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Hibotan Bakuto: Isshuku Ippan (1968) Toei DSTD02135 Synopsis The film begins in the fall of 1884. Due to a poor mulberry harvest, silk farmers have been forced to borrow money from a loan shark. The interest on the loans has been accumulating at an astronomical rate and the farmers have little hope of ever being able to pay them off. Oryu (Junko Fuji) the traveling gambler is currently staying with the Togasaki yakuza clan. After sitting down at the clan's gambling den, she is eyed by another female gambler, Ren (Mari Shiraki). The husband of Ren advises her that the new arrival is none other than the famous gambler Oryu. He recommends that they take their winnings and leave but she can't resist the opportunity to showcase her gambling skills against the great Oryu. Ren decides to continue gambling and soon discovers this was a big mistake. Oryu's gambling skills are indeed great and Ren ends up losing a lot of money. Ren leaves in disgust and is determined to avenge her lost to Oryu. After collecting her winnings, Oryu returns to the residence of the Togasaki clan. The Togasaki boss asks her to deliver a letter to a fellow yakuza boss, her old friend Kumatora (Tomisaburo Wakayama). Little does she know that the letter is trivial and is only intended to keep her out of town while the Togasaki boss takes care of some business. After much deliberation, the Togasaki boss has decided to come to the aid of the helpless silk farmers and will stage a raid on the loan shark's residence with the intention of destroying the loan documents. When he and some of his men arrive at the residence, they are surrounded by the police and shot to death. Kasamatsu, a power hungry member of his clan, tipped off the police about what was going to happen. The lone survivor, Yukichi (the boyfriend of the Togasaki boss' daughter, Machi), vows revenge and heads to the Kasamatsu residence to dispatch some yakuza justice. He starts battling Kasamatsu's men but soon finds himself outnumbered. Kasamatsu's men began slowly slicing him up with their swords. Fortunately for him, Oryu arrives on the scene is able to rescue him from death. Soon after, Kasamatsu has Yukichi arrested and thrown in jail for trying to kill him. Later, a meeting of yakuza bosses is held in Tokyo to determine who gets control of the territory formerly controlled by the now deceased Togasaki boss. Before they vote, Oryu makes a surprise appearance and advises the assembled yakuza bosses of Kasamatsu's corrupt and immoral ways. Despite her efforts, Kasamatsu is given control of the territory. Kasamatsu is less than pleased with Oryu's surprise appearance and, later that night, returns the favor by having his men attack her in a dimly let street. Coming to her aid is a wandering yakuza (Koji Tsuruta) who pulls out his sword and sends Kasamatsu's men scurrying into the night. Oryu then tries to deal with Kasamatsu to secure the release of Yukichi from jail. They decide to settle their dispute like gamblers by playing a game of dice. If Oryu wins, Kasamatsu will get Yukichi released from jail. If Kasamatsu wins, Oryu will be at the mercy of Kasamatsu. Sitting in for Kasamatsu during the dice game is Ren who is seeking to avenge her earlier lost to Oryu. Oryu wins and Kasamatsu arranges for Yukichi to be released from jail. Already obligated to release Yukichi from jail, the sinister Kasamatsu fails to mention it to Machi. Instead he tells her that if she signs over the rights to her family's mail carriage business, he will get her boyfriend Yukichi released from jail. He sweetens the deal by offering to help the mulberry farmers with their debts. She reluctantly signs over the rights to her family's mail carriage business unaware that Oryu has already secured the release of her boyfriend. Later Machi learns the truth and is devastated. Yukichi is finally released from jail but an unexpected event occurs... Review Another yakuza masterwork from Toei that manages to deftly combine drama, action, comedy, and light romance between the leads (Junko and Koji). In this second film, Koji Tsuruta takes over lead male spot from Ken Takakura. Ken will return in the 3rd film. In short, a solid sequel in a series that will get even better as Tai Kato takes over the directorial reigns for the third film. Cast/Crew Junko Fuji Not much to say. She once again delivers the goods. Drama, comedy, action...she does it all. She even manages to whack a poor baddie with her wooden sandles (geta). Like the first film, Junko sings the theme song. She again proves why she was one of Toei's yakuza superstars. Get your handkerchiefs out as this is yet another Junko film that ends with her in tears. The two most famous scenes from this film: Junko unsheathing her dagger with her teeth and Junko flipping a baddie into a marsh while holding an umbrella.       
Koji Tsuruta Koji, every bit Ken Takakura's equal during the golden age of yakuza films, stars as a wondering yakuza with no affiliation. His character is an intense man whose life is ruled by righteousness. Early in the film, he is almost run over by a horse drawn carriage carrying a politician's son. The politician's son, dressed in Western clothes, throws a few dollars on the ground to get him to move out of the way of the carriage. Koji's character is clearly disgusted at this blatant disrespect and proceeds to pull the politician's son out of the carriage and literally smacks some respect into him. Later in the film, when a vile villain pleads for mercy and offers to give him anything he wants, Koji's character says the only thing he wants is the villian's life. Despite his tough exterior, a little romance develops between his character and Oryu. Beginning with him giving her his umbrella and later him returning her trademark red hairpin she dropped earlier in the film. Of course, Koji's character doesn't simply hand the hairpin back to her but instead sticks it back into her hair for her.  Koji putting her hairpin back in her hair. 
