I have wanted to see this, or perhaps one of the sequels, for years. Thanks to Netflix and a gentle nudge by Dr. Morbius, I have finally gotten off my ass. Here is the run down:
Nami Matsushima, "Matsu the Scorpion," is imprisoned after being set-up by her detective boyfriend, Sugimi, who uses her to facilitate a drug bust. Guess what, he's a dirty cop. Once in prison she becomes the target of the trustees and the guards. When her former boyfriend and his boss want her eliminated things start to get rough.
This film is typically categorized as a Pinky Violence as well as WIP, it is also a Women's Revenge film. It was originally a Manga by Tōru Shinohara, and spawned three sequels with the original star, Meiko Kaji; FPS: Jailhouse 41, FPS: Beast Stable and FPS:#701's Grudge Song.

There are a host of standard WIP elements here, but is also a lot like Cool Hand Luke. While the immediate cause is not defined, the trustees and prison staff have it out for Matsu. Later they are urged by Sugimi and his boss, and conceivably their Yakuza overlords, to give the girl trouble. Matsu is unbreakable and, like Paul Newman's Luke, can withstand the worst torture that can be dealt. She lives to get her revenge on those who imprisoned her, and will not be denied.

As a character, Matsu is both awesome and troubling. Her drive is Herculean, but in a few instances her methods are questionable. In one scene she is thrown in Solitary, and for some reason another prisoner is there in the cell. Matsu perhaps seduces, perhaps rapes, the other prisoner. It turns out she is a police woman, though there is little reason for Matsu to know this; unless she deduced the truth from the fact that she was not solitary in Solitary. Later, she burns one of her tormentors to death.







8 comments:
I don't know if I would describe the look of the first two Scorpion movies as "anime/manga" so much as I would describe it as theatrical. I once described the second one as Caged Heat staged as Noh theater and filmed by the mutant offspring of Mario Bava and Masaki Kobayashi. The movie it most resembles is Kwaidan, and it doesn't resemble it much. But then, the manga tradition in Japanese film is pretty long, so maybe you're right.
I'll be interested to see your thoughts on the others in the series (from my perspective, Grudge Song, the fourth, is entirely dispensable, but the other two are awesome beyond belief).
There are indeed a lot of great theatrical element, particularly the memory of Matsu's rape/framing, where the scene pulls back (a few times IIRC) to change setting. Also, the last image I posted, of the work-yard (just before the riot, I believe) immediately reminded me of Gone with the Wind.
My experience with Asian cinema is pretty limited. Old Jackie Chan films, Akira Kurisawa, and Stephen Chow comprise the bulk. I imagine the anime style draws from theatre/cinema as well, just as our comic books are just soap opera storyboards.
Meiko Kaji is awesome, as always.
She definitely plays the hard-ass well. I would not mess with Matsu :-D
If you'd care to view the video with Mae West singin' "Criswell Predicts," it's @ me wee blog.
Thanks, Tor. It is always good to see one of the apexes of femininity. Mae ain't bad either ;-D I loved Criswell in "Orgy of the Dead."
I have given your blog a "You make me SCREAM!!" blog award --
http://wonderfulwonderblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-scream-you-scream.html
Thanks, Erick. Much appreciated. I'll take a look.
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