Criminal Woman: Killing Melody
We are introduced to some inmates. Each beautiful Japanese
female inmate has committed a certain degree of crime. Pickpocketing, cheating,
theft of motorcycle, abuse towards johns, and violence through the blade. So
right away, we have a woman-in-prison film. With our opening fiery female, Maki (Reiko Ike), newly
imprisoned (and mute to the point that when inmates talk to her, she doesn’t
even act as if they are there), she immediately makes enemies by provoking the
wrath of the leader of the pack , Massayo (Muki Sugimoto) by openly defying her presence of power within
the prison population. Then we get one hell of a fun catfight as it starts with
broken pieces of glass as knives (the two women in battle use a torn cloth
shared in a type of tug-o-war where one hand, and their teeth, grab hold to the
said cloth so that they keep each other tight and close; obviously, if one or
the other were to let go of the cloth while in the heat of battle, the victor
would be decided), turns to karate chops, and finally has the two tumbling
around in the dirt as inmates serve as an excited audience to it all. What I
thought was so awesome about it was how there appears to be an obvious victor
throughout, but even as it looks as if Maki is outmatched and
outperformed she just keeps coming. That spirit and lack-of-quit makes her a
formidable opponent of anyone who crosses her. There’s no stop in her even as
exhaustion and fatigue set in. This is a beaut.
I love how the actresses involved don’t use stunt doubles, too. We see
them up close going right at it, giving us better than a ringside seat. Maki would collapse, get back up swinging wildly, while Massayo seems stunned by her insistence to keep going even as defeat beckons for her to call it quits.
Finally, Muki breaks her silence and tells the inmates her story. A no-good drunkard father fell victim to the Yakuza, and he's later discovered in the water, dragged to the beach, with his lifeless body noticed by his daughter, Muki. Not only that, because she was also raped by the Yakuza. So that ferocity and venom so visible as Muki attacks the Yakuza in a strip club is better explained once she had battled Massayo in the activity yard.
By instigating a rift even further between the Yakuza organizations in the city, Maki can allow them to tear each other apart then capitalize on Oba when resources have been strained. To whittle down the men around Oba, and encourage Tesuo's wrath (with Oba listening to his men who tell him Hamayasu is responsible for the dead among them, and a theft of their high-priced dope in a suitcase, stolen by Maki on a motorcycle, with her girls firing machine guns at them during a supposed trade with drug traffickers), they can watch as these criminals are rendered to next to nothing. When Maki looks at Oba without the gaggle of goons surrounding him as protection, it is that moment she has longed for and fantasized about.
Of course, there is that moment where Maki appears to have been caught and is in trouble of suffering torture or worse. One of Oba's men smacks her around and even threatens to cut her with a chainsaw, but Maki has a reluctant but willing secret ally in Massayo. Massayo sees Oba as a meal ticket, nothing more. She calls herself his woman, but it is about the benefits of a man of his power. Maki threatens to disrupt her leisure, but, at the same time, Massayo respects and admires her moxie and courage. When Massayo burns her nipples with a cigarette (Yikes!), this willingness to suffer so the endgame provides her with the revenge such agony is worth proves just how much Maki wants to destroy Oba. Whatever it takes.
I love these movies mainly because women often are left standing while the men are fooled, tricked, and ruined by them. Reiko Ike is my reason why I dig Criminal Woman. She is a force, and a badass nut that doesn't crack. She wants vengeance and will go as far as she has to in order for Oba to get what's coming to him. We see Oba surround himself with a lot of men and guns. Hamayasu suffers an honorable death by taking to Oba's men with a Samurai sword, but this doesn't last long. Bringing a sword to a gunfight ends badly if you are the one carrying the blade. But Maki arms herself and the girls. Even better Maki and her girls have brains and cunning. They want money as a unit, but Oba's demise is chief among their plans.
With plenty of nudity, bloodshed, women behaving badly, Yakuza thuggish activities, and guns dropping bodies, Criminal Woman: Killing Melody has lots going on for the exploitation fan. What Pinku eiga might have over 70s exploitation in other countries is the style of the studio system, the incredible talent of filmmakers in this system, and the comic book nature of the characters and actors' performances in those roles. The way the crooks are lit up by grenades and bullets and how criminals react to their necks slices and stabs to their torso; not to mention, the way characters react to developments beyond their control. This is all over-the-top to a certain degree as to tell us it is all just a movie.
In Japan (in regards to the Yakuza), it is like the Wild
West even though we are in the 70s. The Yakuza seem to be the untouchables, and
in order for them to get what they deserve those fed up with them must take the
law into their own hands. In pinku eiga, with the mention of Maki’s rape,
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody has another of the exploitation staples: the
rape revenge film. The murder of Maki’s father wasn’t enough on its own, so the
addition of a heinous rape adds fuel to the fire: those wretched Yakuza vermin
should be shown no mercy.
