MINBOU: THE GENTLE ART OF JAPANESE EXTORTION / THE ANTI-EXTORTION WOMAN / GANG-FIGHTING WOMAN (MINBOU NO ONNA). Viewed on Streaming. Director Juzo Itami's (he is also credited as story writer) fantasy about harmless (mostly) organized gang members stars his talented (and amusing) wife Nobuko Miyamoto as a fearless, one-woman Yakuza countermeasure with a law degree and claimed job experience (she has all her fingers though!). Itami's satire revolves around a gang that has adopted a luxury hotel as its alt hangout (and shake-down cash cow), and the measures taken by the owner and his wimpy employees to rid the place of this infestation. Not much happens (if you exclude excessive/repetitive mugging and hamming it up by supporting players) until about 20% into the film when Miyamoto's character is hired as a last resort to rid the hotel of it's problem. The "traditional" Japanese zero-to- hero theme this time has hotel employees evolving from cowards to stand-your-ground folks under the tutelage of Miyamoto's character. Criminal elements depicted as all-bark-and-no-bite thugs and bullies transports farce and social satire way too far into the land of make believe. The movie is overly long, and the Director may have set a new record for repetitive TV-style close-up shots (and an impoverished script riddled with mugging grunts and grimaces) in a theatrical feature. (The movie looks more like a TV-show-throw-away than a film expecting its audience to pay to view!) There is only one surprise (the nonfatal stabbing of the lawyer at the end), since all other future events have been carefully telegraphed ahead of time. Jump-cut editing of mug shots quickly becomes tedious and boring. "Score" can become ear numbing due to relentless drumming, and, overall, lacks compositional creativity. Subtitles may appear before dialog is delivered! Unless you are a hard-core Nobuko Miyamoto fan, I'd skip this one. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD. Details: streaming/restoration = 8 stars; direction = 6 stars; cinematography (semi-wide screen, color) = 6 stars; editing = 5 stars; subtitles = 4 stars; score = 3 stars.
Review of Minbo
