MOVIE REVIEW . Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion: Grudge Song

by Chris   ⋅   June 1, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

The last Scorpion entry starring Meiko Kaji is certainly the least of the films. Moving forward sans director Shunya Ito, this installment finds Sasori on the run from yet another gung-ho police inspector, facing threat of execution, and falling in love. That’s right, Sasori in love. When the film starts the police are hot on her tail. Sasori manages to escape arrest, but not unscathed. Wounded, she makes her way to hiding, only to be found and nursed back to health by a young strip club owner named Teruo Kudo. But Kudo is a man interrupted. Rendered a near eunuch by scumbag police/torturers, he is sympathetic to Sasori’s plight. Sasori, in turn, is drawn to this handsome male that is not quite, and ever so slightly drops her guard. But, as luck would have it, it is a decision she will soon regret, as police soon come knocking, and the risk of becoming a female prisoner once again looms near.

When compared to the first three entries, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Grudge Song has a decidedly cheap look. You might think that the Scorpion film actually subtitled “Urami Bushi” (the signature song of the Sasori series) would promise to be the best in the series, but alas, the beautiful photographic and stage-drama sensibilities, masterful camerawork, and vibrant energy of the previous films have been all but abandoned. In its place you have fairly static camera work, minor (colored) lighting effects, dodgy editing, and a very cheap stage sequence (they didn’t even bother to right an upside down crow, hanging from the branch of a foreground tree). Fights are chaotic, but not particularly engaging, and even the end sequence seems a little, well….Silly.

The story itself is somewhat of an amalgam of the previous films, with both the lone scorpion on the run (Beast Stable) and Sasori in prison (the first Female Prisoner) elements shifting off halfway through the film. There are a few nice jabs regarding religion as a comfort blanket for the weak, the hypocrisy of the status quo, and the corruption inherent in those we are conditioned to recognize as our protectors, but all in all everything has a been-there, done-that feel to it. Kaji, too, seems to have picked up on this feeling, and doesn’t quite attain the same level ferocity her character evidenced in the previous films. She looks the part and acts the part, but her heart just doesn’t seem to be in it. Still, a slightly slacking Meiko Kaji is better than no Kaji at all, and her scenes are admirably strong.

Before tackling Female Prisoner Scoprion: Grudge Song, director Yasuharu Hasebe had handled a few entries in the Stray Cat Rock series, and the cult favorite, Black Tight Killers. He was certainly qualified to direct the film. It’s just that the vast difference in style, the rather straightforward story, and the drastic reduction in budget make this film stand out as the black sheep in the series. Despite its flaws, the film is entertaining, but really needs only be viewed by Scorpion and Kaji devotees.

Chris Nelson is a former Technical Writer, turned Java Developer in the Silicon Valley. He is currently studying for a Software Engineering degree at San Jose State University.