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A Taxing Woman
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by Fox Lorber
Sales Rank: 70144
Price: $29.98
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This movie is one of the most perfect crime films I have ever seen. From the first frame to the last frame, it displays total mastery of filmmaking. Despite the language barrier, the acting is breathtaking. This is a director who uses the physicality of his actors in ways that few can. If you are lucky enough to rent or see this film, pay attention to the way the actors move on screen, particularly the genius Tsutomu Yamazaki. Finally, the intricate mechanics of crime and law enforcement are captured in this film, much like HBO's "The Wire" has done in a longer format. <br /> <br />Yet all of this has been said in the other reviews posted here. What I would like to share with the Amazon community is a little-known truth in America: Itami Juzo did NOT commit suicide, but died under extremely suspicious conditions. A well-known and accepted fact in Japan, Juzo was murderd by the Yakuza for making this and the film's sequel. <br /> <br />Like the impact of his films, the reasons for his murder are hard to understand in America. This film and its sequal were made when discussing the Yakuza's crimes publically was a forbidden thing in Japan due to fear of reprisal. Even today, the Yakuza's corruption that permeates Japanese society and politics is very rarely discussed in detail in publications and movies. It is both their extremely violent means and their extremely complex methods of moneymaking using real estate and banking that make this invisible corruption easy to ignore for most middle and upper class Japanese people. For the poor and helpless who are the victims of the Yakuza, they are an accepted fact, to be avoided at all costs instead of being confronted. <br /> <br />Juzo and his wife did not accept this. What Juzo did in his films was expose both the intricate and complicated nature of the Yakuza's crimes and also the methods with which ordinary people could fight them. It was this last part that truely infuriated the Yakuza. After this film as released in Japan, Juzo was attacked in the street and severly beatened, his face scared by razors. It was a clear threat that he must never make a film like this again. He, his wife and his production company defied this threat and completed the sequel, which meticulously documents a complicated real estate and religious scheme just as the first does with a financial scheme. Soon after the release of the sequal, Juzo "jumped" out of a hotel balcony, commiting "suicide". <br /> <br />It is a testement to the realism of Juzo's films that the Yakuza cowards who murdered him considered him such a threat. Juzo's films are that incredibly rare instance where a master artist commits himself to a social cause. That most people who watch his films find them fascinating even without knowing the level of realism that Japanese people find in his work also speaks to his strength as an artist. When I watched this film for the first time, I did not know of the Juzo family's story. After learning more about their bravery, their determination and the tragedy that he and his wife knowingly faced while making this film, I value it even more. <br /> <br />I'll end this review with the plea that you show this film to people and inform them of the truth behind Juzo's unsolved murder. The film is beautiful, savage, and passionate. The acting is simply incredible. And the story of the filmmaker and his beautiful wife working together to help ordinary people stand up the Yakuza is one of the greatest filmmaking stories of all time.
Viewer Reviews
I must add my voice to the chorus of complaints about this product. I paid a premium price for this DVD, and received a bad product. The transfer is lousy, in fullscreen, and yes, the subtitles suck. I have to wonder if the Yakuza have mounted a campaign against Itami's work, permitting only poor copies to make their way to the West. Hell, it's so hard to find this man's movies in the U.S. I have to wonder if this is a pirate copy, elaborately packaged and sent out to deliberately frustrate Itami fans.
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A Taxing Woman
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