Ryôjoku mesu ichiba - Kankin

The Japanese have a way of showing violence in a gritty manner. Not necessarily only because they show the violence in full view, but also because they manage to represent the evil that lurks within the human mind. The slave traders in this movie have no respect for human life. They are aware of it, and they love it. Nihilism has become a trademark in Japanese cinema. This movie has very little blood, but a lot of nudity, sexual violence, rape and torture. We follow some average women as they are going through a world of pain and misery, where twisted evil soul seek the ultimate rush of power and supremacy by the suffering and unhappiness of other individuals. This movies running time is not long, but that's exactly enough to deliver the punch in your face. Not a great movie, but good. It does what it can well, and deliver the message.

I liked this movie! It's very dark in how it show us the world of today, don't get your hopes up. You are left on your own and nobody is going to help you.

The story is not that special and does not really leave an imprint, but the pictures and the mood make it a nice view. The gloom and the feeling of being unable to make a difference kind of get to you.

It have the basics for it's genre: rape (repeatedly), torture, violence, nudity (but censored - kind of funny here in the western world where some nudity is OK, but the violence showed in this movie would make our censors go nuts), help from people you don't expect. Downright Evil bosses of some strange trafficking organization. Drug abuse, Malplaced showering scenes. Evil for it's own sake.

This is not a movie that I'm gonna see over and over again but I would recommend it to my friends (but not to my parents).

If you like the genre this is slightly more than one hour well spent.

It have a nice twist at the end and does not finish like you expect.

A woman is kidnapped and brought to a warehouse. She wakes to find, she as well as several other women are being held to become sex slaves with the intention to be sold overseas. Of course she thinks of escape.

This story is similar to a number of women in prison B movies from the 1970's & 1980's. This is a Pink Eiga film which means there is (often) nudity and several sex scenes. Nothing too explicit. In addition are scenes of rape and other violence. So again, similar to old B movies although not at a prison. Including some non-sex action.

One difference here is a lot less dialogue and a shorter film length. The other is the bad guys, play bad guys. They treat the slaves as slaves directly. The movies from the 1970's always seemed to first have to explain why this was happening to the slaves. No explanation was needed or given which I preferred. All the slaves are women. All the bad are men.

The acting was very good. The ending was unpredictable and intelligent.

If you are a fan of old B movies or Pink Eigas you will probably like or love this movie. Everyone else will probably hate it. As a fan of both I thought this film was excellent. So this is an 8 out of 10 for me.

Okay. Chicks ugly, music lousy, underwear cheap, story remind World War 2--violence without end, brainwashing without reason--and all of this in supposedly democratic Japan? So, democracy is the reason why Japan has criminals or democracy is in our imagination? The producer don't comprehend simple fact that any movie is illusion and even illusion limited by ruling class, yes, in this case by cheap underwear.

Having seen loads of seventies genre movies from all over the world it is hard for me to find Female Market a must. There is no inspired storyline to lift it above the middle of the road 'women in prison' exploitation fare that has been made over and over again ad nauseum. What is compelling in this film is not the story but the cool delivery of its shocking scenes of ultra violence; most often of a sexual nature. The randomness of the gruesome acts bludgeons you to utter apathy until you beg for it all to end. It simply is too much. The scene in which one of the female victims begs her warden to kill her is one of the more understandable. What makes this watchable is the superb photography and deft direction. Also the lead character's unwillingness to surrender her will to her captors makes for some interesting scenes but nothing much comes from it. No high flyer then, but a well crafted genre movie that harks back to Love Camp 7 and Ilsa She Wolf of the SS. For the fans.