Sex and Fury (1973)
DVD9 | ISO | NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | 01:28:30 | 5,90 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps + English Commentary track | Subs: English Genre: Action, Crime, Pinku Violence | Toei Company, Japan
Sex & Fury, one of the wildest, most violent, just-plain-entertaining Japanese sexploitation pictures from the 1970s! Starring the smoldering young "Pinky Violence" actress Reiko Ike (veteran of the Girl Boss aka Sukeban film series) as Ocho, a gambler and pickpocket in Meiji Era Tokyo.
After sheltering a fleeing anarchist, Ocho encounters the three villains responsible for her father's murder, and runs afoul of various yakuza members who want her dead. A European spy (the beautiful, Christina Lindberg - Thriller: A Cruel Picture), whose sadistic boss has his own nefarious plans, complicates matters.
This is a rip-roaring action saga filled with beautiful bodies, bloody swordplay, and psychedelic imagery - all beautifully photographed in a number of astonishing setpieces. Directed by Norifumi Suzuki (who fathered the 'Sukeban' genre), Sex & Fury transcends the pop culture realm to achieve genuine art.
Japanese maverick filmmaker Norifumi Suzuki directs Sex & Fury with his usual highly stylized visual tapestries and just the right amount of dark humor added in for good measure. The film is filled with flashbacks have dream like quality to them similar to the flash backs that are prominent in all of Sergio Leone’s films. Other aspects of the films look like extreme close ups and zooming as well a shots soaked in red lighting are all used to great effect.
Reiko Ike gives a solid performance as the lead Ochô Inoshika and despite some of the similarities between her character and that of Meiko Kaji’s Sasori are bound to be made, still Reiko Ike crafts her own unique female heroine who in many ways is a more defined character then Sasori. Early on in the film there is a screen with Ocho that firmly establishes her as a character and the tone of the film that is to follow. She is talking a bath when assassin burst in on her and she jumps naked out of the tub grabs her sword and proceeds to kill her attackers one by one. Words can not do this scene justice and it must be seen to fully appreciate it.
Swedish sex icon Christina Lindberg of Thriller a cruel Picture fame has a substantial role as a British spy named Christina. She isn’t an actress that has that much range and just like in Thriller a cruel Picture she relies heavily on her physical attributes. Despite her limited acting abilities she has a strong enough screen presence that she literally steals every scene she is in. Christina Lindberg has several scenes in which she is making love one of them with a woman and in other instance she is raped. The rape sequences in this film are done with the utmost realism. Her characters entrance is spectacular and her demise is one of the most beautiful death scenes ever filmed. Most exploitation films reply heavily on nudity and violence two elements which are prominent in Sex & Fury, still this film is a cut above the rest as it doesn’t rest on its laurels and it actually has a strong plot that ends with an amazing pay off.
10kbullets
From Norifumi Suzuki director of the equally brilliant films School of the Holy Beast and Star of David: Beauty Hunting, comes this visually stunning Pinky Violence gem.
Set in Meiji era Tokyo, Sex and Fury features Pinky starlet Reiko Ike as Ocho Inoshika, a skilled gambler, pickpocket and swordswoman whose father was murdered when she was a young child by some Yakuza. After making a promise to a dying fellow gambler to save his sister from being forced to work in a brothel, she finds herself in Asakusa having to compete against European spy and gambler Christina (Christina Lindberg, star of Thriller: A Cruel Picture) in a card game for the safety of the gamblers virginal young sister.
While in Asakusa she meets back up with her old gang of thieves and subsequently crosses paths with the ex-Yakuza now turned corrupt government officials who murdered her father and does away with them in a series of blood-soaked sword battles. There's also a subplot concerning Christina's planned espionage to start an opium war with Japan and her search for an old lover who is now the leader of a revolutionary group.
This really is high class exploitation. The cinematography is simply superb, the colorful set-pieces are at times psychedelic; audacious juxtaposition is used when various scenes of rape and brutality are underscored with joyful melodies and not to mention the generous amounts of sex and violence - what more can you ask for?
There are so many incredible scenes here, whether it be Reiko Ike’s naked blood-splattered body lopping off limbs in the snow, the mind-blowing torture disco, the blasphemic S and M session in a church or even the switchblade-wielding nuns that witness it, this is must-see Japanese genre cinema. Highly recommended for fans of the Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion or Girl Boss films.
Special Features:
- Poster & Still gallery
- Original theatrical trailer
- Production notes
- “Toei’s Bad Girl Cinema” an essay by Chris D. and bio’s for Reiko Ike, Christina Lindberg and Norifumi Suzuki
- Audio commentary with Chris D. whose knowledge of this genre and film is evident immediately. He has a lot of interesting things to say through out the duration of the film.
- Easter egg which can be found via the director & star bio’s page. Just simple highlight the blood spot in the lower right hand corner and a bio for Jun Midorikawa will appear.