Haofeng Xu (The Final Master) made a name for himself by penning the screenplay for Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster – but due to that film’s lengthy production process, Haofeng has managed to make not one but two movies of his own in the interim. The first was his directorial debut, 2011’s The Sword Identity, which received a release in North America from Lionsgate.
2013’s Judge Archer (aka Arrow Arbitration) features Haofeng’s trademark of presenting the martial arts in a less stylized and more realistic manner, perhaps not unlike the 2007 Japanese film Black Belt or David Mamet’s 2011 MMA flick, Redbelt.
Judge Archer is a historical picture that follows the title character as he resolves disputes between various martial arts schools, but is unable to put an end to the romantic and familial struggles that arise in his own home.
In the opening moments of Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, we find our antihero Matsu the Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) chained up in solitary confinement. She’s been locked away for a year after the bloodshed she caused in the previous film. The series’ familiar theme song “Urami Bushi” plays over the credits while Matsu grips a stolen spoon between her teeth and sharpens it against the cement floor. By the time the song is done, the spoon is sharpened to a point and made into an effective prison shiv. For while the injustice that landed her in jail has been resolved, she’s made new enemies in prison, and not all of them ended up dead by the end of the first film. Like the scorpion she is named after, Matsu bides her time, allows her opponents to think they have the upper hand, and at the last second… she strikes.
The cruel Warden Goda (Fumio Watanabe), left forever scarred by Matsu in the original film, has made it his personal mission to see her suffer. With a high-ranking bureaucrat arriving to inspect the prison, Goda allows Matsu a one-day reprieve from solitary so that she may enjoy the sun and greet the inspector on her own two feet. Matsu is barely able to stand during the inspection, making Goda believe he’s finally broken her. But when he gets too close, the dagger that had once been a spoon stabs at his face, leaving a new scar for him to remember her by.
The attack reignites the legend of Scorpion among the other female inmates, so Goda decides to humiliate her in the worst way possible. While the other women work, Matsu is tied to a tree—essentially crucified—and then gang-raped by guards in masks. The women look on in a mix of horror and disgust while Goda grins. The rape and a subsequent beating leave Matsu in terrible shape. She’s then loaded onto a truck with six other women, basically dead. However, in mid-transport, Matsu comes back to life, and kills one of the guards. Seizing their chance, the seven women make a break for it and disappear into the hills.
While the Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion takes place primarily behind bars, Jailhouse 41 is about the law’s hunt for the fugitives. Matsu becomes an unlikely leader to the other women. In the group she also finds a new nemesis in the child killer Hide Oba (Kayoko Shiraishi), though the two women are more alike than either would ever likely admit. The women go from one forgotten (haunted?) town to the next, playing hit-and-runs with Warden Goda’s men all the while trying to avoid the many traps that have been set for them.
In almost every way imaginable, Jailhouse 41 is a darker chapter than the one that came before it. It’s also a better film, I think. There is still plenty of objectionable content in the sequel, but the director’s intent seems clearer, as does his symbolism. Women again face horrific situations at the hands of men in Jailhouse 41 but, unlike the original film, here it’s clear that the filmmakers share our horror, and the camera is not caught ogling the ladies. For exploitation cinema, it’s a delicate balancing act between showing an offensive act and appearing to glorify it. Jailhouse 41 performs that balancing act better than the original.
I mentioned symbolism in the previous paragraph; there’s a lot of in in Shunya Ito’s Scorpion films. Ito looked up to Nagisa Oshima and Luis Bunuel, both of whom mixed politics with surrealism in their films, and it’s clear that Ito’s trying to say something about Japan and the country’s nationalist past. However, beyond the Japanese flag appearing at odd times in the original Scorpion, I must confess I didn’t understand everything he was going for. In Jailhouse 41, political and social commentary is easier to read, making for a deeper film experience. One sequence has a couple rowdy Japanese men on a tour bus fondly recalling “the good old days” of the war when they could rape Chinese women at gunpoint and get away with it. That they then see one of the female escapees as a similarly disposable human being is no big stretch of the imagination. The Scorpion films, with perhaps Jailhouse 41 in particular, are a raging war cry against Japanese nationalism and power. And because the “hero” of Scorpion is a woman behind bars, Japanese power is here represented as corrupt lawmen—but the perhaps the more important thing is that they are men. In a way, Matsu the Scorpion more closely resembles the haunted ghosts of Ringu, The Grudge, and Retribution than any mortal avenger of Japanese film. She is a wraith. She is feminist rage with a prison shiv, and she seeks to not only satisfy her own need for vengeance but also (when it’s convenient) exact revenge on behalf of fellow women who’ve been wronged by lecherous and deceitful men.
