matthew d
Meiko Kaji seeks vengeance with her piercing eyes!
Director Shunya Ito's Japanese crime revenge thriller Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) is a beautifully crafted and killer thriller. It's certainly an exploitation film from the early 70's with tons of nude Japanese actresses, so bare that in mind as it's got sleaze and vengeance galore. Shunya Ito's directorial debut is masterfully directed as if he had been filmmaking for 40 years already. The creative transitions to other places within a scene to scenes suddenly looking like a play or warzone is really innovative. This picture must have been mind blowing in theaters at the time. Shunya Ito directed a Japanese classic that is artful as it is exploitative. It's something else.
I'm still impressed at art director Tadayuki Kuwana's sky changing colors or pouring rainfall outside in the prison yard. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion utilizes fascinating camera framing from cinematographer Hanjirô Nakazawa. Nakazawa uses these quick panning shots across the entire scene to show all the ladies with spinning shots and stunning close-ups. The tasteful and thoughtful framing of bare nudity, lesbian sex scenes, or brutal rape sequences are shocking and masterfully shot. I'm just amazing Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a real film. It is ahead of its time in all aspects.
Writers Hirô Matsuda and Fumio Kōnami capture the corruption of police and prison guards, the abuse of the prison system, chaotic prison conduct, as well as finding sympathy for the righteous indignation traumatized and abused women feel. The story is fairly straightforward, but the revenge is drawn out into a slow burn. The first half is similar to Cool Hand Luke with its depiction of many brutal tortures suffered within the unjust prison industrial complex. From gang rape, prison rape, beatings, starvation, gunshots, digging, to burnings, this film is relentless. The second half is dynamic and moving. The psychological aspects from perspectives to pain is astounding. You get lesbian romance, women prisoners rioting, and vicious revenge plotted carefully by Meiko Kaji. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a wild ride into the psyche of prisoners resisting torture, abject cruelty, and corrupt pressures.
Meiko Kaji is gorgeous and touching as the near silent prisoner and defiant woman avenger Nami Matsushima. She's so brave for portraying this long suffering and vulnerable heroine as well as being cool for her ruthless vengeance. Kaji can do anything if you've seen Lady Snowblood and Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a brilliant display of if looks could kill with her iconic icy glare. Rie Yokoyama is stunning and fearsome as Katagiri. Her smirks and glares are as fascinating and skillful as Meiko Kaji. Yayoi Watanabe is adorable and kind as the graceful Yukiko Kida. The entire cast is interesting and entertaining.
Editor Osamu Tanaka creates a fast pace for 89 minutes of misery and excitement. The sharp cuts to faces reacting in horror and sorrow are striking. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is far more gripping and disturbing because of the lack of cuts away from the horror. Yoshitaka Kamiya's prison sets look realistic, wet, and gross for an eerie setting besides the sterile police headquarters.
Composer Shunsuke Kikuchi's score is abstract and avant-garde with a mixture of traditional Japanese sounds with 70's electronic noises producing the melody. The way music stabs for dramatic emphasis and creates this creepy atmosphere is incredible. One of the best film scores I've ever heard. Costume designer Minako Uchiyama's prison uniforms look colorful with this tear away fabric for all the exploitation attacks. Yoshisaburô Susuki's make-up gives every man a harsh, sweaty realism and every female prisoner a radiant, ethereal glow. All the different types of black hairstyles are very cute and make every lady unique.
In all, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a fascinating arthouse Japanese revenge thriller with direction far beyond his years.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
La primera entrada de la saga de Nami Matushima la Escorpión es sin duda una película tremendamente particular. Para empezar existe una dualidad extraña a la hora de encarar la temática del rol femenino. Por un lado podemos ver que es una obra con una protagonista fuerte, que no teme a nada y que es capaz de enfrentarse a todo tipo de adversidades, así como hacer frente al malvado hombre que la traicionó. Por otro...bueno digamos que hay muchos desnudos y sexo lésbico... algo normal siendo una "women in prison" que tiene mucha influencia del pinku eiga.
Sin duda una de los mejores puntos de la película es la sublime interpretación de Meiko Kaji. Pero además hay muchos otros aspectos interesantes, como la fotografía de la película y lo bien que juega con los colores y los efectos de cámara en muchos momentos. Es sin duda una película visualmente atractiva.
Lo malo quizás sea su guión y edición. Por un lado todos los acontecimientos de la carcel parecen algo desconectados los unos de los otras, dándome a entender que el guión se estructuró más pensando en distintos "torture pieces" no muy bien entrelazados en los que Matsu tiene que sobrevivir, más que creando una historia de supervivencia coherente. Y después, el segundo climax de la película, la venganza que todo el mundo espera, se siente muy apresurada y no tiene impacto emocional, ya que muchos de los personajes que aparecen, y sufran la ira de nuestra protagonista, no los conocemos y son despachados rapidamente en un par de minutos, dejándonos con un final algo insatisfactorio.
Pese a esto, la cinta es maravillosa y me ha dejado con suficiente buen sabor de boca como para querer volver a por más en esta saga. Muy recomendada para los amantes del cine de culto, especialmente si os guste el asiático.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/29/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Quality chicks ' n chains/revenge thriller. The screws are really nasty cunts and the inmates are just as savage. The solitary confinement scene with the boiling soup is genius. Matsu in her black dress and hat is one of my favourite images in cinema. A nasty and brutal revenge flick.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
dustin d
This documentary out of the early '70s is a perverse and fascinating look at the Japanese criminal justice system. We get an inside look of a female prison through the eyes of Nami "Matsu" Matsushima, a young woman set up by her boyfriend, a corrupt cop, in a yakuza sting operation. The women in the prison are cruelly abused at the hands of perverted male guards and sadistic female trusties. The filmmakers follow Matsu after her escape from prison, and document how through great personal sacrifice she is able to ensure her ex-boyfriend gets the punishment he deserves. Very good watch.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A generic women in prison plot, but with a likable protagonist and great, unique visuals, this movie stands out among other movies of this nature. The ending is very rushed and anticlimactic, but that doesn't detract from a fairly enjoyable and memorable exploitation movie.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Vintage. Can't beat a bit of 70's Japanese sexploitation!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
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