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Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: 5/19/09
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Tsunehiko Watase, Akiko Koyama, Koji Nanbara, Tatsuo Umemiya
Year: 1972
The Movie:
While Meiko Kaji will probably always remain best known for the Female Convict Scorpion and Lady Snowblood films, there are a lot of 'undiscovered' (at least on western shores) films that she starred in, not the least of which is Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's 1972 Toei production, Wandering Ginza Butterfly.
Here Kaji plays a gang leader named Nami who has just been released from prison after spending three years behind bars. She heads back to her old stomping grounds in Tokyo where her uncle runs a pool hall and where she used to hustle unsuspecting players out of their cash years ago. Upon her return she falls in with a gangster named Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase) who makes a living by working as a sort of recruiter for various sex clubs around the city. He gets Nami a job working as a hostess at a house of ill repute where she excels at her new job. Not only is she sexy enough to bring the guys in, but she's dangerous enough to make sure they don't skip out on paying their tabs before they leave.
Things are going well until the Owada clan, a burly group of Yakuza types, move in on the territory and try to force the club's owner to sell. She doesn't want to but the Owada's are leaving her very little choice - and that's where Nami comes in. Wanting to take care of her employer the way she's been taken care of by her, Nami decides to stand up to the gangsters who want to take the good thing she and her friends have worked so hard to build.
Those expecting Wandering Ginza Butterfly to deliver the same sort of ultra violence and plentiful nudity that some of the more popular offerings in the genre have laid out might be a bit take aback to find that this picture is a much more subtle one, at least until it all comes to a boil in the last ten minutes. There's a lot of attention paid to Nami's origins and to building up her character and exploring her past and as such we aren't bombarded with action the way we are in some Yakuza pictures. That doesn't make Wandering Ginza Butterfly any less exciting or interesting, it just makes it different and not at all in a bad way - think of it as a calmer and more calculated counterpart to Kinji Fukasaku's almost anarchic hyperactive Yakuza films.
Skillfully directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, best known for his work with Sonny Chiba on the Mas Oyama trilogy and for the Sister Street Fighter movies, the movie builds very nicely to a tense and satisfying conclusion and it gives Meiko Kaji plenty of room to strut her stuff. She's great in the lead role and carries the film with that nice sort of underlying tension she brings to many of the parts she's known for. Ultimately this is a pretty interesting role for her, as she's got more to do here than simply look good and scowl. Her character is fleshed out nicely and she makes the most of it, while Yamaguchi ensures that the pay off, delayed in a sense as it may be, is absolutely worth it.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Wandering Ginza Butterfly is presented in a fantastic 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that preserves the film's original aspect ratio and which was struck from Toei's original vault elements. Aside from a little bit of grain here and there this is a very clean image and there are no problems with print damage or debris. Mpeg compression artifacts are never a problem and neither is edge enhancement. The contrast levels look dead on and black levels are quite strong.
The film is presented in its original Japanese language in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with optional English subtitles. Audio quality is fine, there are no problems with hiss or distortion and dialogue is clear. Range is obviously limited by the fact that it's an older track but there are no problems here, the movie sounds fine and the subtitles are clean, clear, easy to read and free of any typos.
The extras start off with a commentary track that comes courtesy of Chris D. who speaks about the differences between the different films that the Japanese studios were churning out in the seventies and about how Toei films tended to differ from those made by other studios such as Nikkatsu. He talks about the script and gives some welcome biographical information on co-writer Isao Matsumoto and some of the films he helped write before giving us some information on Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and some of the other cast and crew members. He explains the different genres and sub-genres of Yakuza films, how and why gambling tended to be popular in many of these movies, and about the importance and effectiveness of the score used in this film, which Chris describes as one of his less importance works. There are a few spots where Chris D. clams up and goes quiet but generally he keeps the information moving along at a decent enough pace even if he does slow down towards the end of the movie.
From there, check out the video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi entitled Genre Mill Memories (37:26) who starts off by talking about the intricacies of making double features and how he and his crew were 'committed to making movies that would not put people to sleep!' He talks about the black and white films he saw in his youth and how they inspired him and how he then in turn got his start in the film industry working on Prince Of Space! He then goes on to talk about some of the actors and actresses that he worked with, the importance and influence of Sergio Leone's westerns, and how Meiko Kaji was Toei's answer to Junko Fuji. He talks not only about the two Ginza Butterfly films but also about some of the other films he made with Etsuko Shiomi and Sonny Chiba. From there he talks about the popularity of Turkish Baths in Japan which lead to Toei making a movie about shape shifting prostitute cats, Kaibyo Turko buro (which he describes as his most memorable movie) before moving on to talking about working with porn star Sharon Kelly (a.k.a. Colleen Brennan) on a 1974 film entitled Shikijo Turko Nikki (unfortunately there seems to be no English language information around on this title - but the poster they show in the interview sure is cool!).
Rounding out the extras are trailers for the film and its sequel (both of which are in anamorphic widescreen with optional English subtitles), a Meiko Kaji poster gallery, a Meiko Kaji biography and filmography, animated menus, chapter selection, and some spiffy reversible cover art!
The Final Word:
Meiko Kaji fans or those who appreciate Japanese cinema of the seventies in general ought to pick this one up as soon as they can - it's a beautifully made film featuring a great performance from Kaji and some really stand out set pieces. Synapse's DVD looks and sounds as good as you'd expect and the extras are pretty solid too.
Want more info? Hit the Synapse Films website by clicking here!