Norifumi Suzuki is one of the world's most underrated directors and one of the best genre directors. His "Beautiful Girl Hunter" is perhaps the most accomplished, shocking pink film ever made; his "School of the Holy Beast" is an incredible work of incendiary cinema; and his "Sex and Fury", starring both the extraordinary Reiko Ike and Christina Lindberg, is a work of, yes!, high genre art.
Suzuki's films are not only technically accomplished, they are aesthetically rich and beautiful to behold. He stages action scenes like blood-soaked, shimmering frescoes and imbues every dramatic confrontation with rich detail and relentlessly creative camera-work.
Most of his films have a strong sexual undercurrent and the eroticism is quietly volcanic (if such a contradiction is possible). Beauty is never far from brutality and drama rides shotgun with glorious melodrama. Suzuki pulls it all off like a supreme juggler and awards the raw material great respect.
The score, by Ichirô Araki, is particularly amazing for its ability to not only enhance the visuals, but to provide a striking psychological counterpoint to the rousing displays of bloody kinetics.
Great genre pics achieve their greatness by embracing their genre elements with absolute, flesh-tearing conviction. They're not pompous and they're not ashamed of their ingredients.
It is difficult to compile a highlight list from this movie for the entire production is one big highlight. It never falters and is never less than fascinating and achingly gorgeous from first frame to curtain's close.
Bravo, Toei! Recommended? Vital viewing, of course.
Suzuki's films are not only technically accomplished, they are aesthetically rich and beautiful to behold. He stages action scenes like blood-soaked, shimmering frescoes and imbues every dramatic confrontation with rich detail and relentlessly creative camera-work.
Most of his films have a strong sexual undercurrent and the eroticism is quietly volcanic (if such a contradiction is possible). Beauty is never far from brutality and drama rides shotgun with glorious melodrama. Suzuki pulls it all off like a supreme juggler and awards the raw material great respect.
The score, by Ichirô Araki, is particularly amazing for its ability to not only enhance the visuals, but to provide a striking psychological counterpoint to the rousing displays of bloody kinetics.
Great genre pics achieve their greatness by embracing their genre elements with absolute, flesh-tearing conviction. They're not pompous and they're not ashamed of their ingredients.
It is difficult to compile a highlight list from this movie for the entire production is one big highlight. It never falters and is never less than fascinating and achingly gorgeous from first frame to curtain's close.
Bravo, Toei! Recommended? Vital viewing, of course.