Red Peony Gambler
There is cool, cooler and then the Red Peony Gambler.
The style she cuts is even sharper than the short sword she uses to discourage
her enemies. This was a series of eight films that ran from 1968 through
1972 and propelled actress Junko Fuji into stardom with her portrayal of
a female gambler and swordswoman who roams the land looking for revenge
and redemption for her family. The series was to a large extent the precursor
and inspiration to “Lady Snowblood” which began the year after this series
ended, but while that short series of two films has become legendary in
the West and is easily available “The Red Peony” series is still very unknown.
That is something that should be remedied because they are extremely well
done films and enormously satisfying.
Much of this is due to the confident immaculate
beauty and charisma of Junko Fuji. She was born in 1945 and was in show
business nearly from the beginning. Her father Koji Shundo was a famous
producer for Toei who was behind many of the classic Yakuza films of the
1960’s with macho male stars Ken Takakura, Noboru Ando and Koji Tsuruta.
In high school Junko studied various arts such as dancing, acting and singing
and had the opportunity to appear on a local TV show. Her father actually
had no desire for his daughter to enter the rough tumble of show business,
but finally gave into her pleas after a Toei director asked her to be in
one of his films. Her film debut was in “Tales of Hashu Chivalry: A Man’s
Sake Cup” in 1963.
In short order she became one of Toei’s top actresses
with a series of films in which she was often paired with Tsuruta or Takakura.
In most of these she was the love interest – the loyal woman who stands
by her man and often watches him die in the end. With “Red Peony Gambler”
she gained a huge following of male fans with her alluring and yet traditional
characterization – the perfect woman who could pour tea correctly, arrange
flowers and kill someone all in the blink of an eye. In 1972 she married
a well-known Kabuki actor and performed only intermittently after that.
She still acts occasionally – in “The Geisha House” (1999), “Gege” (2004)
and “Milk White” (2004), but even more interesting is that her daughter,
Shinobu Terajima, has become an actress and was amazing in the film “Vibrator”.
The Red Peony Gambler films take place around
the turn of the century as best as I can tell and they completely inhabit
a world that would be similar to that described in Chinese films as Jiang
Hu – the Japanese underworld of the Yakuza – and the characters who
populate these films are from that environment – gamblers, ronin, thieves,
prostitutes, gang members. Like the Jiang Hu though, there are codes
and rules that are expected to be followed in this society in the same
way of polite society. In one scene Oryu, The Red Peony has to make her
case before a conference of Yakuza heads and has this to say about the
Yakuza code “Once we join the Yakuza world, we can’t disregard the code
of our profession. We live as outlaws in society and thus must keep faith
with ourselves. Otherwise we would truly be the scum of the earth.” Though
on the surface a female gambler might seem at odds in this man's world
and could be perceived as a rebellious figure, but Red Peony is a strong
traditionalist and follows the rules of social obligation and hierarchy
to the letter. Within this world there are of course those who follow the
rules and those who don’t. Tradition is looked upon as a mark of honor
- of being Japanese - while Westernization is looked upon with suspicion
in these films - in the first film the odious villain dresses in suits
and in the second film an imperious Westernized dandy is yanked from his
carriage and thrashed.
Most of the Yakuza films during the 1960’s consisted
of protagonists who follow the code of honor and this genre of film was
termed “Ninkyo-Eiga” (Chivalry Films) in which the hero places his honor
to his principles, his friends, his gang and his family above death and
often finds exactly that by the end of the film. The Red Peony films are
in this tradition except that of course the hero is a heroine and she would
easily accept her death rather than break the code of honor. The end of
the series is considered by some as the final breath of this genre as the
Yakuza film moved into grittier and more realistic territory in which these
codes of honor were buried under blood and ruthless cynicism.
With a blood red background and in a traditional
kimono, Oryu delivers a formal Yakuza introduction to the unseen head but
even more so to the unseen audience:
“I was born in Itsuki, Kumamoto. My name
is Ryuko Yano. I go by the name of Oryu, the Red Peony. As you see I’m
nobody special”.
She is of the Yano family and her father was
the head of a small clan that had the gambling rights for a territory,
but after he was murdered on the street his men took the rights away from
the family and left her nothing. The father had wanted to keep his daughter
out of this life and had her learn the womanly skills of tea ceremony,
sewing and flower arrangement and also just in case sword fighting. She
had been engaged to the son of a wealthy merchant, but after the father’s
death this was broken off and Ryuko was on her own only kept company by
her need to track down the killer of her father and to reclaim the rights
of the Yano family. She took on the name of the Red Peony to remember the
color of the white peonies sprayed by the blood of her father.
She also managed to pick up some of the family
gambling skills and begins to wander around Japan earning her keep in the
gambling parlors dotted around the country and keeping a wary eye out for
some indication of whom the killer might be. She has only a dropped wallet
to identify him with. There is no going back to her former life of being
a traditional wife and to ensure this she tattoos herself with a large
blood red peony flower on her right shoulder. This marks her as Yakuza
and now no man outside of this underworld could ever love or marry her.
