Streaming] – 3.5/5
Yuji Tanno made his directorial debut with this "shocking" true account exploration of the modern youth. The film sets out to uncover the sex lives of 19 year old “business girls” (the BG of the Japanese title, an old term later made obsolete by OL), based on a women's magazine whose readers’ segment served as the film's inspiration. It was another one in a line of such b-film productions by Nikkatsu, who were better known for romantic youth films and gangster movies (this movie premiered as the supporting feature for Outlaw: Heartless). Keiko Nishi, a new Nikkatsu face whose career never really took off, stars in her debut role as an innocent 19 year old typist who falls for a married senior executive (Hideaki Nitani) after he saves her from a morning train molester. Her co-workers are a bunch of straight-talking modern gals (Meiko Kaji as the meanest of them) about as far from the traditional Japanese idea of a decent woman as possible. Then there's a wannabe boyfriend Koji Wada whose charms can't compete with the married playboy. Of course, the film is very tame by modern standards and even compared to many other films that came out in 1968 that featured more graphic scenes. But it's also a charmingly old fashioned zeitgeist and a lot less judgemental than some other films of its kind (e.g. Nikkatsu’s 1965 film Loss of Innocence). It also packs a good cast, a nice musical score that grows on you, and a lot of stylish black & white cinematography. The club scenes are particularly cool. Call it low-key groovy.



3 x Nikkatsu Roman Porno

Love Hunter: Lust (恋の狩人　欲望) (Japan, 1973) [TV] – 4/5
Director Seiichiro Yamaguchi made film and court history when he, Nikkatsu, and even the censorship board were trialled for the distribution of obscene material in the so called Roman Porno case targeting the director’s film Love Hunter (1972). It is generally understood the case was less about the film in question and more about authorities reacting to the ever quickening eroticization of cinema after major studio Nikkatsu had begun mass producing Roman Porno some two month earlier. Yamaguchi responded by making this angry, political / philosophical sequel that follows a stripper (Mari Tanaka) with ties to radical youth movement arrested for obscenity. Much of the film unfolds in interview sequences critiquing the legal system, the hypocrisy of the authorities, and prejudice against anyone, particularly women, who challenge established conservative values. But the film, perhaps surprisingly, doesn't dwell too long on the injustice the director’s alter-ego faces, as it also critically examines the naivety of the youth and the compromising nature of the anti-establishment. Less fascinating is the love affair between the protagonist and a disillusioned reporter who used to be at the forefront of the student movement in his youth but has since stopped believing one person could make a difference. There are some dull sex scenes thrown in to fulfil genre requirements, but the film's political contents, especially when mirrored against the court case that was in progress at the same time the film was made, are so interesting it's hard to take your eyes off the screen. Acting performances are solid as well, by both skin actress gone anti-establishment icon Tanaka and Teruo Matsuyama, who has the kind of world weariness perfect for the cynical reporter role. And last but not least, there’s superb use of music throughout the film.



Nurses' Journal: Nasty File (看護婦日記　わいせつなカルテ) (Japan, 1980) [TV] – 1.5/5
One wouldn’t suspect Shogoro Nishimura was once a fine director, later reduced to a Roman Porno vending machine, watching this soulless soft-core comedy about a nurse and a taxi driver. Shagging and white uniforms follow, with lame comedy in between. That being said, I did not see that nunchaku fight coming, nor the rest of the kung fu action that dominates the film’s last ten minutes. That's something at least.

Uniform Virgin Pain (制服処女のいたみ) (Japan, 1981) [Streaming] – 2/5
Jun Miho stars in her debut role as a high school girl disco queen whose best friend gets raped in public bathroom while Miho is tearing up the dance floor. Several more particularly dirty scenes follow as the assailants continue to abuse the poor friend while Miho wonders what a girl's first time might feel like (the clue is in the title). One man pink factory Mamoru Watanabe directed this mishmash of disco dancing / rape & revenge / pink sleaze / youth film that Nikkatsu brought to theatres as one of their third party produced Roman Porno releases. This kind of “trendy” films were not entirely rare for Nikkatsu in the early 80s as evidenced by Watanabe’s later film Lusty Discipline in Uniform (1982) with Kazumi Kawai, and Miho’s popular but over-rated Pink Curtain series (1982-1983). Uniform Virgin Pain feels a bit more dated than those, as if it was born between the 70s disco boom and the 80s bubblegum idol pop eras, featuring elements of both. It’s not a very good film and a lot of the sleaze feels particularly dirty, but the film does befit from the enigmatic and excessively cute (though not particularly talented) Miho in the lead, as well as some good location work that captures the streets of Shinjuku that are filled with movie billboards from pinks to Bond. There’s a good ending too, if you manage stay on board until then.

