Female Prisoner: Beast Stable

Title: Female Prisoner: Beast Stable
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Reisen Lee, Yayoi Watanabe
Director: Shunya Ito
Language: Japanese

Kicking off the finalé to the saga (whilst there is a fourth, it featured a different director who didn’t carry the vision quite so well, and actually had Meiko Kaji refuse to continue afterwards, hence its non-inclusion in the special), I must confess some apprehension to this last film after the worrying direction seem to have been taken by the last, but the result turned out to be the most successful of the three. Taking the experimental attitude from before, only using the aspects that worked, they combine this with the violent sensibilities of the first and a more character driven multi-layered plot resulting in not only a feast for the eyes, but an iconic finish to a forgotten saga gem.

Once more picking up where the last left off, we find our protagonist Matsushima (Kaji) being hunted by the determined police detective Kondo (Narita). It isn’t long before she encounters the tragic life lived by Yuki (Watanabe), forced into poor living conditions, providing passionless sex for strangers to support herself and her mentally disabled brother, whom she also provides passionless sex in order to try and keep his animalistic tendencies in order. Bearing her brothers child, she is under constant threat from the local gangster Katsu (Lee), forcing the women working on her turf to pay, it is her that draws Matsu’s attention, seeking vengeance on the one person who showed her sympathy, all the while evading capture herself. With multiple sub-plots from Katsu’s cheating second-in-command to Matsu’s perhaps inevitable return to prison, despite the short running time, scenes are built to be effective, and at no point slow in pace or become confusing.

The strength of characters shown in the first film once again rears its head in a more powerful manner than ever before; the performance by Kaji building on her previous efforts, for the first time displaying both sympathy and compassion for another, as well as a glimmer of her weakness; her humanity shining through as she is pushed to new extremities. The new police figure perhaps lacking compared to the last still manages a distinctive role, and the hardships displayed in the heart-wrenching scenes of Watanabe all stand testament to their abilities in performing a piece that at times borders on the film-noir; the looming darkness and constant repetitive grinding despair presented at every turn providing a harrowing atmosphere of desolation.

Those looking for the more gore-filled side of things should take solace in the fact that once more, the scenes of depravity have gotten more extreme – from shots of incest to possibly the most horrific abortion sequence ever put to film – the body count has never reached a higher peak, and the care that has gone into the manner of their deaths is unprecedented. From the symbolic use of crows to the surgical knife, the constant theme of imprisonment represented most notably by the brother locked away for his own safety, every detail feels carefully thought out to retain a thoughtful and yet stylised, instantly memorable scene.

The experimental nature still presents itself, but less through the use of special effects (a major issue I had with the second film) and more through the use of unconventional camera angles, capable of accenting the mood of the scene and displaying the required tone. The soundtrack still used a number of perhaps cliché sounding synths, oddly fitting and not detracting from the end result. This is a film that builds on what made both before it successful, combining them both and pushing forward the boundaries once more of what was acceptable. A trilogy that has shown an innovative style and themes that will emerge in a plethora of films – such as ‘Kill Bill,’ Wook-Park’s ‘Vengeance Trilogy,’ and ‘The Crow’ – this conclusion proves to be the bloodiest, darkest and most dramatic of the trilogy, and a more than fitting end to the legend of the Scorpion.