Tomisaburo Wakayama Series regular Tomisaburo Wakayama is back again providing the comic relief. His character is still madly in love with Oryu. While relaxing in a hot spring, he learns that Oryu is back in town. He proceeds to leave the hot springs he is relaxing in and runs down a city street half-naked. Later on, he hears that Oryu is taking a bath and he just can't resist taking a peep. He reasons that it will be a quick peep and she won't mind. He gets an eyeful but it isn't who he hopes it is (instead it's a certain family member he isn't too fond of!). Last but not least, he gets to hold the hand of his beloved Oryu. Remember this because it will be the source of some humor in part 3. 
The comedy in the film is bolstered by two bumbling yakuzas who desperately want to become Oryu's followers. They end up following her around Japan and even go as far as getting her red peony tattoo on their chests! Bunta Sugawara In this film, Bunta plays the right-hand man of the lead villain (Bin Amatsu). Bunta turns in yet another intense performance. This film marked Bunta's debut in the series. He will return for the sixth film which will see him elevated to the lead male role in the series (usually reserved for Ken Takakura or Koji Tsuruta). Bin Amatsu Plays the lead villain. One of the sleeziest, most vile villains you will ever see. Bin Amatsu was one of the best villains in Toei's yakuza stable. This guy is the personification of evil. It didn't matter how many times he showed up as the lead villain in the Red Peony Gambler series (each time playing a different character) because he was so damn good.  4th film  5th film  6th film  ...and, for the heck of it, Bin Amatsu (under heavy makeup and wearing a wig) in Toei's Watari The Ninja Boy  Great website dedicated to him (in Japanese): http://homepage1.nifty.com/bikenshi/niosibikenshi.html It also has a list of his film and TV appearances (in Japanese): http://homepage1.nifty.com/bikenshi/bin-sagasi.html Mari Shiraki Plays Oryu's gambling rival. Most will probably only recognize her from Seijun Suzuki's Underworld Beauty aka Beauty Of The Underworld. She makes quite an appearance when she shows up for her rematch with Oryu dressed in a red kimono with dice on it! Her character has a tattoo of Benzaiten on her back. The red kimono decorated with dice:  Her Benzaiten tattoo:  Series regular Kyosuke Machida is back as well but he only appears very briefly in the film. Norifumi Suzuki (Director/Screenwriter) Although he is better known for his exploitation films, he was also a competent director/screenwriter of "normal" films as this and other films show. This is the only entry in the Red Peony Gambler series that he directed but he was the screenwriter on 7 of the 8 films in the series. DVD Letterboxed and 16x9 enhanced Japanese (DD 2.0 384 Kbps) No Subtitles Region 2 The usual high quality transfer from Toei. Extras
Not surprisingly, the theatrical trailer begins with the most famous scene of the film (Junko flipping a baddie while holding an umbrella). That scene as presented in the trailer is a little different from what actually appears in the film (when the baddie cuts off the handle of her umbrella, it is shown from a different angle in the trailer). This is also one of the rare Toei DVDs that includes the original teaser trailer. While most of the teaser trailer is made up of footage from the first and second film, there is some tantalizing but very brief behind the scenes footage:   
The only other DVD in the Red Peony Gambler series that has the original teaser trailer is the 5th film in the series. It contains some great behind the scenes footage: http://p088.ezboard.com/fhongkongdvdsgeneral.showMessage?topicID=7247.topic As usual, the original poster art is used for the DVD cover. Related Links http://www.wides-web.com/ In the early 00s, Wides Shuppan published a series of books that collected film posters from Toei, Nikkatsu, and Daiei. Most of the books were organized by genre (Toei Period Films, Nikkatsu Roman Porno, Nikkatsu Action, etc). In the case of Toei's yakuza films, Wides Shuppan published two poster books: 
Toei Yakuza Film Poster Book - Volume 1 (contains 144 posters) http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4898300251.html Thankfully, the book focuses almost exclusively on the golden age of yakuza films (60s/70s). It features posters of yakuza films starring all of your favorite Toei actors including Ken Takakura, Junko Fuji, Koji Tsuruta, Bunta Sugawara, Tomisaburo Wakayama, etc. Most of Toei's major yakuza series are covered. At the end of the book, there are a few great group photos of the cast/crew that made these films. See the likes of Ken, Junko, Bunta, Tomisaburo, and even Meiko Kaji pictured with the cast/crew of their yakuza films. My favorite photo is the group photo of the cast/crew of 3rd Red Peony Gambler film featuring Junko, Kyosuke Machida, and legendary director Tai Kato with his smoking pipe. 
Toei Yakuza Film Poster Book - Volume 2 (contains 128 posters) http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/9974481015.html Volume 2 continues where volume 1 left off. It contains more posters of Toei's yakuza films from the golden age. Unfortunately, there are no group photos at the end of the book like there was with volume 1. Although both books are a little on the expensive side, it's still a much cheaper alternative than collecting all of the posters. Both books are hardback and printed on high quality paper. Each poster is given a full B5 sized page. A few posters are slightly cropped but it doesn't affect the composition of the artwork. The books allow one to appreciate what seems to be a lost art these days: the hand-drawn film poster. See my review of the first film for more Red Peony Gambler/Junko Fuji related items: https://asiandvdguide.com/toei/rpg.html muldoon |
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