Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya

The third film in a cycle of brilliant Exploitation movies, and the third masterpiece in a row, "Joshuu Sasori: Kemono-beya" aka. "Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable" (aka. "Sasori: Den Of The Beast" where I live) of 1973 is a film that differs from its predecessors in some aspects, but that keeps up the great quality. The entire original Sasori series with the wonderful Meiko Kaji stands out as the absolute highlight in WIP cinema, and all of the films, especially the first three, uniquely combine Exploitation and Art-house cinema like no other movie does. "Beast Stable" is the third, and second-to-last "Sasori" film with Meiko Kaji, the last one to be directed by genius director Shunya Ito and, in my opinion, the greatest of them all. The first film "Joshuu 701-gô: Sasori" of 1972 is an absolute masterpiece of Exploitation cinema and simply THE Definition of Exploitation-Art. In the equally brilliant first sequel, "Joshuu Sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bô" Ito added more surrealism and symbolism. The third "Sasori" film, "Beast Stable" keeps up the surrealism (allthough not quite to the same extent as the second), and features even more social criticism than its predecessors. Topics like poverty, forced prostitution and the exploitation of the poor are central themes of the movie.

This third "Sasori" film is ingenious and sublime in all aspects and arguably the greatest of the, generally brilliant, cycle (to me it's this one, with the first one as a close second). Once again, "Best Stable" is both very artistic and very Exploitation-like. The visually stunning film features an enormous amount of brutal violence and sleaze again, as well as sequences of enormous surrealistic beauty. The stunningly beautiful Meiko Kaji is once again brilliant in her role of Nami Matsushima (aka. Sasori). I absolutely worship this wonderful actress, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to do so. The rest of the performances are also great, especially Mikio Narita is great as a police Inspector who is obsessed with catching Sasori. The musical score is the same throughout all three films, with "Urami-Bushi", sung by Meiko Kaji herself, as the main theme, which is great, since the score is, simply put, pure perfection. As its predecessors, "Beast Stable" is a true gem and must-see for any fan of cult-cinema.

Fugitive prisoner Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) is on the run, pursued by a relentless, vengeful, one-armed detective named Kondo (Mikio Narita). In an attempt to 'blend in' with society, she decides to shack up with Yuki (Yayoi Watanabe), a beautiful young prostitute who lives with her mentally handicapped brother, and get a job. However, when the local prostitution ring gives poor little Yuki a very hard time, our silent heroine decides to seek revenge, and, in doing so, reveals her whereabouts to the law.

Judging by IMDb's current rating (7.6 out of 10), and some glowing comments by trusted, prolific authors, I expected to have my socks blown clean off by Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable. Indeed, the first few minutes, in which protagonist Nami Matsushima hacks off Kondo's arm (which is handcuffed to her) and proceeds to leg it with the severed limb dangling from her wrist, did just that (I paused the DVD to pop them back on).

Unfortunately, however, the remainder of the film proved to be far less impressive, never matching the sheer audacity of the opening scene. Sure, director Shunya Ito comes close with some exploitative moments including incestuous sex between Yuki and her retarded brother, and a nasty, forced abortion, but, for the most part, Beast Stable is rather boring, being very slow in the telling and uneventful for long stretches.

The film is, of course, very stylish, and always good to look at (the stunning lead actresses certainly help there, with Watanabe obligingly getting her kit off a few times), but compared with parts one and two, this third outing for Scorpion is a tad disappointing.

I thought "Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion" was an awesome exploitative adventure filled with over-the-top violence and a revenge story that made me want to cheer. "Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41" continued Matsu the Scorpion's (Meiko Kaji, "Lady Snowblood") journey in a way that artistically expanded the world established in the first film while still giving us a compelling story that furthered the legend of our titular character. This third entry is the last of the FPS series directed by Shun'ya Ito, and while I can't say that it's as much fun as the previous entries in the series, I can say that fans of the first two films will probably still find a lot to enjoy in this movie: there are plenty of sleazy and exploitative scenes that justify the sequences of over-the-top graphic violence, and the way the film approaches that violence is still pretty artistic, and, of course, Matsu still has her sting.

