Wandering Ginza Butterfly Collection

While Kurosawa translated the clichés of the American Western quite successfully in a number of his samurai films, director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi lifts his inspiration wholesale from the Italian Westerns of Sergio Leone in a pair of films starring the iconic Meiko Kaji (Female Prisoner Scorpion) as a lone wolf cut from the same pancho.

In Wandering Ginza Butterfly, Nami (Meiko Kaji) drifts into town with all the icy aloofness of Clint Eastwood’s “Man With No Name,” becoming enmeshed in a local prostitution/gambling ring with rival mobsters fighting for control. A dangerous outsider with a criminal past, she plays both sides just long enough to decide who deserves what’s coming before delivering it with ruthless efficiency; first with a pool cue…then with a sword.

She-Cat Gambler follows a similar formula but adds an element of revenge and the kung-fu stylings of Sonny Chiba (Street Fighter) whose bursts of intensity go down like a shot of 5 Hour Energy. Both films unfold with a very deliberate sense of impending tragedy that defies and - depending on your tastes - confounds expectations. Be prepared for 80-minutes of foreplay with one marvelously bloody climax.

Yamaguchi paints the Ginza underworld in dripping neon lights and beautiful cityscapes – a fascinating visual contrast – and milks Kaji’s elegantly severe features for every ounce of screen time. Both films are a far cry from the more overtly exploitive Pinky Violence films, serving as a bridge between Kurosawa and the next wave of post-censorship cinema to come. 

Previously released on DVD from Synapse Films, Arrow's new limited-edition Blu-ray upgrades are beautiful enough to hang on your wall, featuring new and archival extras (commentaries, interviews, video appreciation) plus trailers, a collector's booklet and reversible sleeve with some stunning new artwork.

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