Meiko Kaji (Stray Cat Rock) further settles into the role of Matsu the Scorpion. Don’t hold me to it, but I don’t think Matsu speaks a word until we’re over an hour into the film. (Kaji’s songs are played often, though, each of them cool and haunting.) In total Kaji might have three different lines of dialogue in the entire movie. Though given a mostly silent role, Kaji is no less intimidating, and really sells Matsu the Scorpion as one of the baddest, meanest antiheroes in all of cinema. I’m still not convinced that the Scorpion series doesn’t belong on the horror shelf. Matsu the Scorpion’s kills certainly belong alongside the best of Voorhees and Myers. One such kill in Jailhouse 41 finds a dead guard’s manhood replaced by a large tree branch. It’s… pretty messed up.
One complaint about the film would be that five out of the six women Matsu is in league with are basically interchangeable. We know them by their crimes (which are read off by a ghost woman reminiscent of the prophet specter from Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood), but beyond their past misdeeds we never get to know them much better. Only Kayoko Shiraishi’s Hide gets some serious character development, and the audience is put into knots trying to decide whether to sympathize with her or hate her guts. Whereas Meiko Kaji performs her role with steely silence, Shiraishi (Yamato) is loud, abrasive, and has all the crazed energy of an angry hyena. From the start, Matsu and Hide hate one another, but as they’re forced to rely on each other they become unlikely allies, making for some of the most interesting character interactions of the series.
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is one of the most thought-provoking and visually striking pieces of exploitation cinema you’re ever likely to see. It’s definitely not for all audiences, but I thought it was excellent.
Kyle Warner’s Rating: 8/10
About this release: Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 arrives on Blu-ray in the US and the UK in the box set of the four original Scorpion films from Arrow Video. As of right now, Arrow has not said whether they have plans to make the films available individually, like the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. On the Jailhouse 41 disc, we get a few new interviews; critic Kier-La Janisse, Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp, and Scorpion production designer Tadayuki Kuwana. My favorite of the interviews is with Janisse. She puts the Scorpion series (and Jailhouse 41 in particular) into historical perspective not just as a female revenge movie or a women’s prison film, but explains its importance as a piece of feminist cinema. It’s the longest of the disc’s interviews and the most interesting. Jasper Sharp gives us a rundown of director Shunya Ito’s credits, most of which remain totally obscure to Western audiences. Ito only has 14 credits as a director in his four decade long career, with his latest coming in 2013. I for one would be very happy to see some of Ito’s other works, just to see if they’re as crazy and visually interesting as his Scorpion films. Tadayuki Kuwana shares some of his memories of working alongside Ito on the Scorpion films. The series’ production design is a big part of its success so I enjoyed hearing from his experiences on set.
Now then, I must comment on the picture quality of the new Blu-rays: it’s definitely lacking. Arrow says they were supplied original film negatives from Toei and they gave it a 2K restoration for this release, so this seems to be a case of poor source materials and not a transfer gone wrong. Murky, grainy, and very blue (I’m talking A Snake of June levels of blue at times), the first two films of the set don’t look all that great in comparison to other films from the time period that’ve been ported to Blu-ray, by this company or many others. Having not seen the films in theatres and with no instant access to the previous DVDs, I can’t say whether this picture is representative of how the films have always looked, or if this is a noticeable upgrade from the picture of the old DVD. The mono soundtrack is good, at least. It’s a very impressive box set (lovely original art, too), but the video definitely does leave something to be desired.
Details have emerged for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s upcoming 15th anniversary 4K Blu-ray (pre-order here) and Blu-ray editions (pre-order here) of director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Named “Best Picture of the Year” by over 100 critics nationwide! Two master warriors (Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh) are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword isstolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares for an arranged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy – and the inescapable, enduring power of love.
The upcoming releases (both the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray) will be sourced from a new 4K master and will offer exclusive new and never-before-seen features.
Extra Features:
New! Six never-before-seen deleted scenes
New! Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Retrospective with director Ang Lee, screenwriter James Schamus, and editor Tim Squyres
New! The Making of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
New! A Love Before Time Music Videos
Original Theatrical Trailer
Audio commentary with dierctor Ange Lee and screenwriter James Schamus
Audio commentary with cinematographer Peter Pau
Conversation with actress Michelle Yeoh – Featurette
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, William H. Macy, Elisabeth Rohm, Thomas Mann
Running Time: 88 min.
