Irezumi

The first thing that stood out to me is how beautifully this movie is shot and has some amazing freeze frames that should be framed on a wall. Having the lead woman have so much control not only when she receives the spider tattoo, but also in her own relationship before it was a surprising thing to see in a movie from the 60s. There is an interesting mystery of how much the spider tattoo is influencing her or if a large part of her actions are a understanding result of her being kidnapped and sold. This movie could have easily gone down the exploitation route, but it clearly had more to say and took itself way more seriously. I am very thankful for that.

This one is too well shot, stylized and acted to NOT be noticed. And, in all honesty, the main protagonist has all my sympathies because she's got guts, talent and EXTREME beauty (and I can't stress enough how beautiful the main actress is) while all the men around her are whimps at best or lurid, disgusting profiteers at worst of which the world would be better ridden off. If you love like I do dominant, strong women, go with it with no problems. You'll end loving the main character.

This film begins with an incredibly beautiful young woman by the name of "Otsuya" (Ayako Wakao) trying to convince a young man named "Shinsuke" (Akio Hasegawa) to quit his job working for her father so that the two of them can elope together and eventually get married. Although Shinsuke has grave concerns about leaving a good job and a boss who has been quite generous with him, he is easily seduced by Otsuya's charms and goes along with her in spite of it all. Having also stolen some money from her father, Otsuya and Shinsuke stay at an inn run by a man named "Kenji" (Fujio Suga) who is a business associate of the family. What neither of them know, however, is that Kenji has a hidden motive for allowing her stay to at the inn which soon comes to fruition when she is kidnapped and sold to a brothel in another city. But what Kenji doesn't quite fathom is that Otsuya is much more devious and resilient than anybody could ever conceive and that she is now determined to have her revenge on everybody involved with her abduction. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an extremely good film which was not only artistic in one sense but also had the advantage of featuring an incredibly talented actress like Ayako Wakao who dominated every scene she was in with her beauty and charm. And although there is quite a bit of sexual eroticism inherent within the plot the director (Yasuzo Masumura) uses a subtle technique which both stimulates the imagination and enhances the imagery. That being said, I thought that this was an excellent film and I have rated it accordingly.

A wonderful short movie with beautiful colors and characters acting like they are in Japanese Play, it works so well.

Female main character really sells the sexy but also dangerous kind of woman, that you can never really tell what she is really thinking.

Does she loves you, does she just use you? What is she really on about, she is a spider even before tattoo.

And the sad male mean character that truly displays what a slipper hero is, an goes way to for in this doom relationship.

It feels like watching and old Japanese tale that has been showed in the theater many many times.

It has a good length, but I think the sand of time made it so I didn't enjoy the movie as much if if I watched it when it came out. It's the sad fate of movies that have been built on so much.

Most impressive bloody drama of operatic proportions. Doubly wronged our heroine ends up a geisha with a tarantula tattoo upon her back. Apparently the first part of the Japanese word for tarantula means prostitute and so she feels she has no alternative but to remain in the profession into which she was forced. What she can do though is take revenge and hey does she take revenge. This is beautifully photographed action all the way and it gets plenty bloody, with a wonderfully over the top ending that makes you want to stand and applaud. How much this is a tale of an exploited woman and that of a woman overcoming adversity will be up to each viewer to decide. Gentle eroticism is a bonus and if this is not quite as crazy as the same director's Blind Beast it is just as audacious. Bold, bright and beautiful.