''aka'' ''Sengoku Rock: Female Warriors'' ''and'' ''Warring States Rock: Gale-Force Women'' is a
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese film in
Nikkatsu's
''Roman porno'' series, directed by
Yasuharu Hasebe and starring Mari Tanaka.
Synopsis
In Japan's
Sengoku period, a group of beautiful women warriors are on a mission to deliver a sacred scroll to a distant lord. On the way, they help a small village in its fight against bandits.
Cast
* Mari Tanaka: Wan
* Keiko Tsuzuki: Shino
* Yuri Yamashina: Nene
* Shō Munakata: Yayoi
* Setsuko Ōyama: Sakura
* Sayori Shima: Suzume: Suzume
* Keiko Aikawa: Ume
* kenji kaji: Tarō Tenma
* Hyōe Enoki: Jizō Rokkaku
* Genjirō Arato: Nojirō Nitta
* Hiroshi Gojō: Saburō of Santo
* Machiyo Mako:
* Genshū Hanayagi: Mother of Yayoi
Background
The screenplay to ''Naked Seven'' was written by the cult film director
Atsushi Yamatoya, who had helped write the screenplay to
Seijun Suzuki's cult classic ''
Branded to Kill'' (1967). Yamatoya is best known for his own noir crime-thriller-cum ''pink film'' ''
Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands
''aka'' ''Dutch Wife of the Wasteland'' ''and'' ''The Dutch Wives of the Wild'', originally released as , is a 1967 Japanese '' pink film'' written and directed by cult filmmaker Atsushi Yamatoya, starring the first "Queen" of ''pink film'', Nori ...
'' (1967). The plot of ''Naked Seven'' is an obvious take-off on
Akira Kurosawa's ''
Seven Samurai
is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' (1954), which it satirizes.
American arthouse audiences could appreciate the parody of Kurosawa,
but to Japanese audiences the film also served as a reference to director
Yasuharu Hasebe's own popular ''Alleycat Rock'' series (1970–71) from the pre-Roman Porno era. This series featured actress
Meiko Kaji in stories about a female motorcycle gang.
Having been a director at Nikkatsu since before the Roman Porno days, Hasebe was uncomfortable with the ''pink film'' genre, and mixed his first two Roman Pornos with other genres to create interest. Besides the historical-adventure style of ''Naked Seven'', he departed from standard ''pink'' style with his next film, ''Sukeban Deka: Dirty Mary'' (1974), a tribute to the ''
Dirty Harry'' films. ''Naked Seven'' was successful at the time of its release, and, in their ''Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films'' (1998), the Weissers give the film three points out of four.
[Weisser, pp. 284-285.] Because ''Naked Seven'' and ''Dirty Mary'', Hasebe's first two films in the Roman Porno series, had both departed from standard ''pink'' themes, Hasebe did not consider them to be Pink Films.
[Hasebe, Yasuharu. (1998). Interviewed by Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser in Tokyo, 1999, in ''Asian Cult Cinema'', #25, 4th Quarter, 1999, p.39.] After departing Nikkatsu for television, he returned to the studio to direct controversial rape-themed films in the "Violent Pink" genre. Hasebe considered the first of these films, ''Rape!'' (1976), to be his first true sex film.
Through the "violent pink" genre, Hasebe had the creative freedom from the strict sex formula, and created such controversial films as ''
Assault! Jack the Ripper
is a 1976 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman Porno'' series (in the "Violent Pink" subgenre). It was directed by Yasuharu Hasebe and has in the lead roles Tamaki Katsura and Yutaka Hayashi.
Synopsis
A young couple engage in a rampage of murde ...
'' (1976) and ''Rape! 13th Hour'' (1977). Though Hasebe's films in this genre are generally considered his best work, they remain controversial.
''Naked Seven'' was a showcase for Nikkatsu's top starlets of the time. Mari Tanaka, as leader of the gang, had made news headlines through her association with the controversial and persecuted ''
Love Hunter
is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Seiichirō Yamaguchi and starring Hidemi Hara, Mari Tanaka, and Sumiko Minami. The film was banned for obscenity, and director Yamaguchi arrested. The resulting trials wer ...
'' (1972) and its sequel, and was an idol of the anti-establishment.
Genshū Hanayagi was a classical ballerina who came to Nikkatsu's attention through appearance in a television commercial.
Her major role in director
Noboru Tanaka's later Nikkatsu ''Roman Porno'' ''Secret Chronicles: She-Beast Market'' (1974) created news in Japan.
Availability
''Naked Seven'' was released theatrically in Japan on December 27, 1972, and played in U.S. arthouse theaters in the 1970s.
It was released on DVD in Japan on December 21, 2007, as part of
Geneon's tenth wave of Nikkatsu ''Roman porno'' series.
Bibliography
English
*
*
*
*
*
Japanese
*
*
*
*
Notes
{{Yasuharu Hasebe
1972 films
Films directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
1970s Japanese-language films
Nikkatsu films
Nikkatsu Roman Porno
1970s Japanese films