By Zach Nix
Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon, Mad Max) is one of cinema’s most rewarding figures. He’s worn many faces over the decades: actor, action star, filmmaker, and even comedian. Although he’s been successful on all fronts and always been a reliable entertainer, I personally believe that Gibson shines best as an action star. While the initial years of his career were filled with successful action classics here and there, Gibson seems to have struggled to re-establish himself as the mainstream action star he once was, which is a shame. In the last six years, Gibson has more or less devoted his career to action cinema, appearing within four action films of varying quality and as varying characters: a mournful father out for revenge in Edge of Darkness, a down on his luck getaway driver in Get the Gringo, a cartoonish super villain in Machete Kills, and a mercenary with a grudge in The Expendables 3. While all of those films are from perfect, I think everyone can agree that the best part of those four movies is none other than Gibson. The point being, Gibson always brings his A-game to every film that he does, even when the film is undeserved and even if mass audiences refuse to flock to his movies as they used too.
This all brings us to Gibson’s latest and purest genre offering, Blood Father. The neo-western, directed by French filmmaker Jean-Francois Richet (Assault on Precinct 13, Mesrine) advertises a dirtier and grittier Gibson than ever seen before. The Australian star has dabbled in hard-edged films before, but none as pure and vengeful as Blood Father. While the film’s basic genre premise and B-movie imagery seemed promising, I am sad to report that the film is fairly disappointing, especially for those hoping for a simplistic and streamlined action vehicle. Besides Gibson, who shines thanks to an immense amount of pathos and memorable but short action scenes, just about every other element of this pulpy action thriller hinders it from being the emotional and viscerally affective genre picture that it could have been.
Blood Father tells the story of John Link (Mel Gibson), a father of one and survivor of alcoholism who lives by himself in a run down trailer. However, it’s his daughter, Lydia (Erin Moriarty), who is the true basket case. After running off to live with gangsters, Lydia comes to regret her decisions, especially when she accidentally shoots her gangster boyfriend, Jonah (Diego Luna). When Lydia comes crawling back into the arms of her father, John must than take it upon himself to protect his daughter from various hit men and assailants out to kill her.
In a post-Taken world, it seems almost impossible to watch any action film about a protective father and not think about Liam Neeson’s modern classic. But alas, that’s what happens when a successful action film permeates the zeitgeist through an affective premise that can be easily duplicated. (see action cinema post-Die Hard for a similar example). However, Blood Father fails where Taken succeeded due to its confounding narrative through line and an all around lack of narrative momentum. In its defense, the film starts off strong, establishing that Link is both desperate and loving while his daughter is unappreciative and immature. Once Link and a group of gangsters throw down, the film’s narrative is set into effect, as father must now protect daughter whilst bonding with her. And yet, Richet can’t seem to affectively deliver this premise, as his film quickly becomes a bore to sit through. Many uninteresting dialog scenes and dull character exchanges permeate the entire picture from this point forward and ruin any sense of energy or momentum that the film possessed. The narrative even feels as if it were made up along the way, almost as if there was never a completed script, even though the film was based upon a book. If one were to trace the through line of the narrative from scene to scene, it all comes out rather jumbled and unnatural in terms of story progression. Numerous plot detours also overly complicate the picture and send it into direct to video (DTV) territory at points as well, including a smattering of technical flaws that I will get to in a bit. While it’s clear that Richet wanted to take a genre film and focus on the dramatic elements at its core, it’s a shame that he can’t provide an affective and engaging story when all of the pieces for success are right there in front of him.
Blood Father is such a missed opportunity, as it easily could have been the perfect comeback vehicle for Gibson were it advertised and made better. The film is almost a miniature celebration of Gibson, as several visual cues and elements recall previous films of his. From Gibson’s handling of a sawed off shotgun (Mad Max), to his residence within a beat up trailer (Lethal Weapon), to even the film’s story concerning a father who loves his daughter (Edge of Darkness), Blood Father is almost a greatest hits collection of Gibson’s cinema, but unfortunately nowhere near as good as his previous efforts. With that being said, Gibson himself brings his A-game, and further proves that he is still one of action cinema’s all time greatest stars.
Without Gibson, Blood Father would be dead in the water and nothing but stagnant entertainment. Gibson is so physically ripped and huge in this role that one could easily draw comparisons to Sylvester Stallone’s physical transformation in Rambo. He not only looks like a beast, but a literal bear as well, especially with his shaggy beard and leather like face. Gibson’s face appears to be so worn that he looks like he has been through decades of turmoil and remorse, almost resembling Charles Bronson’s weathered face from his seventies cinema (i.e. Death Wish, The Mechanic). Gibson exudes immense pathos not simply through his character’s actions and wishes, but also through his puppy dog like stare. I never fully realized how truly apathetic and caring Gibson’s face is; it’s one of his winning attributes. All in all, Blood Father is yet another reminder that Gibson is one of our premiere entertainers, no matter how good or bad the film he participates in.