She is in many ways very traditional in her composure, manners and garb,
but beneath this is a ferocious need to right the wrongs done to her family.
When she began her mission she says “I’ll be a man from now on”,
but her form and beauty attract many men to her. Men though tend to die
around her – her enemies, her followers and those who love her but she
refuses to give men an inch – “Don’t underestimate me because I am a
woman” she tells one man and to another who insists that she pour him
a cup of sake “I’ve never poured a cup for a man before” as she
throws it into his face. She may feel, she may yearn for love but she has
another road to go down.
The films (at least the first three) all have
the same basic formula - Oryu finds herself in the middle of a Yakuza dispute
- one side is honorable, the other is not - and she of course sides with
the honorable (and always weaker) one. At some point a strong lone male
character appears on the scene and the two of them find common cause. In
the end after being as patient as she can be, Oryu gives a look that says
it can't be put off any longer and puts on her sword, purses her lips and
goes to face the large group of bad guys as the theme song plays during
her long walk. Afterwards she moves on to some other city and continues
to build her reputation among the Yakuza world in hopes that enough connections
will allow her to rebuild her family name.
Red Peony Gambler (Hibotan Bakuto)
Director: Kousaku Yamashita
Production Company: Toei
Year: 1968
Running Time: 98 minutes
Oryu catches the house dealer cheating with
a swift hairpin launched at his hand and forces the boss to remove one
of his fingers. In doing so she has saved the life of Fujimatsu (Kyosuke
Machida) who was about to die for declaring the game a dishonest one but
being unable to prove it. She gains a good friend, but also a number of
enemies who soon track her down on the outskirts of town and try to kill
her against a bright deep sunset. With her short sword she ably defends
herself, but is still grateful for the assistance of a wandering swordsman
who goes by the name of Naoki (played by Ninkyo-Eiga stalwart Ken Takakura)
who just didn’t like the odds. As she journeys on she overhears a conversation
in which she learns that the only loyal member of the Yano clan, Fugushin,
appears to be in trouble and she goes to see what she can do to help him.
He is staying with a Clan that is headed by the
bumpkinish Kumatora (Tomisaburo Wakayama – nearly unrecognizable from his
Lone Wolf character) with a penchant for a Hitler like moustache, an eye
for the ladies and blossoming red apple cheeks. The big boss (Nobuo
Kaneko) of the much larger Iwazu Clan is pressuring his gang and a fight
for territory seems inevitable. Feeling that Fugushin is partly responsible
for this state of affairs, Oryu goes to the headquarters of the Iwazu and
with pistol in hand demands to see the boss. He reluctantly grants her
an audience with a pistol aimed at his head but she hands him the gun and
asks for peace between the two groups. When he hesitates Oryu demands that
she be punished to bring peace and in a moment of pure drama pulls down
her kimono to reveal her tattoo and asks him to shoot the Red Peony. Instead,
another woman enters the room – Otaki (Nijiko Kiyokawa) of the Osaki Doman
family and takes the gun and shoots the red peonies in the garden and tells
Oryu that she reminds her of what she was like many years previously. Oryu
has made another loyal connection in the Yakuza world and friendship in
this world is a near unbreakable bond. But not always.
Oryu travels on to Osaka to stay with Otaki and
takes along Fugushin and Fujimatsu. Here she again feels obliged to run
interference when another Yakuza boss causes trouble for Otaki and Fujimatsu
– but it turns out that this boss Kokuai is a good friend of Naoki who
had helped her before. They are blood brothers going way back, but Naoki
also realizes that his friend is the killer that Oryu is looking for and
painfully feels he must choose friendship over justice. All these threads
lead to a violent explosion of death and redemption. Though the film has
a decent quota of action, this isn’t what makes the story so compelling
– instead it’s the web of Yakuza obligations that is built over the film
and the sense of honor and duty around them that pulls you in. And of course
Junko Fuji.
Red Peony Gambler 2: Gambler’s Obligation (Hibotan
Bakuto: Isshuku Ippan)
Director: Noribumi Suzuki
Production Company: Toei
Year: 1968
Running Time: 95 minutes
Oryu is once again a traveler on the road but
she is a guest at the home of Togasaki, the honorable head of the Yakuza
in the town of Tomioka. The film begins with a drum barrage as Oryu beats
out a rhythmic pattern as the people dance in a festival – a scene that
makes you realize that the ending of Kitano’s "Zatoichi" was not as out
of time as it may have felt. Trouble is stirring in the town as the mulberry
tree growers are deeply in debt to the local loan shark who won’t give
them a break. They go to Togasaki and ask for his help in working out a
deal. Meanwhile, a gambler is having more success than Togasaki would like
at one of his betting places and he politely asks Oryu to go and see what
she can do about it. The gambler is a woman called Oren who keeps her attire
at mid-shoulder in order to display her intricate tattoo work and wears
a scowl like an army trench at Flanders Field while her husband at her
side counts their winnings. Oryu defeats Oren in a game of chance, but
this only begins to pay back the obligation she feels she owes Togasaki.
