This is a yakuza film, to be sure, but its more of a drama than an action or gangster movie. Though there is limited pool in wandering ginza butterfly, the film earns its placement in the billiards movie canon for the same reason that turn the river, the 2007 movie starring famke janssen and the topic of a future blog post is on every billiards movie list. Mesuneko bakuchi is a 1972 film, which is a sequel to wandering ginza butterfly. Gang leader nami cult film legend meiko kaji kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. Wandering ginza butterfly dvd, 2009, the asian cult. Wandering ginza butterfly 1972 04011972 jp action, thriller 1h 26m user score. Theatrical trailers for wandering ginza butterfly and wandering ginza butterfly 2. The first film was a very conservatively directed, bythenumbers effort with a subpar storyline focusing on pool of all things. Namiplayed by meiko kaji returns to tokyo to find the man who killed her father years ago. Wandering ginza butterfly is a film directed by kazuhiko yamaguchi with meiko kaji, tsunehiko watase, tatsuo umemiya, shun ueda. Wandering ginza butterfly is a crime thriller starring meiko kaji as gang leader nami who returns from a three years stint in prison, after killing a rival yakuza member. Once again the transfer is clean and neat, and the subtitles are once again very well done.
Shecat gambler before i saw the first film in this. Made in 1971, ginjo rightly feels more like a ninkyou yakuza film of the 1960s in both its look, pacing and narrative. Cult film icon meiko kaji female convict scorpion stars as a former gang leader who must fight to defend her uncles pool. See more ideas about japanese film, film posters and japanese.
The ginza butterfly duo would be a primer between her stray cat rock youth gang films and the two series for which she would become most well known, the lady snowblood and female convict scorpion films. Considering this sequel to wandering ginza butterfly was made only a year after the first, the difference could not be any more obvious both stylistically and for the compelling performance of meiko. New, exclusive video interview with director kazuhiko yamaguchi original japanese theatrical trailers for both. Wandering ginza butterfly has been ranked 176 times, wins 40. Wandering ginza butterfly 2 shecat gambler dvd, 2009. Mesuneko bakuchi, in which kaji was paired with shinichi sonny chiba. Wandering ginza butterfly 1971 ganzer film deutsch. Wandering ginza butterfly is a 1972 japanese gangster film directed by kazuhiko yamaguchi, and cowritten with isao matsumoto. Meiko kaji gives a more human performance than in the lady snowblood or scorpion series, often smiling and. For me one of the highlights of these films has always been the location filming in and around tokyo and we get some nice images of ginza in that era. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Wandering ginza butterfly is a rambling yakuza picture, tonally all over the place veering between silly and dramatic, that primarily has two things going for it.
Intended as the first part in an ongoing series, in the vein of junko fujis red peony gambler hibotan bakuto films, wandering ginza butterfly spawned only one sequel, wandering ginza butterfly 2. If anyone could equal junko, it wouldve been kaji meiko, if she werent stuffed in such bad scripts as that first episode. Cult film icon meiko kaji female convict scorpion stars as a former gang leader who must fight to defend her uncles pool hall when a rival gang attempts to muscle in on the business. Wandering ginza butterfly billiards movie 8 ball on.
If you like wandering ginza butterfly you are looking for movies about with gambling, yakuza, billiards, street gang, sword, pantyhose and bar themes of action and drama genre shot in japan. Shecat gambler is a film directed by kazuhiko yamaguchi with meiko kaji, sonny chiba, shingo yamashiro, yukie kagawa, year. Complet vostfr, the symbol of a man film en entier francais streaming vf. The studio that specialized in tough yet stylish crime movies during the 1970s seems like the natural home for japans greatest female crimeaction star of the decade, yet wandering ginza butterfly was her toei debut. Lady snowblood love song of vengeance film en streaming complet. Wandering ginza butterfly 1972 the movie database tmdb. Both feature strong female, embattled protagonists who are forced to use their pool hustling skills to right an unfavorable situation.
Whole movie so distinguished, talking, cheating, seems to climax with a billiard game, but then, suddenly, meiko kaji steps out from behind the. Throughout wandering ginza butterfly, characters walk in and out of pool rooms, but the major scene is a threecushion billiards showdown between nami and a junkie henchman named third eye ryu. Meiko kaji, tsunehiko watase, akiko koyama, koji nanbara, tatsuo umemiya. Le film the taste of apple seeds 2014 streaming vo. Prisoner scorpion, lady snowblood, wandering ginza butterfly, and stray cat rock franchises, as well as supporting roles in other films. Meiko kajis wandering ginza butterfly coming to dvd. Shecat gambler is the follow up to wandering ginza butterfly and sees meiko kaji reprise her role as nami, with a stuttering sonny chiba thrown into the mix and at her side to shake up the crime world once more and while the film is shot nearly as stylish and well as its predecessor, the story is a rehash and readjustment for the most part, that never gets as. Gincho wataridori wandering ginza butterfly wandering silver. In 1971 with the two wandering ginza butterfly films, actress and soon to be eternal cult icon meiko kaji made the switch from nikkatsu studios to toei. Upon her release three years later, she s a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs.
The movie was followed with a 1972 sequel entitled gincho nagaremono. Photos of musicians meiko kaji japanese film, japanese beauty, asian beauty, tough. Onoff special features interview with director kazuhiko yamaguchi theatrical trailers wandering ginza butterfly wandering ginza butterfly 2. Le film hard target 2 2016 streaming vostfr gratui. Upon her release three years later, shes a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs. Youtube meiko kaji flower of carnage shura no hana 1973 duration. Best movies like wandering ginza butterfly bestsimilar. Wandering ginza butterfly gang leader nami cult film legend meiko kaji kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. The film was initially hoped to be the first in a series, but a poor box office showing, due in no small part to the glut of similar films being released at the time, limited the franchise to a single sequel, wandering ginza butterfly. I often describe toei as japans equivalent of warner bros. Shecat gambler, both with optional english subtitles, as well as a poster gallery, biography and selected filmography for meiko kaji, cover the actress most notable roles and films and can also be found on the synapse release of wandering ginza butterfly. It features meiko kaji, the star of numerous franchises during the 1970s. Born today most popular celebs most popular celebs celebrity. Gincho wataridori wandering ginza butterfly wandering.
Trailer for the toei pinky violence classic starring meiko kaji, directed by kazuhiko yamaguchi. Wandering ginza butterfly by kazuhiko yamaguchi kazuhiko. Wandering ginza butterfly is a 1972 japanese gangster film directed by kazuhiko yamaguchi, and cowritten with isao. Threecushion billiards, one of the most popular and challenging cue sports in the world, consists of three balls and a pocketless pool table. In 1972, just before making the first female convict scorpion film, kaji starred as a wandering excon gambler in wandering ginza butterfly, a classic pinky violence film. Wandering ginza butterfly was one of those hasty projects intended as the first of a series of films that would take up the commercial slack left by junko no longer appearing in new episodes of the red peony gambler. While the central premise is once more enveloped by the ginza entertainment district and codes of honour are again brought into disrepute, nami is this time a gambler of a different. Its one of the many movies that the toei company made in the early 1970s about the yakuza and various gangster activities in tokyo. Jun 27, 20 wandering ginza butterfly is a stylish and unique japanese crime film.