While Gibson may be first rate, his supporting cast is fairly forgettable and in dire need of stronger direction. The biggest offender of the film is Erin Moriarty as Lydia, Link’s daughter. Not only is Moriarty painfully over dramatic, but her character is especially grating and immature. I understand that her character is supposed to start out unappreciative of her father’s actions in order for her to arc into a caring and loving person, but her eventual transformation occurs out of nowhere and so close to the film’s end that it was simply unbelievable. Other supporting performances by Michael Parks (Django Unchained), William H. Macy (Fargo), and Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) are fine, but are otherwise wasted and unconvincing within a jumbled genre picture that can’t even keep its story straight. Gibson fans will appreciate an appearance by Raoul Trujillo, the main antagonist from Apocalypto, as an unnamed hit man though. While the names within the film are impressive and noteworthy, the supporting cast doesn’t do the feature any favors and leave all of the heavy lifting on Gibson’s shoulders.
Besides Gibson, who is thoroughly excellent from start to finish, every other element of Blood Father disappoints or frustrates. For starters, the film’s action quota, which is minimal, is mostly affective. Shot selection, action choreography, sound design, and special effects are typically solid. However, the action scenes are so short, that they are nothing more than short bursts of violence. While I understand that Richet wanted to focus on the dramatic elements of the film more so than the action parts, it’s a shame that there isn’t a wealth of action to fall back onto as the relationship at the core of the film failed to engage me. A similar example from this year is Criminal, an unsuccessfully emotional action film that fails to engage the viewer but occasionally dazzles with excellent but short action scenes. That being said, the minimal action within Blood Father is uniformly solid, from a short gun attack on Link’s trailer, to a small motorcycle chase, to even the film’s bad ass final confrontation. Genre junkies will be in heaven when Gibson picks up a gun and goes to town on villainous henchmen at various points in the film. Unfortunately, there is simply too little action to fall back on too.
Technical merits are a mixed bag, ranging from affective and visceral to confounding and amateurish. As I stated before, the action is uniformly solid, except for a confrontation within the opening scene that was almost visually incomprehensible. However, the film’s biggest technical problem tends to be its weak photography and editing during dialog sequences. There are so many close ups, cuts, and angle changes during character exchanges, that conversations become virtually unwatchable and visually distracting. It’s almost as if the editor and cinematographer were so bored with the dialog and performances at hand, that they couldn’t help but visually shake up the screen in order to make things appear livelier. An exchange between Link and a prisoner inside of a jail is plagued by so many mind boggling close ups and angle changes that I couldn’t help but throw up my hands and laugh quietly to myself. Moments like these enforce the film’s DTV nature, despite its otherwise beautiful Western imagery outside of close up dialog exchanges.
Blood Father sells itself as a gritty, cruel, and unforgiving genre picture with a dramatic relationship at its core. While this is true, as the film’s violence is graphic and the father/daughter story tried and true, it can’t fully deliver on either of its promises and gel into an all around cohesive action thriller. Richet, who seems proficient in terms of action direction, squanders a father/daughter story by sending off his characters on a journey of survival that never feels momentous. The film bounces from scene to scene with little feasible through line to any of it; almost making little sense at times, overly complicating things, and turning an action thriller into a dull chore to endure. Therefore, Blood Father fails on nearly all accounts because it doesn’t feature a compelling story or affective action to compliment its story. The pieces are there, and some moments shine bright, but Blood Father barely amounts to a recommendable piece of action entertainment. Were it written better and placed in the hands of a more competent filmmaker, Blood Father easily could have been a slam dunk a-la Taken or even Gibson’s similar but lighter Edge of Darkness. Gibson fans will want to check out the film anyways for the Aussie’s excellent performance and kick ass action scenes, but beyond that, viewers will find themselves dancing dangerously on the edge of genre hell with Blood Father. Proceed with caution.
After previously collaborating on the remake of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, director Sang-il Lee (Hula Girls) and actor Ken Watanabe (Inception) are set to premiere their next artistic collaboration, the murder mystery Rage (aka Anger, Ikari).
The plot description from the Toronto International Film Festival: A grisly unsolved murder links three seemingly unrelated stories in three different Japanese cities, in this arresting ensemble thriller from director Sang-il Lee.
In addition to Ken Watanabe, the thriller’s cast includes Kenichi Matsuyama (Gantz), Aoi Miyazaki (Nana), Satoshi Tsumabuki (The World of Kanako), Go Ayano (Lupin the 3rd), Suzu Hirose (Our Little Sister), and Mirai Moriyama (20th Century Boys). The film is based on a novel by Shuichi Yoshida, whose writing also inspired Sang-il Lee’s 2010 feature, Villain.
Rage will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (which runs from September 8th to the 18th), followed by a theatrical release in Japanese cinemas on September 17th. No word about a US release date or distributor yet but we’ll keep you posted.
