|
Red Peony Gambler (1968) Toei DSTD02083 Synopsis The body of a yakuza boss is found by his family near blood-splattered white peonies (the "red peonies" in the film). The only clue his family has to the identity of the killer is a wallet left behind by the killer. The daughter of that yakuza boss, Ryuko Yano (Junko Fuji), decides to devote her life to tracking down the killer of her father. After getting the blood-splattered white peonies tattooed on her right shoulder, she becomes known as Red Peony Oryu. With the wallet in tow, she travels across Japan looking for the killer of her father. One day she pays a visit to a local gambling den and ends up exposing a cheating yakuza. The actions of the cheat bring dishonor to the yakuza clan running the gambling den and yakuza film fans can probably guess what the cheat is forced to do. Later that night, she is attacked by a gang of thugs led by the cheat who is now seeking revenge for what happened early in the day. During this brawl, a loner, Naoji Katagiri (Ken Takakura), comes to her aid and helps her dispose of the thugs. After the thugs take off, she accidentally drops the wallet on the ground and Naoji takes more than a passing glance at it. Ryuko then asks him if he knows who the wallet belongs to. Naoji denies any knowledge but as he leaves, he quickly snatches the wallet from Ryuko. When she runs into him again a few days later, she confronts him about his theft and he admits that the wallet is his. But was Naoji really the killer of her father? Review The first film in a very famous yakuza film series starring Toei's yakuza king (Ken Takakura) and queen (Junko Fuji). The chemistry between the two is undeniable and Toei took every opportunity to pair them together whether it be a film that Ken had the lead role or a film that Junka had the lead role. The Red Peony Gambler series would last eight films and would become Junko's signature role. All of the requirements for a good yakuza film are present in this film: pinky chopping, gambling, tattoos, swordfights, gunplay, honor, loyalty, brotherhood, righteousness, betrayal, etc. For fans of yakuza films, it doesn't get any better than this. Tattooed female yakuza who brandished guns and swords were a dime a dozen in the Japanese cinema of the 60s/70s but there is one who stood out above the rest and Junko was it and still remains to this day the measuring stick by which all other yakuza actresses are judged. She was the complete package: beautiful, graceful, charismatic, violent, nurturing, stern, and emotional. In 1972, Junko retired, got married to a famous kabuki actor, and had a daughter. Several years later, she also had a son. Visit this page to see pictures of her family (left to right: husband, son, Junko, and daughter). Her daughter is Shinobu Terajima who won the Best Actress award at the last Japanese Academy Awards for her role in Akame 48 Waterfalls. Junko eventually came out of retirement and made her return to the silver screen with Toho's 1989 film Buddies. Who was her co-star in this film? None other than Ken Takakura. Seventeen years after her retirement, they were reunited again on the silver screen. Beginning with this film, Junko changed her stage name to "Sumiko Fuji" (her real name is "Junko Terajima"). If you see "Sumiko Fuji" in the credits of a recent Japanese film, it's good ol' Junko. Supporting players in this film include: Ken Takakura - The man, the myth, the legend. Tomisaburo Wakayama - Best known in the West for his starring role in the Lone Wolf And Cub series. In his small role in Red Peony Gambler (and the subsequent sequels), he provides the comic relief, sports an Oliver Hardy-ish mustache, and develops a crush on Junko. Kyosuke Machida - He plays the yakuza that Junko befriends at the gambling den. Kyosuke does a great job making his character intense, crazy, and likable all at the same time. His performance during the finale is outstanding. Junko, Kyosuke, and Tomisaburo return for the 2nd film. Ken will return in the 3rd film (but as a different character).
