Reiko Ike leads the way, as Maki, a woman who seeks revenge on Oba Industries for her fathers' death. Miki Sugimoto has a more drifting, small role as Masayo, Obas' woman. Primarily a tale of the manipulation Maki sets underway between Oba and their local rivals the Hamayasu Group, it's not necessarily a Pinky Violence movie in the same surreal or over-the-top fashion I've so far experienced, and has more in commond with Yakuza Movies or a more traditional kind, all be it with a strong group of females (and a particularly strong female lead) and some of the same elements and charms too.
In this third of four reviews for this 'The Pinky Violence Collection', things begin to shift again and we get another variant with a completely different feel - perhaps more 'Sasori' than 'Sex & Fury'.
The Approach :
The astute will notice I've instantly shifted this part of the review up, as I have done 'the story' then 'the characters' and 'the approach' in that order so far. But there's some things prominanly in my mind about the approach, not about its' controversial nature, to do with how suitable an entry this is for a collection of Pinky Violence films. That is, that this plays in a way that although it contains a couple of the hallmarks of such a film (sex and violence) they're not in copious and relentless quantities, and certainly not presented in an overtly surreal fashion as I've come to expect. Is this a Pinky Violence movie then?
I think it's a Yakuza movie, one that's visually straightforward by comparison to the previous two reviews I've done (and the others in recent separate reviews also), and lead by strong female characters (primarily Reiko Ike as Maki) in a way that relates it to other genres more obviously than it does the genre it's touted as being part of. They certainly use their feminine charms, get naked and fire guns at men - but they're no more dominant in their screen time necessarily, they're not getting naked at the slightest excuse, and they're not involved in the imaginative and intentionally controversial or salacious plots I've seen. Someone can relatively easily argue against all this, but I say this has either more in common with largely all-male Yakuza movies or even other forms of film like the 'Sasori' ('Female Convict Scorpion' with Meiko Kaji) films, but even they're more surreal and contrived in their visuals.
The Story :
So the story is largely traditional. A little chainsaw use, that's certainly unexpected, and more nudity than a traditional Yakuza Movie because of its' leading lady characters or female-driven narrative. What do we get then? Well, Maki (played by Reiko Ike) ends up in jail after attempted revenge against the 'Oba Industries' Yakuza Group - she makes friends (her small band of like-minded ladies) and enemies (Mr.Obas' woman - Masayo, played by Miki Sugimoto), and immerges to attempt to achieve her aims in a more considered fashion, with a little help. She tries to pit Oba Industries against local rivals, the Hamayasu Group, by leading crazy youngster Tetsu (son of Mr.Hamayasu) like a puppet to kick-start a war. It sounds relatively simple, it's not, but it does boil down to these key elements.
No genre-hopping here necessarily, not strictly only to be taken as a Yakuza Movie narrative either, more a vengeance / revenge movie that's told quite clearly and with relative style and skill to more familiar Yakuza fair. It's not the intricate infighting of the Kinji Fukasaku 'Yakuza Papers' series, and it's not the other end of the scale in terms of its' reality either - sits somewhere in the middle, with the families almost become entities that compare to individual characters, and this makes the story pretty clear.
Nicely paced, and interesting to watch, I prefer Reiko Ike as a leading lady to Miki Sugimoto as she has more depth and ability to carry a plot that's fairly intricate, and involves a character with more facets or depth - she gets the main part of the screen time and it all revolves around her, all be it in addition to her relationships with others. The lead needs perceptable strength to carry off an understanding of this complicated situation, and Miki Sugimoto has a more 'strong silent' approach that fits her role as Masayo much better, and has been applied well to the other films where the balance of screen time was switched the other way.
The Characters :
A much clearer selection of characters this time, again with Yakuza clans almost amalgamating into entities that don't necessarily require much sense of the individuals within them. Reiko Ike gives a very strong performance in a role that could traditionally be seen to be more exploitative or thin, and shows she can carry off a broader range of skills that is necessarily called for in other films recently released on DVD in which she features. Convincing, she certainly was for me - and she carries this films story in my eyes.
Miki Sugimoto is an odd one, with her 'strong silent' approach that I've already mentioned here, sits kind of in the middle of the Yakuza / Girl Gang relationship and hovers around a bit. Not entirely there to simply serve a function, she is fleshed reasonably well, but primarily seems to be here as an audience draw. Her focus is quite selfish, and she isn't entirely given the events to allow her to look like a familiar strong female from such a film.
Tetsu, the mad dog son of Mr.Hamayasu is the bad boy character type that's exaggerated and over-the-top in a fairly interesting fashion. Perhaps, like Miki Sugimotos' character Masayo, a little under-utilised in a story dominated by the Maik Vs Oba Vs Hamayasu story. Oba himself is fairly effective, but nothing special. Nobody else is called on to play a particularly substantial role, and yet noboy lets it down and it consequently remains fairly defined with the focus in the right places.
Overall :
Ultimately, I think this one will be remembered for Reiko Ike and her character Maki, the narrative path she treads with great confidence and in entertaining style. Not a particularly special film, in that it isn't a tour de force of imagination, surreal visuals or excessive / prolonged extreme violence - but it is a nice female-dominated Yakuza Movie to my eyes. Again, nicely presented disc that adds to the understanding or discussion on the genre, shifting my thoughts around once again. This film has pulled my concerns or focus elsewhere as I can't quite see how this fits in, and so it's hard to compare or contrast, relate it to my experience in either Japanese films or any specific genre. Confused, that's me right now.
Increasingly concerned that the more you explain these movies the more they begin to unravel, and the more you cover similar ground, so to place this review into context it's probably going to be necessary of having read the others I've written for this box. Hopefully you'll have seen other similar films too, even though there are relatively few examples, and maybe worth checking back over these are seeing how they relate to your thoughts once you've been able to see these four examples for yourself.
'Criminal Woman : Killing Melody' Trailer : Quicktime Small (10.5mb) / Large (20.0mb).
The original text for the Japanese titles is : 前科おんな 殺し節.
'The Pinky Violence Collection' information is at the Panik House Official Website.
The Pinky Violence Collection : Terrifying Girls' High School - Lynch Law Classroom. by Norifumi Suzuki (1973). R1 USA DVD Review at ScreenAnarchy.
The Pinky Violence Collection : Girl Boss Guerilla. by Norifumi Suzuki (1972). R1 USA DVD Review at ScreenAnarchy.
The Pinky Violence Collection : Delinquent Girl Boss - Worthless to Confess. by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (1971). R1 USA DVD Review at ScreenAnarchy.