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I couldn’t get enough of Reiko Ike. That burning hatred for
Oba Industries. She is so fuming and stewing, you just know there’s no other
goal in mind but to make those bastards pay. When she tells the main mob boss
all she wanted to do was chase him down to a miserable finish and then toss his
corpse in the ditch with the dead rats, it has an intensity that is palpable
and vivid. I love these kinds of anti-heroines. This film is every bit like the
western in many ways. When the law seems unable to rein in the crime, the
underbelly is dealt with in a lawless, violent fashion.
Once, the film returns Maki and the girls associated with
her and Massayo to the city, we see an orchestrated plan take shape. Massayo
and Maki are in a conflict that only heightens the drama of the film’s central
plot: Massayo is the squeeze of Oba Industries’ main Yakuza boss while Maki
plans to build weapons and arsenal to the point where she takes his ass down.
No surprise that Massayo and Maki will engage in a second fight at the end, but
I think this is overkill as the first catfight was long enough and strenuous
enough on the leads that repeating that just feels unnecessary. However, in the case of the final catfight, the victor is reversed in that Maki is the one on the offensive as Massayo finds herself on the receiving end of ground dirt, cuts, and blows. Massayo is the one swinging wildly while Maki seems to have better focus and aim. So in terms of where the women are positioned, the film seems to come full circle. Maki has gotten her revenge while Massayo is left without a sure goal in life now.
Maki and her entourage embark on their scheme to hit the
drug warriors in the city, the pulse of Oba’s ultimate success besides taking
money from citizens. Hamayasu Crime Family were at one point the Yakuza
leadership of the city, but Oba, a thug with the kind of thug-like aggression
that can gain power quickly due to his manner of killing and removing those
that stand in his way, quickly ascended to the top of the food chain. Maki has
the girls assist in concealing her identity from Oba while burying her dagger
in the back (and stomach) of each drug warrior of the Yakuza (those that ply
the drug market in the city to addicts and locals needing their fix). Maki
likes to look at her handiwork for a length of time, to relish her vengeance,
before the girls try to drag her off to safety. Oba’s goons consider Hamayasu
the one responsible for the murder of their guy, even though Massayo realizes
her girls were the actual culprits.
A wild card to use by Maki is the cocky, liquor-guzzling,
repugnant, abrasive, and antagonist firebrand Tetsuo, son of Hamayasu. Tetsuo is eyed by Maki
because he’s so hard to rein in, with Oba especially tired of his grandstanding. Meanwhile, Massayo is stuck in a bind…does she tell Oba about
Maki or allow circumstances to continue until a path of bodies result by
remaining quiet.
By instigating a rift even further between the Yakuza organizations in the city, Maki can allow them to tear each other apart then capitalize on Oba when resources have been strained. To whittle down the men around Oba, and encourage Tesuo's wrath (with Oba listening to his men who tell him Hamayasu is responsible for the dead among them, and a theft of their high-priced dope in a suitcase, stolen by Maki on a motorcycle, with her girls firing machine guns at them during a supposed trade with drug traffickers), they can watch as these criminals are rendered to next to nothing. When Maki looks at Oba without the gaggle of goons surrounding him as protection, it is that moment she has longed for and fantasized about.
Of course, there is that moment where Maki appears to have been caught and is in trouble of suffering torture or worse. One of Oba's men smacks her around and even threatens to cut her with a chainsaw, but Maki has a reluctant but willing secret ally in Massayo. Massayo sees Oba as a meal ticket, nothing more. She calls herself his woman, but it is about the benefits of a man of his power. Maki threatens to disrupt her leisure, but, at the same time, Massayo respects and admires her moxie and courage. When Massayo burns her nipples with a cigarette (Yikes!), this willingness to suffer so the endgame provides her with the revenge such agony is worth proves just how much Maki wants to destroy Oba. Whatever it takes.
I love these movies mainly because women often are left standing while the men are fooled, tricked, and ruined by them. Reiko Ike is my reason why I dig Criminal Woman. She is a force, and a badass nut that doesn't crack. She wants vengeance and will go as far as she has to in order for Oba to get what's coming to him. We see Oba surround himself with a lot of men and guns. Hamayasu suffers an honorable death by taking to Oba's men with a Samurai sword, but this doesn't last long. Bringing a sword to a gunfight ends badly if you are the one carrying the blade. But Maki arms herself and the girls. Even better Maki and her girls have brains and cunning. They want money as a unit, but Oba's demise is chief among their plans.
With plenty of nudity, bloodshed, women behaving badly, Yakuza thuggish activities, and guns dropping bodies, Criminal Woman: Killing Melody has lots going on for the exploitation fan. What Pinku eiga might have over 70s exploitation in other countries is the style of the studio system, the incredible talent of filmmakers in this system, and the comic book nature of the characters and actors' performances in those roles. The way the crooks are lit up by grenades and bullets and how criminals react to their necks slices and stabs to their torso; not to mention, the way characters react to developments beyond their control. This is all over-the-top to a certain degree as to tell us it is all just a movie.
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