DVD Not surprisingly, the DVD sports another excellent transfer from Toei. The print is almost blemish-free except for a faint vertical white line that appears briefly in a few early scenes.  Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (enhanced for 16x9 TVs) Subtitles: None Audio: Japanese (DD 2.0 384 kbps) Extras:
The extras are sparse but this is typical for Toei's catalog titles. If the viewer is really lucky, Toei will include the original teaser trailer for the film but this DVD isn't one of those rare cases. For the price Toei is charging, Toei should put a little bit more effort into the DVD releases of their catalog titles. If they are too lazy to get interviews with the cast/crew, they can at least throw in trailers for the rest of films in the series or trailers for other yakuza film series from the same time period. The DVD comes in a transparent case. The reverse side of the front cover has black & white stills from the film. Once again Toei has used the excellent original poster art for the DVD cover. Too bad other DVD distributors don't follow Toei's practice. In closing, if you like the film, buy the DVD. It's not like there is going to be another release of it on DVD. Toei's yakuza films from the 60s starring the likes of Ken Takakura and Junko Fuji are virtually ignored in the West. You know something is wrong when landmark yakuza film series like Abashiri Prison and Red Peony Gambler remain unreleased in the West while subpar yakuza films like Bloody Territories get released on DVD. Hopefully some enterprising company will get a clue and expose Western audiences to the greatness of Toei's yakuza films from the 60s. Related Links 
In the late 90s, Toei/Absord Music had a soundtrack series entitled Soundtracks Of Toei's Masterpieces. Most of the CDs in the series were organized around a single Toei actor. For example, they had several volumes devoted to Ken Takakura (featuring the scores to his Abashiri Prison series and Shouwa Zankyouden series), Bunta Sugawara (featuring the scores to his Battles Without Honor And Humanity series and Truck Yarou series), and even had a 2 CD set devoted to Toei's Pinky Violence films. In the case of Junko, Toei/Absord Music released a total of three volumes: Junko Fuji Best Collection - Volume 1 [ABCS-1004] (1 CD) Volume 1 contains the theme song and scores for the 3rd and 6th Red Peony Gambler films. 30 tracks total. Junko Fuji Best Collection - Volume 2 [ABCS-1009~10] (2 CDs) Volume 2 contains the theme song and scores for the 5th, 7th, and 8th Red Peony Gambler films, Onna Toseinin (1971), and Kanto Hizakura Ikka (1972). 32 tracks total on CD1 and 36 tracks total on CD2. Kanto Hizakura Ikka was Junko's last film before her retirement. Junko Fuji Best Collection - Volume 3 [ABCS-1020] (1 CD) Volume 3 contains the scores for the 2nd and 3rd Nihon Jokyoden films. 39 tracks total. They are excellent CDs if you are a fan of the films. My only complaint is the sparse booklet accompanying each volume. Considering the price of these releases, a little more effort should have been put into the booklet. Absord Music's official website for the Soundtracks Of Toei's Masterpieces series: http://members.aol.com/amjmumu/hougaku.htm Toei's official website for the Soundtracks Of Toei's Masterpieces series (the page for Junko's CDs is here): http://www.toeimusic.co.jp/kessaku/kessaku_top.html If you only want Junko's Red Peony Gambler theme song, it can be found on the Zoku Ginmaku Rock (TECN-25907) compilation released by Teichiku Records last year. Other theme songs on this compilation include the Zatoichi series (sung by Shintaro Katsu), Truck Yarou (sung by Bunta Sugawara/Kinya Aikawa), Ginchou Wataridori (sung by Meiko Kaji), Battles Without Honor And Humanity (opening instrumental), The Rambling Guitarist (Akira Kobayashi), Wolf Yakuza (Sonny Chiba), Jeans Blues (sung by Meiko Kaji), Gokudou (sung by Tomisaburo Wakayama), and many more. The above compilation is a follow-up to the even better Ginmaku Rock compilation (TECN-25887) also released by Teichiku Records. It includes the theme song from the Female Prisoner Scorpion series (sung by Meiko Kaji), Furyou Banchou (sung by Tatsuo Umemiya), Lady Snowblood (sung by Meiko Kaji), Wicked Priest (sung by Tomisaburo Wakayama), Tokyo Drifter (sung by Tetsuya Watari), Thugs Of Shinjuku (sung by Bunta Sugawara), the Gokudou series (sung by Tomisaburo Wakayama), the Nihon Jokyouden series (sung by Junko Fuji), Battles Without Honor And Humanity (sung by Bunta Sugawara), the Akumyou series (sung by Shintaro Katsu) and many more. If you are a fan of 60s/70s Japanese "genre" films, these two compilations from Teichiku Records are a must. Almost all of the major studios are covered (Toei, Toho, Nikkatsu, and Daiei). Both CDs come with booklets that include the lyrics to each of the songs and the covers of the LPs that the songs originally appeared on. Each CD has pretty snazzy cover art too. http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/spu/posters.htm Poster art for some of Toei's most popular yakuza film series. To help people out, Hibotan Bakuto = Red Peony Gambler series, Abashiri Bangaichi = Abashiri Prison series, and Shin Abashiri Bangaichi = New Abashiri Prison series. Upcoming DVD Releases After an almost one year hiatus, Toei is finally releasing more DVDs of their classic yakuza film series beginning in September. In September Toei will release the 7th film in Abashiri Prison series, the 5th film in the Red Peony Gambler series, and the 5th film in the Showa Zankyoden series. October will see the release of the 6th and 7th films in the Showa Zankyoden series and November will see the release of the final three films in Red Peony Gambler series. Hopefully with the Red Peony Gambler series being completed in November, Toei will start releasing another film series starring Junko (hopefully Nihon Jokyoden). muldoon Part 2: Red Peony Gambler Vs A Better Tomorrow 2 (Warning: The endings for both films are spoiled) |
| Menus |
 |
 |
 |
| Screenshots |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |