“Sex and Fury” Theatrical Poster
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Reiko Ike, Akemi Negishi, Ryoko Ema, Yoko Hori, Naomi Oka, Katsumasa Uchida, Rena Ichinose, Tatsuo Endō, Yōko Mihara, Christina Lindberg
Running Time: 88 min.
By Henry McKeand
While action cinema has long been criticized as pornographic in its depictions of bloodshed and weaponry, the ‘pinky violence’ films released in Japan during the 60s and 70s are early examples of filmmakers pushing that pornographic label past the figurative. Most pink films, classified by high amounts of explicit violence and nudity, remain relatively obscure outside of Japan, but there are some that have gained small cult followings in the West.
One such film is Norifumi Suzuki’s Sex and Fury, which owes some of its lasting appeal to its purported influence on Kill Bill. There are certainly visuals and themes that will remind modern audiences of Tarantino’s epic, but Sex and Fury is a scuzzier affair than most of Kill Bill’s other Eastern influences. It’s a down-and-dirty exploitation film that also happens to be beautifully shot, and part of the appeal is Suzuki’s ability to find moments of sublimity in all of the sleaze. In this sense, it’s not hard to see why Suzuki’s work would have an effect on a wave of later filmmakers, Tarantino included, who went further in combining grindhouse subject matter with arthouse sensibilities.
The film kicks off with the cold-hearted slaying of a detective in front of his horrified daughter, Ocho. Jumping forward in time, the rest of the plot centers around Ocho (played as an adult by pink film staple Reiko Ike) as she searches for vengeance using her skills as a swordfighter and gambler. The seemingly simple premise is complicated by a handful of B-stories introduced early on, the most notable of which being the star-crossed romance between a tormented British Continue reading →
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