This movie was released 5 years after the first in a string of movies created by Itami with very similar plot and character structures. The first one was Marusa no Onna (1987), to be specific.
It seems that the tone and level of artistry of each of these movies varied dramatically. Marusa I was good enough but much more lighthearted, Supermarket Woman (1996) wasn't a bad movie by any means but it was devoid of the seriousness and social commentary that lended the others their gravitas.
Anyway, as usual, Nobuko Miyamoto plays an ultra-competent white-collar professional who has specializes in dealing with the corrupt (usually) semi-criminal organizations in Japan known as the Yakuza. In this case, she's a lawyer (Mahiru) who comits to helping a hotel where the staff is soft enough and the facilities nice enough for the Yakuza to worm their way in and use it as a gathering place.
While accuracy in works of fiction isn't necessarily of the utmost importance, in this case it's significant. The Yakuza are almost always portrayed as extremely violent but cold and precise killers - a sort of mafia with more calculating members. Yet the consensus is that while the Yakuza sometimes act out and commit acts of violence, it's rare, usually limited to their own members, and the overwhelming majority of their business involves not illegal activites but rather control of businesses in legal grey areas (gambling, strip clubs, etc.).
This is the most accurate portrayal of these groups I have seen. They are not so much dangerous criminals as intimidating, determined, and unethical businessmen who only resort to violence if pushed past a certain limit.
That's important because it changes the whole landscape of this chess game. Now getting rid of the Yakuza is not a matter of dumb shootouts or plowing through them with samurai swords, but a game of wits. She must know her opponents but she cannot destroy them. After all, this is not war, but a city in a civilised society. No, her goal is to simply discourage them from targetting the flock by intelligence, surveillance, and displays of strength.
More broadly speaking, it's a film about bullying and how to deal with a bully by simply not being an easy target. Her lessons and example ultimately change the hotel employees and make them more effective and brave people.
And she did it without a bunch of guns, without a grand speech, and without having to be executed for it at the end. This is really a saviour hero movie that breaks out of the mold of the invincible hero coming to the rescue and resolving everything quickly and cheaply by either killing all the bad guys or teaching the locals to kill all the bad guys.
The direction is excellent. It's dark both in tone and lighting and it has an oppressive quality that really highlights the apparently inescapable situation the characters find themselves in most of the time.
Honourable Mentions: the Magnificent Seven (1960). Same premise and worthy of watching for its artistic value, however, it did not deal with the theme as effectively as Minbo does.
It seems that the tone and level of artistry of each of these movies varied dramatically. Marusa I was good enough but much more lighthearted, Supermarket Woman (1996) wasn't a bad movie by any means but it was devoid of the seriousness and social commentary that lended the others their gravitas.
Anyway, as usual, Nobuko Miyamoto plays an ultra-competent white-collar professional who has specializes in dealing with the corrupt (usually) semi-criminal organizations in Japan known as the Yakuza. In this case, she's a lawyer (Mahiru) who comits to helping a hotel where the staff is soft enough and the facilities nice enough for the Yakuza to worm their way in and use it as a gathering place.
While accuracy in works of fiction isn't necessarily of the utmost importance, in this case it's significant. The Yakuza are almost always portrayed as extremely violent but cold and precise killers - a sort of mafia with more calculating members. Yet the consensus is that while the Yakuza sometimes act out and commit acts of violence, it's rare, usually limited to their own members, and the overwhelming majority of their business involves not illegal activites but rather control of businesses in legal grey areas (gambling, strip clubs, etc.).
This is the most accurate portrayal of these groups I have seen. They are not so much dangerous criminals as intimidating, determined, and unethical businessmen who only resort to violence if pushed past a certain limit.
That's important because it changes the whole landscape of this chess game. Now getting rid of the Yakuza is not a matter of dumb shootouts or plowing through them with samurai swords, but a game of wits. She must know her opponents but she cannot destroy them. After all, this is not war, but a city in a civilised society. No, her goal is to simply discourage them from targetting the flock by intelligence, surveillance, and displays of strength.
More broadly speaking, it's a film about bullying and how to deal with a bully by simply not being an easy target. Her lessons and example ultimately change the hotel employees and make them more effective and brave people.
And she did it without a bunch of guns, without a grand speech, and without having to be executed for it at the end. This is really a saviour hero movie that breaks out of the mold of the invincible hero coming to the rescue and resolving everything quickly and cheaply by either killing all the bad guys or teaching the locals to kill all the bad guys.
The direction is excellent. It's dark both in tone and lighting and it has an oppressive quality that really highlights the apparently inescapable situation the characters find themselves in most of the time.
Honourable Mentions: the Magnificent Seven (1960). Same premise and worthy of watching for its artistic value, however, it did not deal with the theme as effectively as Minbo does.