Customer Reviews

Female Yakuza Tale - Inquisition and Torture

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Directed by seasoned veteran of Japanese exploitation cinema Teruo ISHII, FEMALE YAKUZA TALE - INQUISITION AND TORTURE is the unrelated sequel to SEX AND FURY (also available on amazon), again starring beautiful and very sexy Reiko IKE as tough as nails female gambler Ocho. Set in Kobe ca. 1920, the story with various fractions of yakuza, revenge and double - crossing is a bit too overconvoluted for its own good. To cut a long story short, let`s just say you can expects LOTS of nudity, sex, violence and sleaze. Some examples of what you can expect here: there are some nasty yakuza who force women to smuggle drugs in their private parts (!) As incentive the poor drug addicted gals get their fix injected in their naked breasts (!) In one particularly sleazy scene our heroine is engaged in a card game with mean yakuza mobster Big Tiger, who foolishly accuses her of cheating and insists that Ocho strips naked (!) to prove she did not hide cards. On the condition that he cuts off some of his fingers in time honoured yakuza-tradition, should he be proven wrong, she drops her clothes (in the process clandestinely disposing of an incriminating card). Now it's time of the unfortunate yakuza to cut off his fingers, but his girl comes to his rescue and asks Ocho for a favour "from woman to woman": Making an obscene gesture with her hand, she begs Ocho to spare Big Tiger's middle finger. It's up to the viewer's dirty imagination, why she asks his finger be spared...
The showdown, involving sword- and gunplay, explosions, blood geysirs and about two dozen naked girls (!) is particularly over the top. As if this was not enough there is some downright silly slapstick and funny dialogue ("trashy boss" being my favorite) thrown in for good measure.
When all is said and done, FEMALE YAKUZA TALE - INQUISITION AND TORTURE is surely a pleasureable and entertaining way to spend an evening. The film is well-shot with stunning cinematography. Reiko IKE is great. However, I found the film still a bit disappointing. The story is convoluted and over blown. Personally, I found SEX AND FURY a far better film. Sure, there is more sex and violence in INQUISITION (though there is not a shortage of it in SEX AND FURY either), but SEX AND FURY has a better story and is overall a far more rewarding viewing experience.
Technically the DVD is great. The film is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, colours are nice and the print is pristine. There are also several interesting extra features. First of all the excellent trailer. Then there are picture galleries of promotional art and stills from the film. There are also excellently written production notes and bio- and filmographies of director Terou ISHII and star Reiko IKE.

Maybe I would have liked this film better if I hadn't watched it right after it predecessor, "Sex and Fury". My expectations were just too high. As it is, I found this follow up to be very disappointing. Where the over the top depictions of violence and sex felt entirely appropriate in the first film, in this film they come off as merely gratuitous and contrived, especially in the final sequence where scores of female nijas strip butt-naked prior to going into battle. Sure, I like the eye candy as much as anyone, but it works better cinematically if there's a discernable point behind it. Probably the worst thing this film has going for it is that its not directed by Norifumi Suzuki.

If you've seen "Sex and Fury", I'm sure that you'll want to see this film. You may even enjoy it. For all its shortcomings, I did. Reiko Ike is still beatiful as ever, and the acting, cinematography, and production values are still very high quality. Just be warned. It does not come anywhere near the cinematic brilliance of the first film.

Female Yakuza Tale is the sequel of Sex and Fury in which the geisha pick-pocket, played by Reiko, is embroiled in a yakuza plot to use geisha prostitutes to smuggle drugs to China in their crotches. The conclusion features the nude swordswomen and the Japanese mafia was so bloody and perverse, it would make Tarantino look like Harold Ramis lol. Please note that like Sex and Fury, Female Yakuza Tale is not intended for children.

I love Japanese post-war cinema more and more as my knowledge of the land people and cultures of Japan are increased incrementally with each small experience. I would watch this after we understand who OneTwoThree is and with an understanding of Yakuza culture as a component of Japanese culture as a whole. Some of the imagery of this film will repulse and horrify Americans who are not used to the sincerity and intensity of Japanese feelings towards those violating the rules of their culture. We Americans often talk about some of the things done herein but rarely portray it in our films and written works. There is a poetry and a savagery to this film that raises it far above a simple exploitation film or softcore pornography. It is relevant today for showing how a system may lose its relevance and be abused by some when the polity fails to enforce its rules, and the brutality of the imbalances thus created being righted-are you listening Messrs. Bush and Cheney?