This is Shunya Ito's final entry in the FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION series, starring the great Meiko Kaji. The series, based on a Japanese manga, follows the exploits of a woman unjustly imprisoned, brutalized by guards and fellow inmates, who defends herself with such aplomb, she becomes a jail-house legend. The other convicts nickname her Sasori, which means Scorpion. Over the course of two films, she escapes to wreak vengeance against the man who got her busted, is sent back for his murder, and escapes again; the second film ends with Sasori on the loose.

This, the third film, focuses on Sasori's life as a fugitive outside the walls. In an eye-opening first scene, Sasori evades detectives on a subway train; she comes out of it handcuffed to one of the detectives' arms, but not the rest of him. She flees to a slum which consists of a red-light district run by a forced-prostitution ring and a residential area made up of a mud street and shacks, where she is put up for the night and befriended by a lonely prostitute named Yuki. We soon discover that Yuki gives of herself on a nightly basis to her brain-damaged brother, who she keeps locked in a closet. Sasori tries to lead a normal life, taking a job as a seamstress and renting her own apartment, but she and Yuki soon meet again and are both embroiled in a plot that involves the Cruella De Ville-from-hell madam who runs the prostitution ring and the detective from the subway (Mikio Narita, a regular in Kinji Fukasaku films), who by God wants his arm back.

What follows is an atmospheric noir/horror yarn--it takes elements from both and uses them well--that applies Ito's flair for the visual to a mood that is different from the first two SCORPION films, yet bears the same unmistakable signature. A scene involving lit matches falling into a sewer tunnel is especially beautiful. Ito's use of sound, like when Sasori is incessantly scraping the handcuffs with the arm against a tombstone in an attempt to free herself, is as effective here as ever. He also employs silence more than usual, as if by virtue of a newly honed minimalism. This goes along with the relatively subdued tone of the first section of the film, which allows space to explore Sasori's and others' characters. Things pick up by the end, though it's all handled with a dreamier rhythm than the previous films. This is an asset. Each of the three films has its own style, I realize now, and seeing this one made me go back and watch the first, appreciating it more than before.

Meiko Kaji gives her usual amazing performance as Sasori, emoting silently, standing or moving or pouncing or maiming with a grace that switches seamlessly between human and animal. The pathos present in all three films is largely due to the human side of this grace, which never inhibits the films' darker aspects. Reportedly, Kaji, who did one more SCORPION film after this one, had as much to do with developing the character for film as Ito, not only in her performances, but off-camera as well. This film is a worthy swan song for the collaboration. Very Japanese, very seventies, very much something else entirely.

After finishing the Zero Woman series, I was looking forward to the Female Prisoner Scorpion series; both based upon comics by Tooru Shinohara. Unfortunately, I was not able to see them in order, as this is the third in the series.

It starts great as The Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) is escaping from the police. Detective Kondo (Mikio Narita) did manage to get a cuff on her, but she proceeded to cut off his arm and get away. If that isn't bad enough, later on a dog digs up the arm and is seen trotting down the street before finding a place to enjoy his treat.

Scorpion might as well go back to prison as life is no picnic on the outside. First, a local Yakuza Tanida (v) threatens to put her back if she doesn't put out; and then the gang leader gets her when she gets rid of Tanida. But, they don't hold her for long before she escapes and is looking for vengeance.

Soon they are dropping like flies. Some certainly deserved it for wearing garish outfits with shirt collars so big they went all the way to the shoulder. The madam (Reisen Lee) turns herself in to avoid getting killed.

The police arrive at her latest kill and trap her in the sewer. She's in there for a week and the cops find out that a friend (Yayoi Watanabe) has been supplying her with food. (The story O Yuki (Watanabe) and her brother is a subplot that is very interesting, but only incidental to the movie.) They try to burn her out, but this is The Scorpion, and she has some unfinished business.

Not the usual mix of sex and violence, this is a slow tale that is beautiful throughout.