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Blood and Obedience: Onimasa (1982)

    It’s no secret: I unabashedly love Gosha and adore my beloved Nakadai aka the Greatest Actor Alive. They are a match made in heaven, Gosha’s artful brutality combined with Nakadai’s dark charisma always works for me. Onimasa is more than just another yakuza film and might be their best collaboration.     Onimasa: The Japanese Godfather aka The Life of Kiryuin Hanako aka Kiryuin Hanako No Shogai : The decades long tale of Boss 'Onimasa' Masagoro and his adopted daughter, Matsue as their lives see massive changes in Japanese society and politics. Masagoro is not the man he thinks he is while Matsue tries to find herself within the world she was forced into. It covers 1917-1940, the lifespan of Kiryuin Hanako, Matsue's younger sister and Masagoro's biological daughter.   You can go back and find a whole series on the 4 decade career of Hideo Gosha (The Line Between Sleaze and Prestige -  Part 1 , Part 2 ,  Part 3 ,  Part 4 ). His career was prolific with a co

The Spider on My Back: Irezumi (1966)

Joro Spider Tattoo
A large, grotesque tarantula stretches its long, demonic legs over Otsuya (portrayed by Wakao Ayako)'s back embracing her in a deadly vice grip. This tattoo was not voluntary. She had no choice in the matter. Her voice, her cries of pain meant nothing to Seikichi (portrayed by Yamamoto Gaku). Her perfect skin is the only canvas for his swansong. This is only the beginning of this brash, nihilist, and cruel melodrama.

Mizoguchi Kenji's legacy in the realm of Japanese film cannot be overstated. He was not only a cinematic mainstay that delivered decades of socially driven melodramas, but also worked with a few future icons - Shindo Kanedo and Masumura Yasuzo. Masumura was the a second unit director on the last few Mizoguchi films. Shindo was an art director and screenwriter. Following Mizoguchi's untimely death in 1956, Shindo and Masumura both cemented themselves firmly as distinct voices in the film industry. 

Even though this isn't a Post-War film like Women of the Night, Gate of Flesh or Pigs and Battleships, Irezumi tonally fits into these films. In fact, it deals with class and the place of women like Post-War films would typically do. This isn't about the exact realities of life after WW2 but commenting on the feeling of that era.


Irezumi: The outspoken and uncontrollable, Otsuya, daughter of a local pawnshop owner runs away with her lover, also her father's apprentice, Shinsuke (portrayed by Hasegawa Akio). Things go awry when they try to elope. Gonji, a local criminal of sorts, sells her to a geisha house and tries to kill Shinsuke. He kills the assassin. Otsuya gets unwanted ink and uses this as a catalyst launch an attack at the men and types of men she despises. Eventually, the two lovers reconnect. She uses him to kill men she's tired of and hates. He snaps, attempting to murder her but she tricks him again. The tattoo artist kills her and then himself

The rape revenge subgenre is complicated. Depending on the film, director, and studio, the rape could be sexualized and meant to arouse while others show the absolute depravity of the act. Some people loathe it and will never give it a second or even a first chance. Others will seek them out and find them to be rewarding seeing violent rapists and creeps get the punishments they deserve. In general, the middle ground is virtually non-existant on rape revenge. The zenith was reached between Last House on the Left (1972) and I Spit On Your Grave (1978). In film, it goes back (as far as I am aware) all the way to Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960). The real life subject matter is difficult and ugly but necessary to see in film with the appropriate treatment.


Shindo Kanedo was not shy when it came to pressing buttons and crossing lines. 2 of his most famous directorial bouts - Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968), deal with class and gender and violations by those in power upon anyone and everyone below them. Something that his (and Masumura)'s mentor's Mizoguchi was infatuated with for over 30 years of filmmaking. A prolific screenwriter, he utilized these themes particularly in Irezumi. He reunited with a few Mizoguchi regulars including cinematographer Miyagawa Kazuo, actor Fujikawa Jun, actress Mori Kikue, and actress Wakao Ayako.

Masumura made a name for himself as an increasingly bizarre and boundary breaking director like his screenwriter on this film. His films overall defy standard genre borders. Starting with Kuchizuke (aka Kisses) in 1957, his streak of stark individualism started early. Oshima praised Kisses, if Oshima was a fan then something's special there. A dozen years later, he reached a peak abstractness with 1969's Moju (aka Blind Beast, which will make an appearance here eventually). Irezumi does not reach those high highs of absurdity but makes up for it in other ways. 