Almost two years ago I watched Suzuki Norifumi's film Sex and Fury and while the film was far from being a great movie, it was a fun film because of its over the top action sequences and pumping psychedelic rock soundtrack. There were also quite a few scenes of nudity, especially with the film's female protagonist Ike Reiko, but, for the most part, they fit into the film and did not seem overly gratuitous. Also, the inclusion of Swedish sex film starlet Christina Lindberg was also a nice added touch. Unfortunately the second and final film in the series Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture pales in comparison to its predecessor.

Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture opening pretty much sets the standard for the entire film when our heroine Inoshika Ocho is attacked by several men and, for some reason or another, within the film's first two minutes she is completely nude. (Maybe it is easier to sword fight in the nude than wearing a constricting kimono.) Anyway, after this opening, Ocho has just arrived in a new city that is crawling with seedy individuals. After being led to a rickshaw by a young woman, she is taken a building where she is at first drugged and then molested. When she comes to, she finds herself nude and next to a dead girl who was killed by having her crotch gouged. A man, who we later learn was a former member of Ogi family gang informs Ocho that she will be accused of being a notorious killer called the "crotch-gouger." The film then continues to degenerate in a senseless mush introducing such characters as Christ Yoshimi, a woman who must kill after she prays, a crime lord called Big Tiger whose past is wrapped up with Ocho's and a few others including a group of prostitutes who smuggle in vials of drugs which have been hidden in their most secret places.

From its opening sequence Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture is a complete train wreck. Maybe if the plot had centered on one plot the film might have seemed less disjointed and more coherent and enjoyable. However, if one is just looking to see a lot of flesh, than this is the perfect film for viewers who desire to do so.

In US and Europe, compared with "Sex and Fury", it seems that evaluation of this film is low.
"Sex & Fury" is my favorite film too.
However, "The Female Yakuza Tale" is a more favorite film, and considers that I am Reiko Ike's best work.
Many people who are evaluating similarly are in Japan.
The katana fight of Reiko Ike who becomes nudity by the beginning of a film while being dyed bloodshed is absurd and humorous - but, it's simultaneously beautiful and cool.

A battle of the climax filled by craziness is legendary.
Director Teruo Ishii's originality is wonderful and excellent.
He necessarily adheres to neither a historically exact thing nor the continuity of a story.
Each scene gives priority over a movie to becoming interesting rather than them.

This work and "Sex and Fury" are the leading masterpiece of Pinky Violence Film made at the time with which Reiko Ike matured and it was shining most.
Both of the two works are films with suitable being evaluated highly.

I enjoyed this video. It's what it appeared to be. A Yakuza tale with females as the stars instead of men... Some nudity, well prehaps a bit more than some...

This is the sequel to "Sex & Fury" starring Ike Reiko. The plot revolves around "crotch gouging," drug smugglers using women's orifices to smuggle dope. The story is a bit better than the over-hyped "Sex & Fury" but lacks swordplay. Here's the major defects of Reiko's films: she can't wield a blade for her life! Her subsequent films where she does not use swords are more convincing (i.e., hand to hand combat or guns). There is even a character in this film who dons a hat similar to that of Kaji Meiko in the Scorpion series. She even looks like Meiko.Sexwise, there's a lot more nudity, but that's about it. One major gripe with this Panik House release is that they decided to package it in a clear plastic sleeve which gets rumpled when shrinkwrapped. It also comes with a nice clear sticker (like those you would put on a car) as opposed to the paper stickers included in the Pinky Violence collection and "Sex and Fury."

Teruo Ishii stretches the patience of his viewers again with yet another 'pinky violence' offering, continueing the tradition of bad story line, absolutely lame sword-fighting choreography and unappealing sex scenes. Yes, the tale does include women forced to smuggle drugs in their apparently gigantic private parts, but that's not enough reason to watch this. Two stars is generous. My recommendation is to buy yourself some good porn or a good samurai movie, but this combo does not work.