[Takuma]

Toei x 4

Bullets of Slacker Street (遊民街の銃弾) (Japan, 1962) [35mm] – 4/5
The early 1960s saw Toei put out some of their coolest pulpy action thrillers, as evidenced by this thoroughly excellent thrill ride. A hard core criminal of unknown nationality (Tetsuro Tamba) learns about diamonds hidden inside a US army base from a cellmate / army deserter (Issac Saxson), and starts planning a prison escape. He puts together a pack of international convicts and receives help a second group (Ken Takakura, Harumi Sone, Yoshiko Sakuma) outside the prison who are also after the diamonds. Those who saw Kinji Fukasaku's High Noon for Gangsters (1961) will instantly notice this movie is at times almost a carbon copy of it. It has a very similar premise, the same highly energized jazzy tone, as well as some near identical scenes in addition to being written, filmed and produced by the same people, and sharing half of the same cast. And this is almost as good, a thrilling gangster actioner packed with style, suspense, and fantastic gunplay at the end. At 82 minutes it isn't ruined with excess length either. It is only missing Fukasaku’s deeper psychological edge. As for the similarity between the two films, all was fair under the Japanese genre cinema sky in the 60s when copying was common and sequels were often essentially remakes. This film actually enjoyed European theatrical distribution back in the day, though it has been largely forgotten since then and hasn’t even received a home video release in Japan. Here’s hoping that Toei will wise up and give the film a much needed HD treatment (an old SD streaming version exists). Viewed from a beautiful 35mm print at Laputa Asagaya.



Women's Native Ground: Bitches' Chain (おんな番外地 鎖の牝犬) (Japan, 1965) [35mm] – 3/5
This was Toei’s first women in prison film, released in wake of the first two Abashiri Prison movies. It was intended to ride the popularity of the Takakura series, but it was also a product of Toei’s B-film line, which aimed to produce more erotically charged companion films to be screened with the studio’s A-films (mainly yakuza pictures). The official synopsis talks about “the joys, sorrows, and abnormal sex in a women’s world concealed from men’s eyes”, which is a good enough description as long as one doesn’t expect steam beyond a tiny bit of nudity and lesbianism. Mako Midori is great as a young woman sent behind bars for murdering treacherous boyfriend Tatsuo Umemiya. The film then unfolds in a mixture of present day prison scenes and flashbacks detailing how she came to shove a knife into Umemiya’s guts. The “men are all pigs” and “patriarchal system is corrupt” message found in many later genre films is very much present here, however, at the same time the film gives an almost motherly portrayal of the prison’s all-female staff who genuinely care for the prisoners (except for one sadistic bitch). Most of the fellow prisoners also turn out to be good people, making this more of a girls’ drama than an outright exploitation film.



Return to Women’s Native Ground (続 おんな番外地) (Japan, 1966) [35mm] – 3.5/5
A superior sequel with Mako Midori returning as the same character she played in the first film. She only spends the first 15 minutes behind bars, after which the film turns into a touching tale of a woman trying start again in a cruel world that doesn’t forgive women with a past. Things get even worse when she’s requested to meet a former cellmate’s boyfriend (Kenji Imai), who turns out to be the sleaziest blackmailer scum ever seen in a Toei film. Her only consolation is a bunch other former prisoners from the first film, now released and all trying to start over. This is quite a gripping film, at times emotionally maddeningly manipulative in her downfall, but effective all the same. Midori is fantastic in her role, even if a little too cute to convince as a killer, and the sequences with the discriminated women bonding have a very interesting feminist vibe – at times the film almost forgets men exist at all. At the same time, however, there’s a bit of added entertainment in form of some comic relief (Toru Yuri and Ryoichi Tamagawa), and a prison bath scene with plenty of blink-or-you’ll-miss-it nudity by a group of student and housewife extras Toei drafted with a newspaper announcement promising 7000 yen for a day’s nude work! The film was followed by a loosely connected third entry, called The Pretty Jade, reportedly with no prison scenes at all and Midori playing a different character.