Falling in line with 2 other Shindo films previously mentioned, Kuroneko and Onibaba, the clash of class stands at the forefront. At this point it's becoming almost cliche, but the upper class are a bunch of rich assholes. They will abuse and violate to satisfy every whim, that could be Gonji lying to Otsuya's parents about trying to find her just to sell off to a pimp or her pimp employing her to exploit clients to take most of the payday or Otsuya's father anger over losing his money and property (that includes her) to his apprentice. That last one might seem like a stretch but it's clear that she had nothing in her life. She was not a person with thoughts and feelings, just property to marry off and hopefully produce grandsons. Losing his flesh and blood isn't important, it was what she could provide him in return. No one does anything just for the sake of doing something good, there is always an exchange followed by a betrayal. 


Well, except for one character...Shinsuke. Innocence and naivety personified, he slowly learns the harsh realities of life as the film goes on. His own existence has been following orders in the hope that the goodwill of those around and above him are doing the same thing. The world as he understands it is all bullshit and he was dumb enough to buy it. This nihilistic melodrama is as much his journey into the hell that is being poor and oppressed as much as it is Otsuya's. She has always understood the rules of society. Her first action is persuading him to runaway together, even stole some of her dad's money. The world is a cruel place and he's blissfully ignorant.

Shinsuke is just a tool to her freedom to live as she wants, like most men, it took awhile for him to notice what's happening. The beginning of his descent is going along with his 'lover.' His place in the world is already set. He's a poor worker and content with that life choice, even if he's not fully aware of that choice. With each interaction with Otsuya, she degrades him more and more while forcing him to kill men she has no more use for. Shinsuke's sense of self and masculinity gets ground into nothing until he learns the truth. A truth that he should have figured out before. The promise of a life together was never going to happen. She gets to live the life she wants - fucking who she wants, killing who she wants, and extorting who she wants. Foolishly, he thought she never slept with another man. Once it all clicks together for him, he snaps. He's been cuckolded and humiliated by both her and Serizawa (portrayed by Sato Kei), a local rich samurai with a large sword. Threatening to kill her, but she yet again tricks him to deliver the final blow. 


The downward spiral into depravity for Otsuya is a bit smoother. The world as she experiences it is particularly cruel. She's a woman and property to get married off by her rich father. There is no future for her besides subservience and children, regardless of whether or not she wants either. Once she gets a small taste of freedom, men capture her. Otsuya is a proper woman from a proper family, this is disgraceful. The only punishment fit for a mad woman is letting an obsessed tattoo artist infatuated with her flawless skin tattoo his masterpiece on her back against her will. A giant human-faced tarantula infused with his essence permanently embraces her from here on out. The film opens with this graphic violation. She squirms, grunts, and moans during the whole act. It's erotic, uncomfortable, and artistic. Masumura manages to portray this symbolic rape to be both repulsive but beautiful, exciting but off-putting. It's impossible to look away. The spider changes her. It awakens her rage. The spirit of the spider possesses her, although there's nothing explicitly supernatural in the Irezumi. Otsuya uses the symbolism of the spider as a catalyst to take the power she craves. Men are merely objects to her, as a geisha, she is subjected to many patrons who each want something different from her. In every case, she weaves a web and traps them. She gets everything she wants from them. Otsuya is the basis of a Gosha (Hideo) woman. In the later works of Gosha, he'd include a powerful and power hungry woman that's active in the plot and equally as badass and lethal as the men. Never to this dramatic extreme however. 


Once Serizawa enters the picture, another wrench is thrown in the engine. He's not just wealthy but smart and powerful. The usual tricks don't work on him. She can smoothly move through the lower and middle classes but the upper is another level. Serizawa is a retainer for the lord and a trained warrior with a large sword that dwarfs every other blade in the film. His penis, I mean, sword is the biggest she ever experiences. He fucks better than everyone, richer than everyone, and as power hungry as Otsuya. She finally met her perfect man, the one man that can completely satisfy her. Keeping up with the cruelty of the world, she is happy but isn't allowed to have that. The only people who can enjoy life are the rich. If you aren't one of them, you can try but it's useless. 

To call Irezumi bleak is an understatement. It's oppressive and captivating from Frame 1 to the final name in the credits. Irezumi is on DVD, region 2...and worth buying.


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