Movielogr
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)
Directed by Shinji Sômai
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.
Length 131 minutes
Actors
Hiroko Yakushimaru | Tsunehiko Watase | Masaaki Daimon | Shinpei Hayashiya | Toshiya Sakai | Shingo Yanagisawa | Tatsuya Oka | Ken Mitsuishi | Yuki Kazamatsuri | Rentarô Mikuni | Akira Emoto | Kazuo Kitamura | Minori Terada | Makoto Satō | Kamatari Fujiwara | Hiroshi Madoka | Yosuke Saito
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/24/2018 | Other | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
Really happy DKU-TV (FKA TKU-TV) aired this tonight (caught the west coast broadcast bc I got home late). I wanted to buy this movie based on the title and premise but now I don’t have to and wouldn’t want to now. Sadly this is a bit of a disappointment squandering a great setup for lots of yakuza melodrama between rival gangs. Like it wouldn’t be interesting in any story… unlike, for example, Fukasaku’s entire BATTLE WITHOUT HONOR series where he makes the rivalry interesting and important. Here it’s a bunch of ballyhoo over some stolen heroin. And OHMYGOSH enough with the heroin already.
Tries to twist in some family stuff, mistress stuff, weird rival gang boss stuff but none of it works very well. Given that you have a preposterous premise and decide to take it seriously (tbh i really thought this was going to an action comedy), they really fumbled that here rather than doing anything interesting (see MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER for a much better take on a similar idea).
This isn’t to say it’s all bad bc it’s not. It’s just a little dry and depressing. Akira Emoto is present so that’s fun. Hiroko Yakushimaru is real good as the school girl turned to mob boss. Too bad the dopey story weighs everything done.
I would like to see the J-drama based on this story which may be a better format to tell it. Also curious about the sequel that was released a couple years ago.
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