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Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: 5/19/2009
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Sonny Chiba, Shingo Yamashiro, Yukie Kagawa, Tamayo Mitsukawa
Year: 1972
The Movie:
Following shortly after the events in the first Wandering Ginza Butterfly film, the second film, She-Cat Gambler, follows Nami (once again played by the stunning Meiko Kaji), who has left the brothel behind her and now makes her living as a professional gambler. Her father was murdered when she was much younger, and she's dead set on finding the man who did it and paying him back in kind.
Strolling through the streets of Tokyo she makes her way through various games of chance until she winds up saving a teenage girl who was to be sold as a prostitute. She takes the girl back to Tokyo to work at a club she has connections at, and then she finds herself helping a crook go straight. Eventually she meets up with a man named Ryuji (Sonny Chiba) who runs a prostitution racket in a different part of town. While, yes, he is basically a pimp, at least he's a nice pimp who treats his girls well and looks out for their best interests.
When some Yakuza types decide to move in on Ryuji's turf, however, he doesn't act quite so kindly towards those who would put him out of business. When Nami figures out the connection between the hoods bent on squashing her friends whore business and the murder of her father, she once again decides to get her revenge with Ryuji along for the ride.
Like the first film, Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2 - She-Cat Gambler takes its time to really get moving the way you'd expect a revenge film with Yakuza ties to get moving, but the pay off is absolutely worth it, even if we know where it's all heading simply by paying attention to Kaji's face as it portrays an increasing level of anger and rage. In much the same manner as she managed to portray the seething inner turmoil that her character had to deal with in the Female Convict Scorpion films, Kaji demonstrates that sometimes you can portray more emotion with the right facial expressions than you can with dialogue. That said, the lighter scenes in the film come off just as effectively. Her back and forth with Chiba's tough but kindhearted Ryuji are a lot of fun and having him on board to add his natural charisma, machismo and balls out tough guy screen presence definitely boosts this picture up a notch or two.
Those expecting a standard action/revenge picture will likely be left wondering what all the fuss is about, as this one is quite deliberately paced and at times the gambling scenes get a little dry, but the great cinematography that captures the glitz and neon of Tokyo coupled with the interesting Yakuza plot devices and the sheer coolness that Chiba and Kaji bring to the screen certainly helps boost the film's cult quotient.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2 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, black levels are quite strong and color reproduction is nice and lifelike.
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.
Extras start off with a 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!). This interview also appears on the DVD release of the first film.
From there, check out an interview with 'Pinky Violence expert' J-Taro Sugikaku (10: 57) who speaks about the importance of the film of Mieko Kaji, explaining the impact that she had on the Japanese film scene during the peak of her popularity and why she continues to be an important figure in Japanese cult films to this day.
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:
A well made and deliberately paced tale of a woman's quest for vengeance mixes nicely with the more dramatic aspects of Japanese gangster life in Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2 - She-Cat Gambler. Kaji and Chiba are as cool as they come and Synapse has done their usual bang up job on this making it an essential purchase for fans of Japanese cult cinema.
Want more info? Check out the Synapse Films website by clicking here!