Settlement (決着) (Japan, 1967) [Streaming] – 3/5
Teruo Ishii was first and foremost a director of tough guy films. This contemporary gangster tale is a good example, even if it doesn’t fully work. It’s got style to boot and an excellent hard boiled cast, but is so loosely written than one tends to forget who is supposed to be the main character / lead actor. The answer to that question is Tatsuo Umemiya, starring in one of his relatively few (but not entirely rare) ninkyo roles as a member in old man Kanjuro Arashi's gang, which is being harassed by greedier competitors. It is however Ishii regular Teruo Yoshida who dominates the screen as Umemiya’s charismatic older gang brother. Yoshida was a man of few faces, but Ishii and the dressing department make the most out of them. Yoshida is backed up by an army of other tough guys, almost everyone is dressed in black and wearing either hats or sunglasses. Ishii films it all with tremendous style and packs plenty of tension into the best scenes. But what was the plot all about, and was it even worth caring about? Poor Umemiya gets the shortest straw since it’s his job to carry much of the irrelevant drama. The rest of the guys get to focus on looking cool and blasting each other off in action scenes. Worth a watch for the cool factor alone.



+ Two recent movies

Bad City (バッドシティ) (Japan, 2022) [TV] – 2.5/5
Ten years ago Toei released the hugely underwhelming movie “25” in celebration of the 25th anniversary of V-Cinema. Now Toei is attempting something similar but a tad more ambitious in celebration of the 60th birthday of one of the production line’s biggest stars, Hitoshi Ozawa. Ozawa stars as a detective thrown behind bars while investigating an underworld conflict involving Japanese and Korean gangsters with hidden links to high ranking political figures. Luckily for him, he’s soon out on parole thanks to an untouchable prosecutor who puts together a secret crime fighting unit to continue the investigation. This is a rather passable crime film resting on Ozawa’s charismatic shoulders, though one with a plot so complicated that the viewer may need a pen and paper to keep track of all character affiliations. It’s also a basher picture with action choreographer gone 2nd time director Kensuke Sonomura marching Ozawa through armies of enemies, many of them armed with baseball bats. The most formidable of the opponents however, is Tak Sakaguchi’s evil henchman with lighting fast, feline-like fight moves. And here lies one of the film’s problems. While Ozawa’s impressive fisticuffs fighting is at least somewhat within the picture’s crime drama realm, martial arts super hero Sakaguchi seems to come from an alternate universe, creating a somewhat jarring experience. The same can be said about the hero’s colleague Masanori Mimoto, whose fighting fluctuates between superhuman and oddly ineffective. Worse yet, the film effectively knocks itself out at the end with (not one but two of) the dumbest, most clichéd and nonsensical closing scenes in recent memory.

Baby Assassins: 2 Babies (ベイビーわるきゅーれ2ベイビー) (Japan, 2023) [TV] – 2/5
I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this film, a sequel to Baby Assassins which was a CGI enhanced piece of post modern garbage. It seems there is now a whole generation of socially insecure film makers who cannot make straight genre films without disguising them, or excusing them, as a joke. Hence our main characters are a pair of quirky teenage girls who work part time jobs, watch TV, go shopping, and complain about everything between heaven and earth, in between killing people. But this is not quite as annoying as the first film due to a genuinely funny bank robbery scene, and a spectacular end fight courtesy of Kensuke Sonomura, Japan’s best action choreographer. The film’s earlier action sequences, particularly the John Wick influenced, CGI ridden gun-play scenes are sadly not half as exciting.

[Jason C]

^^ I'd really like to Ninja's Mark.