Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)

I had wanted to see this movie for a long time. It's pretty hard to come by a decent quality stream with reliable English subs, but after a few weeks of searching, I found a site. Maybe the fact that I had hoped so hard for a good movie at the end of my long quest doomed me to disappointment, nevertheless, I was unprepared for the let down.

The premise seemed intriguing and potentially badass. A teenage girl takes over her dead father's yakuza gang as a boss. Over the course of the film, she has at least one intimate moment with each of the gang members usually right before they get unceremoniously killed. The gang is doomed to failure, but we follow them for their one last hurrah- taking down their rivals. Our heroine, Izumi Hoshi, is played by 1980s J-pop idol, Hiroko Yakushimaru. The theme song, beautifully sung by Hiroko, is for sure the best part of the whole movie. Otherwise, the gangster story is told in a herky jerky way, with stuff happening out of nowhere and motivations unclear and seemingly random. It's a confusing sit, even ignoring the language and cultural barrier.

I found myself unable to connect to any of the characters. The acting is pretty wooden all across the board, we never really get to know any of the characters, and despite a few charming or touching moments (like the weird mommy complex scene with Aki and Izumi), I couldn't care about any of the people I was watching. Their actions were random and inconsistent. I couldn't keep them all straight as none of them really had enough of a personality to distinguish them apart.

The movie itself is chock full of WTF. Why does this group of adult men, GANGSTERS, mind you, wholeheartedly embrace the idea of a fifteen year old girl as their boss? Aside from the iconic, finale of the machine gun scene, Izumi never does anything badass. She gets captured, humiliated, jerked around, and stuffed into the backseat of her enemy's cars. Why would a yakuza respect this weepy kid?

The clips I had seen beforehand were of the most iconic moments- Izumi pumping a rival gang's lair full of lead while wearing her sailor suit. That idea stuck in my mind while I watched this messy little movie- even when I started to get bored, I just kept telling myself, something badass while come soon. The climax I was anticipating ended up amounting to a minute or two of actual action.

Despite the fact that this was a very watchable movie (time flew by), it is told in a confusing and disappointing manner. I know this is a cult classic, but a premise like this deserves a better movie. The music is by far the best part. If you can find this movie and you like Japanese gangster fare from the 80s, you can do worse. As it stands, this is weak, breezy movie with one or two iconic images and a kickass theme song.

Read More