2000’s Moving Target, which starred 11-time World Kickboxing Champion Don “The Dragon” Wilson, has been loosely redone in the form of Fist of the Dragon, a U.S./Chinese co-production that puts Strikeforce World Lightweight Champion, Josh “The Punk” Thomson, in Wilson’s shoes. As with the original, Roger Corman’s New Horizons Pictures is producing.
Fist of the Dragon is directed by Antony Szeto (Wushu) and also stars Juju Chan (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny), Maria Tran (Truy Sat), Rambo Kong (Dragon the Bruce Lee Story) and Daniel Whyte (Ultraviolet). The film features martial arts choreography by Trung Ly (Truy Sat).
Here’s the official synopsis: Damon, an MMA fighter (Thomson) retires and goes to China to meet his new love, Meili. But things take an immediate turn when he inadvertently takes a package sought by an underground arms dealer. Now he must fight to save himself and his loved one.
Don’t miss the the trailer for Fist of the Dragon.
Updates: According to Impact’s Mike Leeder, 2014’s Fist of the Dragon will be finally getting its U.S. premier at this year’s Action on Film Festival on September 9th 2016. Members of the cast and crew will be accompanying the the screening. Up until now, the film has only been officially released in Thailand on DVD, so if you live around the Los Angeles area, visit aoffest.com for details on how you can attend.
Well Go USA presents the DVD for Phantom of the Theatre, a thriller starring Ruby Lin (Blood Stained Shoes), Tony Yang (The Crossing), Simon Yam (Cross) and Huang Lei (CJ7).
A haunted theatre, filled with the vengeful spirits of a tragically-trapped performance troupe murdered in a fire 13 years ago, waits for the once-grand palatial playhouse to re-open with a new show… and bring in new victims…
Be very afraid to watch the film’s trailer (or not?).
Get ready to bang some heads with Metal City Mayhem, a proposed action/comedy series by Dan Jackson and Savage Storm Studios.
Metal City Mayhem draws inspiration from cult classic films like Warriors and arcade favorites such as Double Dragon and River City Mayhem. It also fuses Hong Kong-influenced choreography with old-school, heavy metal pop culture.
In the tradition of Hobo With a Shotgun, Machete, and Black Dynamite – all of which started out as “fake” genre movie trailers for titles that didn’t exist yet – a 4-minute “concept trailer” for Metal City Mayhem is now available.
“The trailer was shot on a shoestring, over the course of many weekends and pizzas, all over the South Florida area. We employed guerilla film-making tactics, using ‘found locations,’ alleyways, parks, abandoned locations and other public areas as our backdrops,” says Jackson.
As stated on the project’s Kickstarter (now cancelled): consider the trailer a “rough draft.” With the help of some backers, Jackson promises the final product to be bigger, better, bolder and LOUDER.
“Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion” Japanese Theatrical Poster
Director: Shunya Ito
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Yayoi Watanabe, Yōko Mihara, Akemi Negishi, Keiko Kuni, Yumiko Katayama, Emi Jo, Isao Natsuyagi, Fumio Watanabe
Running Time: 87 min.
By Kelly Warner
Almost every ambitious leading man or lady is on the lookout for that iconic role that will shoot them to superstardom, netting them a legion of fans and hopefully a mountain of cash. Roles that earn awards can prove your worth as a great actor but it’s often the iconic, larger-than-life characters that make one a star. One concern, however, is that the signature role will come too early in an actor’s career, thus casting a shadow over everything else that follows. David Duchovny still hasn’t managed to escape Fox Mulder’s shadow, for example. And the same can probably be said for Meiko Kaji, who in her mid-twenties was cast in the role of Scorpion, a vengeful antihero that best utilized Kaji’s natural acting talents and sex appeal. The role of ‘Matsu the Scorpion’ became something of a pop culture icon, with the long black hair, the dark trench coat, and the floppy, lopsided hat that could obscure much of the woman’s face when worn a certain way. Not only would Kaji revisit the signature look in other roles and tap into the same fury in other performances, the character also spawned sequels and remakes that were made without Kaji’s involvement. (‘Miss Scorpion’ was also the crossdressing disguise of the hero in Sion Sono’s weird masterpiece Love Exposure.) The shadow of Scorpion loomed large, and with the exception of the fantastic Lady Snowblood films which were made at roughly the same time as the Scorpion series, Kaji never really found another role quite as popular as the one she first brought to life in 1972.
