Sêrâ-fuku to kikanjû

A great title and a great poster, and a movie that's overall pretty good. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun is definitely a strange and flawed film, but there's a lot to like, and watching the 132-minute cut, I feel like there were only a small number of places where it dragged a little.

This movie's about a teenage girl who gets made the head of a yakuza gang. Tonally, it's a little quirky in parts, but I don't knowing I could call it a comedy (you'd expect a movie with this premise to be one), and there are certainly some disturbing sequences in here, too, which make things feel very serious at times.

The abundance of long takes is also interesting. One near the end breaks the reality/logic of the film in a way that confused me, but most of them work well and are overall impressive to see play out.

What a shame. The only good thing about this deservedly obscure cheapie is the idea. To work properly, a comic caper like this one needs plenty of action, well-measured pace, strategic shots of comedy, and at least some sympathy for the characters. Above all, timing is critical. Perhaps the biggest flaw is the timing is simply not good enough. There are long introspective segments which do not add to the story, separating the too-few action sequences. When the fighting starts, it usually does not make a lot of sense, and jarrs rather than thrills. There is some character-based comedy, but the film is so poorly pieced together that the pathetic gangsters rarely raise a chuckle.

The direction is sloppy at best. The script needs work. The pacing is completely off. And the actors are, frankly, not very good.

A sad misfire.

This was probably the young Hiroko Yakushimaru's most successful role in what was then the beginning of her career. She plays Koizumi, a high school student (hence the sailor suit part of the title) whose father passes away and by virtue of bloodline becomes the leader of a small Yakuza gang. The movie has some comic moments just from the concept, that a girl could run this somewhat motley group of guys. However, it is Miss Yakushimaru's performance that really makes this film. One moment sh'e weak, the next strong, one minute playful, the next serious, one minute a girl, next on the cusp of womanhood. One of the things I like about this film was they didn't complicate it by giving her a love interest. She gets to make mistakes, be tough and be a female in a male dominated world without there being too much reference to her attractiveness. Miss Yakushimaru has since gone on to make other films, including playing the wife in the two excellent Always Sunset On Third Street films, but this is her more or less at the beginning. I think you'll like it.

What sells it is the main characte,r she is wonderful to see on the screen, just looking around being cute, but, Assertive, and just takes the scream.

It's a really nice useful energy to the movie and it reminds me of a children's movie but then something really dark happens and we could grab back to reality.

There's one really impressive long shot in the movie, and it's hard to hate those goofy Yakuza in her group.

The story goes so many different directions and is so interesting but still hard to follow, It is delightful confusing but still entertaining.

Movies biggest problem would say is it's a bit too slow, I did watch that directors extended version but still I wish it was cut down, but still a fun and memorable movie.

Humorous satire of Japanese yakuza flicks in which Hiroko Yakushimaru plays the daughter of a yakuza oyabun (boss) who dies and leaves the clan to her. Unfortunately, the clan is not exactly top flight, as they drive around in old, backfiring cars, one member is, well, a little effeminate, and veteran actor Ken Takakura (Black Rain, Mr. Baseball are his two most recent American flicks) tries his best to keep Hiroko out of trouble. The scene with Hiroko when she sprays a room with machine gun fire and then exclaims "Kaikan"!! (roughly translated as "exciting" but perhaps in a physical sense) became somewhat famous in Japan at the time with people using the phrase in the same tone of voice as Hiroko. A funny and entertaining movie that I would definitely recommend to anyone who can understand Japanese (alas, there is no subtitled version).