Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
1972 ‘Joshuu 701-gô: Sasori’ Directed by Shunya Ito
Synopsis
After being cruelly set up by a crooked detective named Sugimi (Isao Natsuyagi), whom she loved, Nami Matsushima (aka Matsu the Scorpion) (Meiko Kaji) is sentenced to do hard time in a women's prison, which is run by sadistic and horny male guards. There are 700 other prisoners, making Matsu number 701. Her crime was making a failed attempt to stab Sugimi on the steps of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters because he used her to win favor with the Yakuza. While in prison she meets inmates like Yuki Kida (Yayoi Watanabe) who was committed for fraud and theft, Otsuka (Akemi Negishi), jailed for burglary and extortion, and Katagiri (Rie Yokoyama) who has been impounded for arson and illegally disposing of a body.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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The exploitation cinema of Japan often seemed more interesting than the genre films we received from America and the rest of Europe, partly this will be down to only the best (or at least most internationally marketable) getting distribution in the UK but also they always seemed to blend exploitation genres more successfully. At its heart Female Prisoner #701 - Scorpion is a Woman In Prison film with all the standard genre clichés one would expect from such a film (sadistic prison guards, humiliating and often sexual punishments, irrelevant lesbian scenes), but the film also throws in gangster, revenge and even hinted at supernatural elements. The fact the film still hangs together so well is testament to all those involved…
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One of my favorite movies of all time. Whilst I prefer the sequel, this one really does lay down much of the groundwork for what was to come.
This film really does shine as the best that exploitation film has to offer and as much as people like to turn their nose up at the idea, it really does blend art-house techniques and pure entertainments in a way that even Italy achieved. In Italian films you will have films within genres that will either swing to one direction or the other, such as Suspiria next to Burial Ground, Rome Armed to the Teeth next to How To Kill A Judge, etc. But in Japan you often have the extreme sleaze…
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An enjoyable film that’s best feature is it’s lead. Prisoner 701 is just such a cool character. The way she just plays off all of the torture she endures by the officers at the prison is great to watch. At one point she has boiling soup poured over her and yet all she does is look up at the person doing it and smiles. The story is pretty simple and at times a bit drawn out. There’s a long scene where she digs a hole while other prisoners just fill it in. It goes on for far too long. I’d have liked to have seen more frome her outside of the prison but maybe that’ll pop up in the sequels.
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So I found about this movie due to the Love Exposure reference.
Turned out this is a great revenge film, a cult, dark toned classic.
Going to check out the rest of the series.
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One of my favorite movies of all time. Whilst I prefer the sequel, this one really does lay down much of the groundwork for what was to come.
This film really does shine as the best that exploitation film has to offer and as much as people like to turn their nose up at the idea, it really does blend art-house techniques and pure entertainments in a way that even Italy achieved. In Italian films you will have films within genres that will either swing to one direction or the other, such as Suspiria next to Burial Ground, Rome Armed to the Teeth next to How To Kill A Judge, etc. But in Japan you often have the extreme sleaze…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
An enjoyable film that’s best feature is it’s lead. Prisoner 701 is just such a cool character. The way she just plays off all of the torture she endures by the officers at the prison is great to watch. At one point she has boiling soup poured over her and yet all she does is look up at the person doing it and smiles. The story is pretty simple and at times a bit drawn out. There’s a long scene where she digs a hole while other prisoners just fill it in. It goes on for far too long. I’d have liked to have seen more frome her outside of the prison but maybe that’ll pop up in the sequels.
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So I found about this movie due to the Love Exposure reference.
Turned out this is a great revenge film, a cult, dark toned classic.
Going to check out the rest of the series. -
pinky exploitation fever dream. rising red sun of a virgin's blood. "To be betrayed is a woman's curse."
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Matsu is imprisoned after trying to kill the corrupt cop who deflowered and used her. After a failed escape attempt, Matsu is systematically tortured and abused and the target of a hit from a fellow inmate, under the instruction of her former lover. Shunya Ito’s debut feature is perhaps the finest example of the ‘woman in prison’ genre, featuring oodles of sex and violence, but shot with great flair and creating an iconic character in Matsu aka ‘The Scorpion’ thanks to Meiko Kaji's largely wordless performance.
-
The exploitation cinema of Japan often seemed more interesting than the genre films we received from America and the rest of Europe, partly this will be down to only the best (or at least most internationally marketable) getting distribution in the UK but also they always seemed to blend exploitation genres more successfully. At its heart Female Prisoner #701 - Scorpion is a Woman In Prison film with all the standard genre clichés one would expect from such a film (sadistic prison guards, humiliating and often sexual punishments, irrelevant lesbian scenes), but the film also throws in gangster, revenge and even hinted at supernatural elements. The fact the film still hangs together so well is testament to all those involved…
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pure awesomeness beyond comprehension