Based on a comic book, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion was a project long in development before first-time director Shunya Ito (Gray Sunset) put it to film. With its prison setting, the studio supposedly imagined it to be the female-led version of their popular Abashiri Prison series, but director Ito brought a fever dream vision to the film, making it equal parts crime movie, exploitation skin flick, and rage-filled horror story. Meiko Kaji herself sings over the opening credits as a parade of nude women walk through the prison while the guards watch for hidden weapons or contraband. Kaji’s song is one of betrayal, telling the tale of an ordinary young woman who was used by a man and thrown away. Kaji’s character Nami Matsushima loved a narcotics cop, but he allowed her to be raped by a group of men just so that he could catch them unawares and make his drug bust. Matsushima soon confronts the cop, not even taking the time to change out of her torn clothes, and attempts to stab him to death on the steps of the police station. Her attack fails, the cop survives, and Matsushima is sent to prison for attempted murder.
The prison is a hell hole. The film is sure to make it clear at the beginning that the prison is in no way based on truth, and that’s all well and good but the vision presented here is ugly, demeaning, and despicable. Women are raped, beaten, and starved. Matsushima slowly changes from the normal, brokenhearted girl to a monster hell-bent on revenge. Guards and cruel gangs try to put Matsushima in her place but she takes it all and dishes out some of her own in return, earning the reputation of a dangerous loner behind bars with the nickname of Scorpion. When the dirty cop learns that Matsushima still represents a problem for him, he decides to hire one of the inmates to off his former girlfriend, and that’s when things really get messy.
I’d seen Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion once before. My opinion of it then was that it was an ugly, misogynistic film which happened to feature a startling performance by Meiko Kaji at the center of it. Watching it again, I still think it’s a nasty piece of work, and some of the violence against women is reprehensible, but it’s also not quite as shocking as I remember it. Maybe the shock is in the first punch, not the second. Or maybe it’s just that Scorpion was one of my first introductions to the dark-edged exploitation films of Japan. A different time and a different culture resulted in some very dark movies that still shock and disturb all these decades later. As a fan of Japanese cinema, I must say that their exploitation genre is not a favorite of mine. But I recognize Female Prisoner #701:Scorpion as a classic of the genre anyway and that’s in large part thanks to the dramatic work of Meiko Kaji.
As Matsu the Scorpion, Meiko Kaji barely says a word for much of the film. She is the embodiment of rage and works with one hell of an intense glare. Seriously, I’d rather face Sonny Chiba’s fists than Meiko Kaji’s angry glare any day. And it’s because of her performance and her character that the movie is more than just a nasty story full of inhumane treatment and misogyny. Occasionally I have issues with tales of revenge because, well, it’s difficult for me to root for a murderer for 2 hours straight even if I sympathize with their motivations to an extent. In the case of Matsushima, though, holllllly shit everyone deserves exactly what they have coming to them. Matsu the Scorpion bides her time, waits for the opportune moment, and then begins crossing off her opponents. Everything can be grueling to endure up until that point, but when a villain gets hanged from the roof of a skyscraper, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take some enjoyment in seeing justice served in a most brutal fashion.
The original four Female Prisoner Scorpion series arrives on Blu-ray and DVD in an 8-disc box set from Arrow Video. Each film is on its own disc and comes with new and archival special features. For the first film, we get a 2006 interview with director Shunya Ito, plus two new interviews, one with assistant director Yutaka Kohira and one with filmmaker and Scorpion fan Gareth Evans (The Raid, The Raid 2). All interviews are enjoyable and informative, though each contain spoilers (and not just for the first film), so choose when to watch them with care. The Shunya Ito interview has the director looking back on how he’d fought to rise up from being an assistant director to making his feature directorial debut with Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion and his artistic intentions with the film. Yutaka Kohira would later direct New Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701 starring Yumi Takigawa as Matsu the Scorpion, but his interview is mostly about his time working on the original four films as assistant director. It’s a funny, honest interview where he shares his memories of Meiko Kaji getting angry about her nudity and how the assistant director had originally shown disrespect to Yasuharu Hasebe (Sex Hunter) when Hasebe took Ito’s place as the director of the fourth Scorpion film. Gareth Evans’ appreciation of the film shares some of my personal reservations; basically that it’s a cool and stylish movie but the treatment of women is indefensible at times. Evans also speaks on how he was inspired by some of the film’s visual style and is a big fan of the antihero’s dark origin story. All interviews are definitely worth a look.
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is the tale of evil men in positions of power who meet their match at the hands of a scorned woman with a glare that could stop a raging bull in its tracks. Though Scorpion is trashier than I typically like my movies, I must acknowledge a well-made film when I see one. A dark story of revenge told with wild visuals, the Scorpion series continues to influence films today and should appeal to fans of directors like Takashi Miike, Quentin Tarantino, Seijun Suzuki, and Sion Sono.
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams | Blu-ray & DVD (Criterion)
RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2016
Criterion Collection presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.
