Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion

女囚701号:さそり Shunya Ito, (1972)

Meiko Kaji is one of the most famous actresses of Japanese exploitation films of the 1970s. She is well known for her revenge seeking heroines, and her death stare ability is unrivaled throughout cinema history the world over. So when I learned that she starred in a series of 70s exploitation films that fall into the “Women in Prison” (!) sub-genre, I eagerly sought them out. I was not disappointed. Despite being his filmic debut, director Shunya Ito’s Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, is an exploitation classic that, like so many other genre films of the era, delivers everything the title implies, and more.

Nami Matsushima (Kaji) agrees to help her lover, narcotics squad officer Sugimi, infiltrate the nightclub headquarters of a drug ring. Deeply in love with him, she complies with his plan and doesn’t for a second consider that she is being set up. She is subsequently raped by the drug dealers and abandoned by Sugimi. Enraged, she tries to kill him outside the police station where he works. This flimsy back story, serves only to place Nami in prison and establish her as the revenge driven rape victim, but is shot in a fascinatingly artificial style. Nami’s setting up is quite literally staged on a minimalistic theatre set, with garishly expressive coloured lighting and even a revolving stage. This kind of artificial excess lends the flashback a surreal nightmarish quality, but it is conveyed in a strangely beautiful way. Nami’s rape is filmed from below her through a glass window, one of many delirious camera techniques employed throughout the film. Soon after, red and green lighting beams onto her face, her hair re-arranging in a jarring stop motion sequence, signifying her change from victim to hunter. This transformation is mirrored in a later scene with a fellow prisoner who attempts to murder Nami in the film’s inevitable nudity-filled shower scene. The striking change in appearance; hair and eyes particularly, seems to reference traditional Japanese folklore regarding demons and the kind of dramatic changes of character and disposition traditional Japanese stage drama is known for.

These stylistic inclusions are just a few examples of what is ultimately a sensationally excessive film, and I’m not just referring to the copious amounts of gratuitous nudity. Scenes are filmed upside down, camera shots spiral out of control, blood flows like fire hydrants and trippy synthesiser sound effects augment the films visuals like a 70s film only can. Of course, this excess is conveyed through the story itself, which features many outrageous and explicit scenes, most of which take place in the prison warehouse when a number of the male wardens as hostages by the women. In a frantic orgy of role reversal, the female prisoners assert their power and dominance over their sadistic male imprisoners by tearing their clothes off and raping them. What were once men are reduced to caged sex objects for the enjoyment of these women, imprisoned for so long. In another scene, chained and hanging from the ceiling, Nami is sexually tortured with a burning hot light bulb. These sadistic themes permeate the film even in its quietest moments, and no one is quieter than Nami herself. Meiko Kaji has become famous for her almost completely silent protagonists, conveying her character almost entirely through body language alone. Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion keeps with this tradition, with Kaji uttering only a handful of lines throughout the film, the majority of which narrate her flashback scene. Her most memorable line in the film; “To be deceived… is a woman’s crime.” is the kind of delightfully nonsensical pseudo-philosophical stuff we’d expect from a mindless action film.

Despite her near muteness, Meiko Kaji and her character’s quest for revenge is the driving force of this film. Keeping with the conventions of the rape/revenge film, Nami of course gets her man. Upon finally escaping from prison, dressed in black, she glides through a string of murders, like a raven of death. Today, this level of overt theatricality is dated yet fascinating at the same time, with many beautiful and creatively composed shots and staging of characters. The story is as pulpy as they come, but it is great fun, with remarkable visuals and the mesmerising avenger Meiko Kaji in one of her most iconic roles.