Togasaki asks her to deliver a letter to their
friend Kumatora (from part one – played by Tomisaburo Wakayama) and Kumatora's
man Fujimatsu (also in part one), but once the letter is read Oryu realizes
that it was just an excuse to get her away from danger. She soon learns
that Togasaki was killed when he tried to lead the farmers against the
loan sharks – and that he was betrayed by his main lieutenant, Kasamatsu,
who then took over the gang and forced the town’s women to work in his
silk mill. Not satisfied with this, Kasamatsu also rapes the daughter of
Togasaki and tries to destroy her business. Clearly, he and the Red Peony
have much to talk about. Obligations are not cancelled by death.
She attempts to convince the Yakuza counsel to
remove the legitimacy of Kasamatsu’s takeover, but he counters this by
sending his thugs headed by a lean wiry killer played by the cold-eyed
but always fascinating to watch Bunta Sugawara to kill Oryu. She fends
off the attackers with her umbrella and some slick judo, but has to turn
to her short blade to leave some real marks to remember her by. Out of
the shadows a man comes to assist her – a poor woman seemingly in need
– he is Shutaro (Koji Tsuruta) – a chivalrous gentleman and also a famous
killer. He is returning to his hometown that he left many years before
– Tomioka it turns out and events are soon to take place here that will
have them both steeped in blood. This is a terrific sequel to the first
film – it doesn’t need to slow down to explain any background and takes
off immediately with a flurry of interesting characters, vivid colors and
amped up violence. Director Norifumi Suzuki was to gain some fame within
a few years for his pinku films like “Convent of the Sacred Beast”, “Beautiful
Girl Hunter” and a few of the “Sukeban” series. He also wrote a few of
the other Red Peony scripts.
Red Peony Gambler 3: Flower Cards Game (Hibotan
Bakuto: Hanafuda Game)
Director: Tai Kato
Production Company: Toei
Year: 1969
Running Time: 98 minutes
Oryu finds herself again having to choose sides
in a deadly face off between rival Yakuza gangs in Nagoya. She arrives
at the house of Nishinomaru with a letter of introduction from Kumatora
(Tomisaburo Wakayama) and formally asks for hospitality from the head of
the clan, Sugiyama (the dour faced Kanjuro Arashi), but she is accused
of being a cheat by his followers. Apparently, a woman is going about the
country claiming to be the Red Peony and taking people in games of chance.
Sugiyama believes her protests of innocence and takes her into his house
– she is of course now obligated for his kindness. When Oryu comes across
the impersonator later she realizes that she is the same woman whose blind
child she had earlier saved from an oncoming train and so allows the woman
to escape from a number of men who wish to do her harm. This act of kindness
is later repaid to the fullest. Sugiyama is at odds with the corrupt Kimbara
who is in league with some politicians to take away certain gambling rights
of the Nishinomaru family – what Sugiyama doesn’t know is that his son
Jiro (Ritsu Ishiyama) is in love with the step-daughter of Kimbara and
this fact soon brings the simmering issues to a bloody boil.
When Jiro learns that Kimbara is marrying off
Yae to curry favor he goes to him and puts his life on the line in a game
of dice – he loses and Kimbara tells Oryu who has intervened that he will
kill Jiro at midnight unless he receives 2,000 Yen. Another character enters
the mix – the wandering gambler Shugo (Ken Takakura) who is staying with
Kimbara and as an honorable Yakuza he feels obligated to assist his host.
When Shugo and Oryu meet they recognize each other as kindred souls but
are also in opposite camps in the inevitable conflict that is coming. Eventually,
Kimbara pushes his luck too far and Oryu begins her traditional walk to
his headquarters with her sword at her side as well as her loyal friend
Fujimatsu to do what has to be done – kill everyone.
A number of other familiar characters show up
as well – Kumatora displays a less comic side (and a less comic moustache)
as he savagely defends Oryu’s honor on one occasion and Oryu’s friend from
the first episode – the female gang leader Otaki (Nijiko Kiyokawa) – makes
an appearance. What can cause some minor confusion is the reappearance
of some actors from earlier episodes – Takakura for example – who are playing
different characters. By the third episode in the series the main formula
is well in place and that makes parts of the film somewhat predictable
but no less satisfying – in fact knowing the big showdown is just a matter
of time makes the build up all that much more enjoyable. Most rewarding
in this film is simply watching the various plot threads come together
and the well-drawn characters that inhabit this world. The action tends
to be short and swift until the final confrontation in which blood flows
freely.
My rating for the series: 8.0
Red Peony Gambler 6: Oryu's Visit (1970)