Unfolding in a series of mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa brings eight of the beloved director’s own nighttime visions, informed by tales from Japanese folklore, to cinematic life. In a visually sumptuous journey through the master’s unconscious, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic visions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power-plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes.
Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of art, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s imagination at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.
Disc features:
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Masaharu Ueda, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince
Making of “Dreams” (1990), a 150-minute documentary shot on-set and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi
New interview with assistant director Takashi Koizumi
New interview with production manager Teruyo Nogami
Kurosawa’s Way (2011), a fifty-minute documentary by director Akira Kurosawa’s longtime translator Catherine Cadou, featuring interviews with filmmakers Theodoros Angelopoulos, Bernardo Bertolucci, Clint Eastwood, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Bong Joon-ho, Abbas Kiarostami, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese, Julie Taymor, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, and John Woo
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa’s script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami
Pre-order Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams from Amazon.com today!
Dragon Chen (aka Chen Star), the martial artist who paid homage to Bruce Lee in movies like Jeet Kune Do and Nunchucku, is back in Lei Cui’s Ultimate Hero, an upcoming actioner he’s once again helming (with the aid of co-director Lei Cui).
In Ultimate Hero, Chen takes on a gang of arms smugglers in Africa. Martial arts sequences, explosions, car chases and shoot ’em up scenes – it’s all there, so we’re all there. The film is getting a Chinese release on August 19th, but if it pops up in North America, you’ll be the first to know.
Film Movement Classics presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Violent Cop, a 1989 crime/thriller directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (Beyond Outrage).
Azuma is a cop who plays by his own rules: He batters suspects, beats confessions from criminals, and plants evidence. He’s a vigilante force the department quietly supports as long as he gets results, but when a volatile drug case results in the death of a colleague, the hair-trigger cop goes rogue as he matches wits with an equally impulsive assassin. | Trailer.
Film Movement Classics presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Boiling Point, a 1990 crime/thriller directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (Outrage).
Boiling Point is the story of a passive gas station attendant and benchwarming minor-league baseball player Masaki (Masahiko Ono), who finally rebels against the yakuza. When the local crime boss embarks on a campaign of beatings aimed at Masaki’s coworkers and baseball teammates, Masaki buys a gun, and falls in with a gangster (Takeshi) who has his own score to settle with the yakuza. | Trailer.
New World follows an undercover cop who’s caught between the gangsters’ power struggle and a police crackdown. This acclaimed gangster flick from Park Hoon-jung, the writer of I Saw the Devil, is often compared to such classics as The Godfather and The Departed. At only $7.95, find out if it lives up to the hype.
“The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Fung Hak On
Cast: Mark Cheng Ho Nam, Yukari Oshima, Alex Man Chi Leung, Dick Wei, Ken Lo, Wong Yu, Leung Kar Yan, Tai Bo, Anthony Carpio, Chan Daat Gong, Benny Lai Keung Kuen, Chow Kong, Chu Tau, Mark King, Foo Wang Tat
Running Time: 91 min.
By Paul Bramhall
The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues, besides having a title that resembles a Bob Dylan song gone wrong, rarely seems to get mentioned when fans discuss early 90’s Hong Kong action cinema, yet at the same time also manages to be a title that everyone has heard of. In many ways it could well be down to the fact that it’s a difficult production to categorize. The few reviews that are floating around on the net reference it as a ‘Girls with Guns’ flick, seemingly based on nothing more than it featuring Yukari Oshima and it being from 1991, however once watched it becomes apparent it has little in common with said genre. A better description would be to call it a Triad thriller, which just so happens to have some stellar martial arts talent in front of the camera, who duly oblige in showing that talent off at various points throughout the runtime.
The man in the director’s chair is the late great Fung Hak-On, recognizable from several kung fu classics, most notably as the villain from Sammo Hung’s Warriors Two. Hak-On may have been more well known for his roles in many of the most popular kung fu movies of the golden era, however TheGodfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues was actually the fourth (and last) time for him to direct a movie, so he was certainly no stranger to being behind the camera.
Proceedings open with an introduction to a pair of fish farmers, played by Mark Cheng and Benny Lai. Cheng was marketed as the next big leading man by Cinema City throughout the mid-80’s, but for some reason he never really clicked with audiences, and by the early 90’s was mostly starring in lower budgeted productions such as this one. His presence in The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues could also be explained by the fact he married Yukari Oshima shortly before it started filming, so the pair came as a package deal (they’d also appear together in Win Them All, Kickboxer’s Tears, and Hard to Kill). Lai on the other hand is best known as the mute adversary that Jackie Chan faces off against in the finale of Police Story 2. He spent part of his career as a member of Chan’s Stuntman Group, and has a filmography that mostly consists of parts as a thug or gang member, so this production was a rare opportunity for him to play a significant role.
