“The Biography of the Woman Boss of Bad Girls...”
This can be considered so many different subgenres of film.
It could be sexploitation, samurai, yakuza, female yakuza, but it is commonly
referred to as pinky violence. This was a series of Japanese films roughly from
1970 through 1974 that had a combination of “action, sex, violence and crime, and was dominated by ruthless and
deadly delinquent females” [2] . This new subgenre
had mostly been dominated by Toei studios, which by the mid-1960’s had begun to
see an increase in the level of sleaze, “nudity, softcore sex and violent
bloodshed” it was displaying in the films as a way to please an audience that
was turning more to television [3] .
Actresses Ike and
Lindberg both had built their well known careers mostly off of movies that
contained action and/or erotica in them. Ike was considered one of the pioneers
of the Japanese Pinky violence genre, starring in four Terror Female High
School films and five Sukeban or delinquent school girl films. Lindberg is
known mainly for the Swedish cult film Thriller: A Cruel Picture, and also
appeared in numerous Swedish erotica films. Director Norifumi Suzuki is
credited with directing 56 films, which include Torakku Yaro and its 7 sequels,
along with several other films in the Pinky Genre. He also wrote the script for
Red Peony Gambler, which also ended up with 7 sequels.
Despite this being
an exploitation flic, it is a beautifully shot with strong vivid colors and
beautiful scenery. These were not amateur filmmakers throwing together some
crap that has some tits in it; these were very talented artists with years of
experience who simply were told they had to make a different type of film.
There are many memorable scenes that will shock you, and then there are others
that will please you from a cinematic end. Some scenes that are visually
pleasing are the opening scene, where the father and daughter are walking on a
road among a long row of orange and black bamboo stalks. Then there is the
opening title sequence, which has Ocho displaying sword technique while in
front of a large wall of Hanafuda cards. And one other scene involves a rape in
a room that has a beautifully multicolored floor and the camera pans up and
spins around; the colors are a great juxtaposition from the evilness of the
rape.
If you like
samurai, spraying blood, yakuza, or sexploitation films then you have to give
this one a chance. And if you do like it, there are a large amount of other
pinky violence films as well as straight period yakuza and samurai films worth
checking out.
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