Marusa no onna

I watched this movie with a friend from Japan who had a very high opinion it. I must say it was helpful to have her watching the movie with us (in our college dorm), however, because she explained a number of things about Japanese tax code and evasion as well as the Japanese mafia that made the plot (and politics) of the story much easier to follow. Aside from potential confusion in that area, I must say that I enjoyed the movie. Yes, there is sex, suspense, and the mafia, but don't expect it to flow like a mindless crime thriller (read: it isn't mindless, and it isn't non-stop action). It is about a tax woman, after all--the only woman amongst her coworkers. The characters are interesting and the story keeps you thinking. A smart movie with a few things to say along the way. Overall, I thought it was a good, but not great, movie. However, if you like this genre in general, you might enjoy it more than I did.

The plot of A Taxing Woman is interesting/enthralling, regardless of the production date or language of the film. Watching tax evasion cases unfold is surprisingly interesting, presented in a manner that shows the more human side of government organizations. (OK, if not the 'human side', at least you get to see what it's like on the inside.) From a cultural perspective, a 1980s Tokyo is also interesting, with shots of the cityscape, pachinko parlors, love hotels, etc.

One last comment: There is nudity in this film, but It adds to the story of the film, justifying why some of the characters do what they do.

She's rather memorable, this taxing woman. She has a face like a China doll all grown up with freckles around her eyes and a mat of thick dark hair on her head as though cut with the aid of a vegetable bowl. She is Nobuko Miyamoto, wife of the late and lamented director Juzo Itami, and a comedic star worthy of 'Saturday Night Live' in its better days. She plays Ryoke Hakura, tireless tax inspector hot on the trail of shady tax dodger Hideki Gondo, played with rakish self-indulgence by Tsutomi Yamazaki. Itami blends situation comedy with some soap opera angst (Japanese and American) to which he adds some ersatz action/adventure shtick (the chase scene near the end with Hakura legging it after Gondo's teenage son, comes to mind) seasoned with a touch of the traditional theater and a little zesty porn, well mixed.

The result is interesting and a little jarring.

I was most affected by the atmosphere of this strange and original comedy. I found myself looking at the backdrops and the sets and into the faces of all those very neat Japanese bureaucrats as I followed Ryoko Hakura's tireless pursuit of the missing yen. All that paper work and all those numbers! Interesting were the attitudes and presumptions of the characters in terms of sexuality and social status. We can see that in the modern Japan a woman must navigate her way carefully through the sea of men, while a man must achieve financial success to command respect. And yet there lingers still the flavor and the swagger of the samurai as seen in the scene where Gondo cuts his finger to write a bank account number in blood.

Aside from getting a little soapy at the end, this is fine flick, sly and amusing.

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This film will probably take many of the viewers by surprise. Apparently the tax system and the art of cheating on your taxes in Japan is something most Westerners might be surprised to see. Sure, MOST cultures have some people who try to avoid taxes--this is pretty much a given. But the lengths to which they go in Japan and the lengths the tax investigators go to catch them is truly amazing and makes this film so unusual.

The tax cheat in the film, Mr. Gondo, is a complex and unusual man. In some ways, he's a slimy man with little to like--owning a string of "love motels" (i.e., hotels where prostitutes go with their clients or couples commit adultery) and mistreating his mistresses pretty badly. But, oddly, through the course of the film, the viewer and the tax lady come to like him or at least recognize he isn't all bad. This is important because otherwise, the film would have been far less interesting. Also, the many, many, many bizarre ways of hiding cash and bank accounts was truly bizarre--with hidden rooms and account information hidden practically EVERYWHERE! The lady tax investigator, Ryoko Itakura, is amazing as well--sort of like a superhero with amazing deductive powers. She is both tenacious and brilliant but also obsessed to the point where she doesn't appear to have much purpose in life but her job. Again, this made for a fascinating woman, as later you saw bits and pieces of her life that led you to believe she is a real person with real likes and dislikes--and even a liking for Gondo.

All in all, this is one of the more unusual films I have seen--with a plot that is so unusual and a style that make it a standout film.

Besides the great performances by the two leads, portraying antagonists with similar world-views while on different sides of the law, I especially liked the permeating atmosphere of Japan that came through with the cinematography, the soundtrack, and the scene set-ups. The final scene culminated the film's strong reminder of the almost unpleasant yet intense fascination I often felt in the urban environments of Japan in the late 80's and early 90's. "That," I thought of the movie when it was over, "after setting aside all the comic exaggeration, is the real Japan." Like the movie "Shall We Dance?", it clearly showed a true aspect of Japan.