A chance encounter with some gangsters results in them crossing paths with a Triad leader, played by Alex Man, who takes them under his wing and puts them to work in one of his hostess bars. Man has plenty of issues of his own though. His Triad leader is an honourable and old-school guy, who’ll do anything to keep the peace (it’s quite possible Gareth Evans had his performance in mind for Tio Pakusadewo’s role in The Raid 2), however when his Japanese counterpart dies, the latter’s aggressively ambitious son wants to buy out the business from under him. The son is played by super kicker Ken Lo, perhaps most famous for being Jackie Chan’s bodyguard from 1980 – 2010 (not to mention their legendary fight to close out Drunken Master II), who’s ably assisted by his head henchman, played by the director himself, Fung Hak-On, who also takes on action choreography duties.
For those reading that want to check out The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues as Yukari Oshima fans, you’re probably concerned that she hasn’t even been mentioned yet. Actually, Oshima does have a large part, which as the title suggests is that of Man’s daughter. However she doesn’t appear until just over 20 minutes in (she’s been in Japan studying karate), and to see her in action you’ll have to wait until the 50 minute mark. However this isn’t detrimental to the movie at all, and her character fits in perfectly with the events that are taking place. As the daughter of a Triad leader, her role as a young and playful martial arts fanatic is very different from the no-nonsense characters she often embodies, but when she finds out that Lo is trying to undermine her father, she also knows how to get down to business.
Indeed rather than really having a main character so to speak, The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues comes across very much like an ensemble piece. All of the main players get plenty of screen time for us to get to know their characters, as does Dick Wei, who plays the long serving enforcer to Man’s Triad leader. Much like Benny Lai, Wei also spent much of his career in one dimensional villain roles, and was happy for his feet to do the talking for him, which always did so very efficiently. However his role here is one that has a welcome depth to it, and without going into spoiler territory, it’s his decision that ultimately sends the Triads and Yakuza on the path to an inevitable confrontation. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but considering the role gave him a rare chance to show off some acting chops, it’s especially ironic that his character gets a line where he asks, “I act well don’t I?”
When it comes to the business of Triad and Yakuza rivalries, the plot certainly doesn’t shy away from getting nasty. In one particular scene, Lo attempts to lure the Madame’s away from Man’s hostess bar to work in his instead, with the promise of a higher wage. However when one of them insists on being loyal to Man, Lo pays a young teenager who wants to be a gangster to throw a cup of acid in her face. Scenes like this ensure that the story is taken seriously, and it never digresses into comedy or other such hijinks, that HK cinema of the era is frequently guilty of doing.
The action itself is one of those rare occasions in which it serves to further the story, rather than just being stand-alone set pieces. Cheng had the moves when it came to screen fighting, even though his career ultimately didn’t follow a path where he’d get to use them that much, but here he gets ample opportunity to break them out. The choreography is a unique mix of the hard hitting kickboxing style, which would become synonymous with 80’s – early 90’s modern day HK action flicks, blended with some occasional old-school flourishes, such as a shape thrown here and there. A highlight sees Oshima taking on both Ken Lo, Fung Hak-On, and a group of their lackeys single handedly in a gym, which incorporates plenty of prop usage reminiscent of Jackie Chan.
Eventually proceedings build to a satisfying finale that sees most of the last 15 minutes being taken up with action. There’s some satisfying vehicle work on display, of which there are a couple of impact shots that’ll make you question how the stuntman on the receiving end of them survived. Events culminate with Dick Wei having to face off against two opponents, and a closing bout that sees Cheng and Oshima teaming up to take on Lo and Hak-On respectively. It’s a great fight, even if it’s a tier below the best work of all involved, however considering the context it takes place in and the budget that was being worked with, it undeniably delivers. Throw in plenty of smashed glass tables and collateral damage, with a suitably gruesome finishing move, and for fans of both old school and new wave action, The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues arguably exceeds the sum of its parts.
All things considered, Hak-On’s last movie in the directors chair captures a moment in Hong Kong cinema that we’ll likely never get back. Sure, movies can still be made about Triads and Yakuza facing off against each other, but had the movie been made today, it would likely be at least 10 minutes longer, as we’d no doubt have to watch the police arrive on scene and arrest the surviving members. Because China needs to remind us that crime doesn’t pay. As it is, The Godfather’s Daughter Mafia Blues doesn’t have a single police character in it, everyone is either a Triad or a Yakuza, and what goes down takes place between them and no one else. While it’s not perfect, Hak-On has directed a coherent and engaging tale of gang rivalries, which doesn’t feel the need to pad its runtime with such distractions as comedy and romance, and that’s to be applauded. The fact that we get a healthy dose of HK style action on top, is merely the icing on the cake.
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